Radio Kootwijk is a hamlet in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

municipality of

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. Th ...

. It is situated in a heather and forest rich territory in the

Veluwe The Veluwe () is a forest-rich ridge of hills (1100 km2) in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The Veluwe features many different landscapes, including woodland, heath, some small lakes and Europe's largest sand drifts. The Ve ...

region, east of the sandhills of the Kootwijkerzand and the town of

Kootwijk Kootwijk (West Low German: ''Kodek'') (population estimate: 280) is a small village in the municipality Barneveld, located in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. History It was first mentioned between 1333 and 1334 as ...

. Radio Kootwijk has a combined statistical listing with Hoog Soeren, the hamlet consists of about 37 houses. The village is known for its iconic radio transmitter.

Radio transmitter

The housing accommodations of Radio Kootwijk arose as a result of the building of a shortwave radio

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

with the same name, starting in 1918. The transmitter played an important role in the 20th century as a communication facility between the Netherlands and its then colony of Dutch East Indies. In 1923 Dutch PTT started trans-oceanic

telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

using a

longwave In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...

transmitter (a 400 kW high frequency alternator) from the German

Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the ''Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ('General electricity company'). The name "Telefunken" ap ...

company under the callsign PCG, on 24 kHz and 48 kHz. By 1925 the longwave transmitter was changed by a shortwave tube based, electronic transmitter which had a much better performance due to the better propagation of short waves. With this new technology, in 1928 a radio-telephonic connection was established. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

occupying forces blew up the transmitter. Afterward some of the radio towers were rebuilt.PCG History (in Dutch)
/ref> Due to the development of new technologies like

Communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...

s, Radio Kootwijk lost its position as main overseas wireless connection point of the Netherlands. In 1980, the last transmission mast was blown up. In 2004 the park lost its last transmitter functions, and was transferred from the

KPN KPN (in full Koninklijke KPN N.V., also Royal KPN N.V.) is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History Un ...

company (successor to PTT) to the State Forestry Service, which started attracting new buyers. The main building of the former transmitter park, designed by Dutch architect Julius Maria Luthmann and named 'Building A', 'The Cathedral' or sometimes 'The Sphynx', was officially appointed as a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

. It is used as venue and scenery for several cultural events and productions, including the American film

Mindhunters ''Mindhunters'' is a 2004 crime slasher film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Kathryn Morris, LL Cool J, Jonny Lee Miller, Patricia Velásquez, Clifton Collins Jr., Christian Slater, and Val Kilmer. It was written by Wayne Kramer and Kev ...

in 2004.

Gallery

File:Gebouw C - rechter voorzijde - Radio Kootwijk - 20410220 - RCE.jpg, Building C File:Loods P (Utrechtse loods) - overzicht linker achterzijde houten loods - Radio Kootwijk - 20410256 - RCE.jpg, Building P File:Kootwijk.jpg, Staff village (1922) File:Radio Kootwijk-monument.jpg, Monument in the village File:Radio Kootwijk (aangezicht).jpg, - Front building A File:Hoog Buurlo - Radio Kootwijk - 46517 -10.jpg, - Rear building A

References

hierradiokootwijk.nl
Article of the Dutch Forestry Service (''Staatsbosbeheer''), current owner of this location.

External links

radiokootwijk.nu
''Tussen Zand en Zenders'' {{Authority control Populated places in Gelderland Apeldoorn