Radio Kootwijk

In the early twentieth century, short wave transmittance was one of the important methods of communication between the Netherlands and it's colony Dutch East Indies (now: Indonesia).
A small town was appointed for the radio transmitters, and the town was dubbed "Radio Kootwijk", where construction started in 1919. An entire complex of transmitters was erected.

The picture above displays the main transmitter building, designed by Jules Maria Luthmann. If there ever was a expressionist cathedral-like celebration of technology, this is it. It stands in the middle of a rather flat area of heath, making it stand out even more.

Due to developments in telecommuncation (like sattelites and such) Radio Kootwijk graduately lost its meaning as the most important radio-communication centre. For instance, in 1980 the last major send-post was torn down, and in 2004 the area lost its last broadcasting function. In 2005 the fence around the terrain was removed, so now everybody is free to walk in the 450 hectare large grounds.