Radio Kootwijk

Building A at Radio Kootwijk was completed in 1922 to house a longwave transmitter powerful enough to reach Bandung in the Dutch East Indies, closing a nine-thousand-kilometre gap that had previously needed cables through foreign territory - the first direct radio contact was made in 1923 and the phrase used, hallo Bandoeng, entered the language. Julius Luthmann designed the hall in expressionist concrete: a monolithic block with sloping walls, deep-set windows and a mass that has led everyone to call it the cathedral, standing entirely alone in the middle of open heath and drift sand because the site had to be empty for the aerials. The masts are gone. The building is a national monument, used for events and open on guided tours, and the heath around it is part of the Veluwe. The purpose-built village of staff houses stands nearby.

What you actually see

• An expressionist concrete hall - sloping walls and deep windows, finished 1922.
• Built for a nine-thousand-kilometre link - direct radio to the Dutch East Indies.
• Standing alone on heath - the site kept empty for the aerials, which are gone.
• A purpose-built village - staff housing put up with the station.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The interior is only entered on guided tours or at events, which run on limited dates - the building is otherwise closed. The site is remote with limited parking. The heath around is exposed.

Nearby

Kootwijkerzand drift sand is adjacent; the Hoge Veluwe is south.