During the 17th century, Rotterdam was a European sanctuary for dissenters and political refugees. For instance, freedom

The philosopher John Locke established himself as a political refugee in Rotterdam and was Chairman of the famous

Pierre Bayle is also known as "the philosopher of Rotterdam". He fled France where he could no longer write as he wanted and as a Calvinist convert was invited by the Rotterdam City Council to settle here. In Rotterdam he devised a new concept:the influential philosophical public magazine: the Nouvelles. This was the first monthly popular science magazine in Europe. He also wrote his main work: the

His name is inseparably linked to the city of Rotterdam.

Hugo de Groot (Grotius) was a legal scholar and philosopher who

On the Scheepmakerskade("Shipwrights' Quay"), during the

These philosophers were also the founders of modern democracy and as such their ideas are still relevant. This view is strengthened by using bright colors. The art movement "de Stijl", first established in the Netherlands in1917 in style, was the first to choose bright primary colors to display their ideas.

The book covers refer to the link between these philosophers' ideas and the citu o Rotterdam.

The philosophers' bench came into being with the help of deelgemeente "Rotterdam Centrum".