Everything about Eindhoven totally explained
Eindhoven is a
municipality and a
city located in the province of
Noord-Brabant in the south of the
Netherlands, originally at the
confluence of the
Dommel and
Gender brooks. The
Gender was dammed off in the post-
war years, but the
Dommel still runs through the city.
Neighbouring cities and towns include
Son en Breugel,
Nuenen,
Geldrop-Mierlo,
Heeze-Leende,
Waalre,
Veldhoven,
Eersel,
Oirschot and
Best. The agglomeration has some 440,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area (which includes
Helmond) has nearly 750,000 inhabitants. Also, Eindhoven is part of
Brabant Stad, a metropolitan area with more than 2 million inhabitants.
History
The written history of Eindhoven started in
1232, when Duke
Hendrik I of Brabant granted
city rights to
Endehoven, then a small town right on the confluence of the Dommel and Gender streams. The city's name translates literally as "End Yards", reflecting its position at the southern end of
Woensel. At the time of granting of its
charter, Eindhoven had approximately 170 houses enclosed by a
rampart. Just outside of the city walls stood a small castle. The city was also granted the right to organize a weekly market and the farmers in nearby villages were obliged to come to Eindhoven to sell their produce. Another factor in its establishment was its location on the trade route from Holland to
Liège.
Around
1388 the city's fortifications were strengthened further. And between
1413 and
1420, a new castle was built within the city walls. In
1486, Eindhoven was plundered and burned by troops from
Gelderland. The reconstruction was finished in
1502, with a stronger rampart and a new castle. However, in
1543 Eindhoven falls again: its defense works were neglected due to poverty.
A big fire in
1554 destroyed 75% of the houses but by
1560 these had been rebuilt with the help of
William I of Orange. During the
Dutch Revolt, Eindhoven changed hands between the Dutch and the
Spanish several times during which it was burned down by renegade Spanish soldiers, until finally in
1583 it was captured once more by Spanish troops and its city walls were demolished. Eindhoven didn't become part of the Netherlands until
1629. During the french occupation Eindhoven suffered again with many of its houses destroyed by the invading forces. Eindhoven remained a minor city after that until the start of the
industrial revolution.
The
industrial revolution of the
Nineteenth Century provided a major growth impulse. Canals, roads and railroads were constructed. Eindhoven was connected to the major
Zuid-Willemsvaart canal through the
Eindhovens Kanaal branch in
1843 and was connected by rail to
Tilburg,
's-Hertogenbosch,
Venlo and
Belgium between
1866 and
1870. Industrial activities initially centred around
tobacco and
textile and boomed with the rise of
lighting and
electronics giant
Philips, which was founded as a
light bulb manufacturing company in Eindhoven in
1891.
The explosive growth of industry in the region and the subsequent housing needs of workers called for radical changes in administration, as the City of Eindhoven was still confined to its
medieval moat city limits. In
1920, the five neighbouring
municipalities of
Woensel (to the north),
Tongelre (northeast and east),
Stratum (southeast),
Gestel en Blaarthem (southwest) and
Strijp (west), which already bore the brunt of the housing needs and related problems, were incorporated into the new Groot-Eindhoven ("Greater Eindhoven") municipality. The prefix "Groot-" was later dropped.
The early
twentieth Century saw additions in technical industry with the advent of
car and
truck manufacturing company
Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek (DAF) and the subsequent shift towards electronics and engineering, with the traditional tobacco and textile industries waning and finally disappearing in the
Seventies.
Large-scale
air raids in
World War II (including the preliminary bombing during
Operation Market Garden to aid the paratroopers in securing the bridges in and around the town) destroyed large parts of the city. The reconstruction that followed left very little historical remains and the post-war reconstruction period saw drastic renovation plans in
highrise style, some of which were implemented. At the time, there was little regard for historical
heritage; in the
Sixties, a new
city hall was built and its neo-gothic predecessor (1867) demolished to make way for a planned
arterial road that never materialised.
The Seventies,
Eighties and
Nineties saw large-scale housing developments in the districts of Woensel-Zuid and Woensel-Noord, making Eindhoven the fifth-largest city in the Netherlands.
