The frigid winds of the last ice age created sand hills in what is now the IJssel delta. Later neolithic hunter-gatherer bands of the Swifterbant culture roamed the area and in the bronze age a small woodhenge was built on one of these elevations.

In the Middle Ages the hills provided dry ground during the frequent flooding.

Zwolle was founded in 800 CE on a hill between the rivers Vliet and Aa.
The town was granted city rights in 1230. 
Early in the 15the century the Baltic Sea trade boomed and, as member of the Hanseatic League, the Zwolle merchants gathered substantial wealth and status.

In 1798 the city became the capital of the province Overijssel, much to the chagrin of archrival Deventer.

In 1945 Zwolle was reportedly liberated by a solo action of French-Canadian rambo Leo Major, but in reality the Germans were already retreating.

Points of interest in Zwolle are the old city gate Sassenpoort, St Michael's church with its famous organ, the Peperbus tower and the former court building turned into museum de Fundatie.

We visited Zwolle in May 2021.