A hot air balloon over the centre of Eindhoven, April 2025
For many Dutch, Eindhoven (246,000 inh.) will always be connected with light bulbs and Philips. This city in the southern Noord-Brabant province of the country was the birth ground of the technology giant, started by Gerard Philips in 1891. From Eindhoven came light bulbs, radio, shaving equipment, household appliances - and later - chips, computers, compact discs, medical instruments and much more. Frits Philips was the last one of the family as the CEO of the company, bringing the corporation through parts of its glory years from 1961 to 1971. Under his leadership the impressive Evoluon was built.
Stormy weather
But towards the end of the last millennium, Philips ended in stormy weather. In the 1990s, the company refocused its businesses and nowadays, what is left of the official Philips is entirely involved in medical appliances, and sold off its other branches. In 1997, it even moved its headquarters to Amsterdam, raising eyebrows with many Dutch. While the brand name Philips is still sported on many consumer products, they are produced by other companies.
The soul of Philips
While the corporation has left Eindhoven, the soul of Philips still wanders through the city. With cool industrial architecture revamped for new purposes, and the logo still visible in many parts of the city. For many inhabitants, Eindhoven is still very much one with the greatness from its past.
For me, Eindhoven in recent years was mainly rotating through its airport on my way from abroad to my family and friends in the areas where I grew up and lived in the Netherlands in the past. Only since 2023, I decided to take the city itself into account - searching for the soul of Philips. These are some of the photos of those visits.
Skyline of Eindhoven: skyscrapers and lower buildings, April 2025.
The 90m/300ft tall (28 floors) Vesteda Tower by architect Jo Koenen.
The Vesteda Tower in its habitat.
Light bulbs in the city that grew big on them.
The shopping district of downtown Eindhoven, with Hema, De Bijenkorf en Primark clearly visible. April 2025.
Confronting mural in the Nieuwe Emmasingel street. April 2025.
The BLOB, eye-catching glass architecture housing a furniture and lifestyle shop.
Notice the Philips logo on toop of the white building.
A lone, white bicycle.
For many Dutch, light bulbs will always be connected to Eindhoven.
Eindhoven Central Station
According to many, the Eindhoven Central Station building from 1956 looks like a Philips radio, but such a radio never existed. The functional design of the station was drafted by architect Koen van der Gaast. The building is a national monument, and an example of post-WW2 reconstruction. Parts of a US-made bailey bridge which was left in Europe after the war keep together the roof of the Eindhoven station building.
Eindhoven has been a railway hub ever since the first station was opened in 1866 for train services running to and from the city of Maastricht. Eindhoven Central Station has grown and is now the busiest public transport hub of the Netherlands outside the so-called Randstad of the biggest cities in the west of the country. Daily more than 200,000 people pass through the station, although many just to get from the southern to the northern side, where the bus station is.
The Eindhoven Central Station building from 1958, photographed in April 2025.
front view of Eindhoven Central Station, with the station restaurant behind the glass.
The vertical tower and the big clock.
Eindhoven Central Station with the statue of Anton Philips in the small park in front.
Eindhoven Central Station dwarfed by the nearby high rises.
Directly adjacent to the inner-city
Take a walk through the inner-city of Eindhoven and one quickly reaches nice surprises in its vicinity.
Anne Frankplatsoen green zone, November 2024
Colourful tree in a residential area, November 2024
Peacock in the Mariënhage estate.
Mansion of the Mariënhage estate.
Evoluon
Step into a cool looking spaceship in the city of Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Luring earthlings since 1966, the Evoluon was designed as a ground-breaking museum for technology giant Philips. Currently inside the Next Nature Museum. The building and its interior are impressive. Follow me and get in.
Strijp-S
The soul of Philips is still very much alive at Strijp-S. This is the former industrial park of when the manufacture giant was at the height of its power, in the former Millennium. The first building, the nature science lab, was built her in 1914, followed by the factory that produced glass for light bulbs. Later the first televisions followed, the compact disc was developed here and - to be honest - about everything else you can think of when it comes to consumer electronics and household appliances.
For the people of Eindhoven, Strijp-S was a "forbidden city". Walled-in, it was off limits to the common person. One had to work at Philips to be allowed in. That has changed since the 1990s, when Philips started leaving its birth ground. Together with commercial parties, the municipality of Eindhoven enabled the revamping of Strijp-S as a place for start-ups, cultural events, leisure, lunch and nightlife. And that is what Strijp-S is today. Those who love strolling through industrial heritage, it is a cool spot with some rough and pleasant edges. A down to earth experience with wonderful architecture. The photos of Strijp-S I all took on a single early April morning in 2025.