Geography
The villages and city that make up modern Eindhoven were originally built on sandy elevations between the Dommel, Gender and
Tongelreep streams. Starting from the Nineteenth Century, the
basins of the streams themselves have also been used as housing grounds, leading to occasional floodings in the city centre. Partly to reduce flooding, the Gender stream, which flowed straight through the city centre, was dammed off and filled up after the War, and the course of the Dommel was regulated. New
ecologial and
socio-historical insights have led to parts of the Dommel's course being restored to their original states, and plans to have the Gender flow through the centre once again (
link to article in Dutch
).
The large-scale housing developments of the Twentieth Century saw residential areas being built on former
agricultural lands and
woods, former
heaths that had been turned into cultivable lands in the Nineteenth Century.
Demographics
As of 2006, the population of Eindhoven consisted of 209,179 persons. Of these, 26.5% or some 55,400 people are of foreign descent . People are classified as being of foreign descent when they were born outside of the Netherlands, or when at least one of their parents was born outside of the Netherlands.
Large minority groups include:
Other large minority groups are
Germans and
Indonesians.
Economy
Eindhoven has grown from a little village in 1232 to one of the bigger cities in the
Netherlands with around 210,000 inhabitants in 2006. Much of its growth is due to
Philips and
DAF Trucks.
In
1891, brothers Gerard and
Anton Philips founded the small light bulb factory that would grow into one of the largest electronics firms in the world.
Philips' presence is probably the largest single contributing factor to the major growth of Eindhoven in the 20th century. It attracted and spun off many hi-tech companies, making Eindhoven a major technology and industrial hub. In
2005, a full third of the total amount of money spent on research in the Netherlands was spent in or around Eindhoven. A quarter of the jobs in the region are in
technology and
ICT, with companies such as
FEI Company (once Philips Electron Optics),
NXP Semiconductors,
ASML,
Toolex,
Simac,
Neways,
Atos Origin and the aforementioned Philips and DAF.
Prime examples of industrial heritage in Eindhoven are the renovated Witte Dame (
"White Lady") complex, a former Philips lamp factory; and the Admirant building (informally known as Bruine Heer or
"Brown Gentleman" in reference to the Witte Dame across the street), the former Philips main offices. The Witte Dame currently houses the municipal
library, the
Design Academy and a selection of shops. The Admirant has been renovated into an office building for small companies. Across the street from the Witte Dame and next to the Admirant is Philips' first light bulb factory (nicknamed Roze Baby, or
"Pink Baby", in reference to its pink colour and much smaller size when compared to the "White Lady" and "Brown Gentleman"). The small building now houses the
(External Link)"Centrum Kunstlicht in de Kunst" (centre artificial light in art) and the
(External Link)"Philips Incandescent Lamp Factory of 1891" museum.
Administration and population
After the incorporation of 1920, the five former municipalities became districts of the Municipality of Eindhoven, with Eindhoven-Centrum (the City proper) forming the sixth. Since then, an additional seventh district has been formed by dividing the largest district, that of Woensel, into Woensel-Zuid and Woensel-Noord.
At the turn of the century, a whole new housing development called
Meerhoven was constructed at the site of the old
airport of Welschap, west of Eindhoven. The airport itself, now called
Eindhoven Airport, had moved earlier to a new location, paving the way for much needed new houses. Meerhoven is part of the Strijp district and partially lies on lands annexed from the municipality of
Veldhoven.
Of all Eindhoven districts, the historical centre is by far the smallest in size and population, numbering only 5,419 in
2006.
According to the Eindhoven City Council, the city will reach the maximum population of 230,000 inhabitants around the year 2025.
