51°26N 5°30E, pop (2000e) 203 000. Modern industrial city in SE North Brabant province, S Netherlands; on the R Dommel, 88 km/55 mi SE of Rotterdam; airport; railway; technical university (1956); electronics, engineering, trucks, tractors, engines, military vehicles, glassware, synthetic fibres, paper, textiles, tobacco; Philips Evoluon museum of modern technology, Centre of Micro-Electronics.
| Eindhoven | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Province | North Brabant |
| Area | 88.84 km² |
| - Land | 87.75 km² |
| - Water | 1.09 km² |
| Population (2006) | 209,286 |
| - Density | 2,377/km² |
| Mayor | Alexander Sakkers (VVD) |
| Website | www.eindhoven.eu |
Eindhoven (pronunciation (help·info)) 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 city of Eindhoven
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 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.
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 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.
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.
Industry
Eindhoven has grown from a little village in 1232 to one of the largest cities in the Netherlands with over 209,179 inhabitants in 2006.
Prime examples of industrial heritage in Eindhoven are the renovated Witte Dame ("White Lady") complex, a former Philips lamp factory;
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.
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.
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)Politics
After the municipal elections on March 7th 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.
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.
The biggest festivals in Eindhoven are:
Carnaval, (February) STRP Festival, technology and design festival (March) Koninginnedag, national day (April) Fiesta del Sol, street- and music acts (June) Pro Tour, international cycling tour (June) Park Hilaria, fun fair (August) Reggae Sundance, reggae festival (August) Jazz in Lighttown, jazz festival (August) Lichtjesroute,15-miles tour of light-ornaments, commemorating the liberation of Eindhoven (September) Marathon Eindhoven, (October) Dutch Design Week, international design festival (October)The Van Abbemuseum has a collection of modern and contemporary art, including works by Picasso and Chagall.
Eindhoven was home to the Evoluon science museum, sponsored by Philips.
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.
The Stadsschouwburg is Eindhoven's stage for opera, cabaret, ballet etc.
During Carnival, Eindhoven is rechristened Lampegat (Lamp Hole).
Eindhoven's Plaza Futura is a cinema featuring cultural movies, lectures and special cultural events.
Transportation
Eindhoven is a rail transport node with connections in the directions of:
Tilburg - Breda - Dordrecht - Rotterdam - Delft - The Hague 's Hertogenbosch - Utrecht - Amsterdam - Haarlem 's Hertogenbosch - Utrecht - Amsterdam Zuid / WTC - Schiphol Airport Helmond - Venlo Weert - Roermond - Sittard - Maastricht/HeerlenUp 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.
Eindhoven Airport is closest airport nearby.
The A2 national highway from Amsterdam to Maastricht passes Eindhoven to the west and south of the city.
User Comments Add a comment…