Eindhoven is the fifth-largest city in the Netherlands. It is the design capital of the Netherlands and one of the most vibrant and creative city in the world.
Until the end of the 19th century, Eindhoven was a small industrial city known as the "City of Light" thanks to matchmaking. In 1891, a Phillips company was established and "increased the light" (literally). The company turned Eindhoven into a large, developed and vibrant industrial city.
It established a range of factories (from a light bulb factory to radio and television manufacturing plants to advanced medical equipment factories), providing jobs to the city's residents and many workers who migrated from the Netherlands and around the world. Philips built new neighborhoods and cultural and sports facilities.
During the Second World War, Eindhoven was heavily shelled both by the Germans and by the British.
The ancient center was almost completely destroyed. After the war it was decided not to reconstruct most of the buildings and rebuild the city.
Eindhoven recovered from the war and many technology companies came to the city, but at the end of the 1990s a new crisis was born. The company DAF was in bankruptcy and Philips moved their headquarters to Amsterdam
Instead of collapsing, Eindhoven decided to turn the city into a city of knowledge, design and technology, a city that tells the story of the New Dutch.
Like the phoenix, Eindhoven has managed to recover and has undergone an extraordinary transformation, from a grey post-industrial city to a world leader in technology and the third city in the Netherlands economy. The factories, which have been closed and empty for years, converted into design, entertainment and culinary complexes, thus creatively preserving the city's industrial heritage.
Strijp-S
Strijp-S is an example of the creative preservation of Eindhoven's industrial heritage. In the past, the area was considered a "Forbidden City" because the entrance was only for Philips employees. Today, the old factories have been transformed into bright areas of design, culinary, cultural and shopping.
The Urban Shopper is an addictive complex of 20 stores in the fields of design, fashion, vintage and urbanism. You will not want to get out. On the other hand, even outside the compound, there is a rich life, in the square opposite the compound, every weekend, markets and festivals are taking place, as the monthly Feelgood Market Festival.
In the neighborhood – MU Artspace – a modern art gallery that combines art, design, pop culture and new media, Yksi – a space that is a gallery and a contemporary Dutch design shop.
If you like hardcore industrial design and graffiti go to house number 10 in Ketelhuisplein. Philips' old factory was converted into a space for cooking workshops, a trendy restaurant and a patisserie. You can not stop taking pictures.
City Center and Downtown
The city center is undergoing a process of upgrading and development. The center of Eindhoven is intimate, no traffic, mostly low construction, pleasant and not crowded. It's worth exploring the Demer and Hermanus Boexstraat pedestrian streets, which include famous chain stores, restaurants and cafes.
A tour of the city center should not miss the Philips Museum. The fascinating museum housed in Phillips' first factory for incandescent lamps, vividly tells the story of Philips, through which we learn about Eindhoven's story. (Address: Emmasingel 31)
The pedestrian streets spill into the market square. A small square, a mix of ancient buildings that survived and modern ones. From the square, you can continue wandering through the colorful Vrijstraat pedestrian street directly to the Bergen neighborhood, The old neighborhood of Eindhoven, or go downtown thru Jan van Lieshoutstraat or Rechtestraat to the Catherine church, Stratumseind st (a long street full of bars and restaurants) until you reach the Domel river, where you can cross and visit the Van Abbemuseum.
The Bergen
The Bergen is one of the oldest districts of the city. Many of the buildings in the neighborhood, were not destroyed during World War II. They are small and characteristic. The neighborhood is lively and bohemian, packed with restaurants and cozy cafés with interesting concepts, galleries, well-designed shops, specialty stores alongside bookstores, second-hand shops and antiques and trendy bars.
My favorite cafes: Anne&Max and Lucifer Coffee Roasters.
My favorite restuarnats: Kazerne and UMAMI by Han.