Netherlands, Eindhoven

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, 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.

Around 1388 the city's fortifications were strengthened further. And between 1413 and 1420, a new castle was built within the city walls.

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 nurned down by renegade spanish soldiers, until finally in 1583 it was captured once more by Spanish troops and its city walls where demolished.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sports

PSV Eindhoven is the major football (soccer) club in the city. Playing in the Philips Stadion it is the dominant club in the Dutch highest league, named Eredivisie.

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.

Eindhoven has two boxing clubs, The Golden Gloves and Muscle Fit.
Eindhoven hosted the 1999 World Table Tennis Championships.

Transportation

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.

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.