Population figures for all districts, as of
January 1 2006, ranked by size:
Woensel-Noord (64,575)
Woensel-Zuid (35,361)
Stratum (31,782)
Gestel (26,694)
Strijp (24,783)
Tongelre (19,565)
Centrum (5,419)
Government and politics
After the municipal elections on March 7 2006, the division of the 45 seats in the Eindhoven city council was as follows:
PvdA - 14 (+ 5) (compared to the result during the municipal elections held in 2002)
CDA - 7 (-2)
SP - 6 (+3)
VVD - 6 (0)
GroenLinks - 3 (0)
Leefbaar Eindhoven - 3 (-6)
OuderenAppel Eindhoven - 2 (0)
D'66 - 1 (-2)
Stadspartij - 1 (0)
ChristenUnie - 1 (+1)
Lijst Pim Fortuyn - 1 (+1)
In April 2006 a coalition was formed between PvdA, SP and CDA. Together they've 27 seats in the city council.
On January 23, 2008, a referendum to elect a mayor was held in Eindhoven. This referendum, the second of its kind in the Netherlands, was attended by 24,6% of the inhabitants. This was less than the required 30% needed to make a referendum binding. Nevertheless, the city council would choose the winner of the referendum as the preferred candidate. The main reason for the low attendance was that the candidates, Leen Verbeek and Rob van Gijzel, were from the same party. Rob van Gijzel won the referendum with 61,8% of the votes and will be the city's new mayor.
In research by the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad based on the police’s statistical data on crime rates, Eindhoven was found to have the highest crime rate in the Netherlands for 2006.
Culture
The students from the Eindhoven University of Technology and a number of undergraduate schools give Eindhoven a young population.
Eindhoven has a lively cultural scene. For going out, there are numerous bars on the Market square, Stratumseind (Stratum's End), Dommelstraat, Wilhelmina square and throughout the rest of the city.
The biggest festivals in Eindhoven are:
ABlive, popfestival (September) (External Link)
Carnaval, (February)
Koninginnedag, national day (30 April)
Dynamo Open Air, rock festival (last edition in Eindhoven in 1999)
EDIT, festival (June)
Fiesta del Sol, street- and music acts (June)
UCI ProTour - Eindhoven Team Time Trial, international cycling tour (June)
Virus Festival, alternative music festival (last edition in 2007, inactive at the moment) (External Link)
Park Hilaria, fun fair (August)
Folkwoods, folk festival (August)
Reggae Sundance, reggae festival (August)
Jazz in Lighttown, jazz festival (August)
Lichtjesroute, 15-miles tour of light-ornaments, commemorating the liberation of Eindhoven (from 18 September)
Marathon Eindhoven, (October)
Dutch Design Week, international design festival (October)
TROMP international music competition & Festival, international classical music competition & festival (15-23 November 2008: String Quartet, Nov 2010: Percussion)
STRP Festival, art & technology festival (23-25 Nov 2007) (External Link)
The Van Abbemuseum has a collection of modern and contemporary art, including works by Picasso and Chagall.
The Effenaar is a popular music venue and cultural center in Eindhoven, it's located at the Dommelstraat. (External Link)
Eindhoven was home to the Evoluon science museum, sponsored by Philips. The Evoluon building is currently used as a conference centre.
In 1992 the Muziekcentrum Frits Philips was opened as a stage for classical and popular music in Eindhoven, received by critics as a concert hall with acoustics that rival the best halls in Europe.
Parktheater Eindhoven is Eindhoven's stage for opera, cabaret, ballet etc. Opened in 1964, it has received over 250,000 visitors every year. With its 1000 m2 it has one of the largest stages in the Netherlands. With a major renovation ending in 2007, the new Parktheater will receive an estimated 300,000 visitors a year.
During Carnival, Eindhoven is rechristened Lampegat (Lamp Hole).
Eindhoven's Plaza Futura, a former porn theater, is nowadays a cinema featuring cultural movies, lectures and special cultural events.
Transport
Eindhoven is a rail transport node with connections in the directions of:
Tilburg - Breda - Dordrecht - Rotterdam - Delft - The Hague (External Link)
's-Hertogenbosch - Utrecht - Amsterdam - Alkmaar (External Link)
's-Hertogenbosch - Utrecht - Amsterdam Zuid - Schiphol Airport (External Link)
Helmond - Venlo (External Link)
Weert - Roermond - Sittard - Maastricht/Heerlen (External Link)
Up until World War II, a train service connected Amsterdam to Liège via Eindhoven and Valkenswaard, but the service was discontinued and the line broken up. Recently, talks have resumed to have a service to Neerpelt, Belgium via Weert.
Located approximately 8 kilometres from the town centre, Eindhoven Airport is the closest airport nearby, and the second busiest in the country (after Schiphol). There are flights with KLM Cityhopper to London Heathrow, and Ryanair serves London Stansted airport, Dublin, Rome, Milan, Pisa, Marseille, Glasgow, Madrid, Shannon, Stockholm and Barcelona. In the summerseason, Reykjavík is served with 2 weekly flights operated by Iceland Express.
The A2/E25 highway from Amsterdam to Luxemburg passes Eindhoven to the west and south of the city. The A2 connects to the highway A58 to Tilburg and Breda just north of the city. Just south of Eindhoven, the A2 connects to the A67/E34 between Antwerp and Duisburg. In 2006, the A50 was completed connecting Eindhoven to Nijmegen and Zwolle.
Sport
PSV Eindhoven is the major football (soccer) club in the city. Playing in the Philips Stadion it's the dominant club in the Dutch highest league, named Eredivisie. PSV won the national title a total of 21 times. Recent successes include the 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 national titles, finishing second in the league in 2002 and 2004. In international football, PSV were the 1988 winners of the European Cup (Champions League), the highest achievement in European club football.
The second professional club is FC Eindhoven, which competes in the second league (Eerste Divisie).
In field hockey the city has three major clubs, Oranje Zwart, Eindhovense Mixed Hockey Club (E.M.H.C.) and HC Eindhoven with Oranje Zwart as the most prominent one.
Since 1990 the city of Eindhoven is the host of the annual Eindhoven Marathon.
Eindhoven is the place where three-time Olympic swimming champion Pieter van den Hoogenband trains on a daily basis. He does so in the renovated swimming complex De Tongelreep under the guidance of his long-time coach and friend Jacco Verhaeren.
Eindhoven houses Europe's largest indoor skateboard park and is home of a lively skateboard culture.
Eindhoven has two boxing clubs, The Golden Gloves and Muscle Fit.
Eindhoven hosted the 1999 World Table Tennis Championships.
Eindhoven has a baseball club called PSV, which plays at the stadium which co-hosted the 2005 IBAF Baseball World Cup.
Eindhoven hosted 29th LEN European Championships Swimming, Diving and Synchronised Swimming championshipin March, 2008
Notable residents
Gerard Philips (1858–1942) and Anton Philips (1874–1951), founders of the Philips
Frits Philips (1905-2005), businessman, son of Anton Philips
Jan van Hooff (1755–1816), statesman
Hugo Brandt Corstius (1935), writer
Peter Koelewijn (1940), musician and record producer
Jan de Bont (1943), film director
Jan Borren (1947), (field) hockey player and coach
Arthur Borren (1949), (field) hockey player
Lenny Kuhr (1950), singer
Tineke Bartels (1951), equestrian
François van Kruijsdijk (1952), medley swimmer
Robert de Wit (1962), decathlete and bobsledder
Bas Rutten (1965), MMA sportsman, color commentator, actor
Rik Smits (1966), basketball player
Paul Haarhuis (1966), Tennis player
Theo Maassen (1966), comedian and actor
Patrick Lodewijks (1967), football (soccer) goalkeeper
Phillip Cocu (1970), football (soccer) player
Margje Teeuwen (1974), (field) hockey midfielder
Imke Bartels (1977), equestrian
Tim Jansma (1977), amateur musician
Christijan Albers (1979), racing driver
Lonneke Engel (1981), fashion model
Rob Reckers (1981), (field) hockey player
Cor Vriend (1949), long-distance runner, on the time manager for long-distance runner
Klaas-Erik Zwering (1981), swimmer
Wieger van Wageningen (1983), professional skateboarder
Rick VandenHurk (1985), professional baseball player
Twin cities
Minsk, Belarus
Nanjing, China
Białystok, Poland
Chinandega, Nicaragua
Emfuleni, South Africa
Gedaref, Sudan
Bayeux, FranceFurther Information
Get more info on 'Eindhoven'.
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