Holland through my (drone) lens : Radio Kootwijk

Sorry not sorry for making you wait for another Steemit update, but I have a good excuse. I needed to fly my drone and edit the footage first!

This weekend I joined a guided tour at Radio Kootwijk. I have to admit that despite growing up in this area, I had not seen this building yet. But after seeing pictures of the interior recently, I decided it was time!

So I grabbed my camera, my tripod, my drone and 360-camera and drove my car to the middle of nowhere to be able to see this historical building.

Communication with the Dutch East Indies colony

Back in the early 20th century, the Netherlands had a busy connection with the overseas Dutch East Indies colony. At the time, the Dutch had to use the English or German solutions for direct communication with the people overseas. But when the First World War happened, they came to realise that they didn't want to depend on other countries. They decided to build their own longwave transmission station for contact with the Dutch East Indies using radio telegraphs.

To have minimal interference on the transmission, it was key to have a very empty and isolated location for the building. Thankfully, the Dutch government already owned a large area with trees and drift sand on the Veluwe. They were able to start building pretty quickly.

About 150 Amsterdam men that were jobless moved to this area to help with the construction. First, the area had to be fully levelled. Trees had to be removed and hills were to be flattened. The nearby town of Radio Kootwijk is a result of the workers that moved here. There were no roads here, so a train track is built for all the supplies.

The main building was designed by the Amsterdam style architect Luthmann, inspired by the German station in Nauen and the Egyptian sphinx. It was buit in reinforced concrete and was one of the first examples of that in the Netherlands. They figured out that a wooden building and all these transmitters didn't go well together and were a huge fire hazard. The result is this amazing building that soon received the nickname "Cathedral".

^{Do you see the paws of the sphinx?}

^{The road to the building with a water tower in the distance}

Due to traffic jams, I was only just in time when I arrived. The group was already listening to the guide when I parked my car at the beginning of the long road near the water tower. Thank God they gathered at that spot and not in the building because that was still a pretty long walk away.

^{Entrance "Radio Station" with an image of 2 women listening to the sound coming from the centre}

^{A hyperlapse of the building}

The weather was amazing and the guide decided to tease us a little. He started talking about all the other things we could see in the area. And so we moved from spot to spot, wondering if we would ever end up inside the main building!

In dire need of water!

Okay, it was slightly hot. And I was a bit thirsty. But that is not why I brought this topic up...

Initially, they used longwave transmission at Radio Kootwijk. This technology used so much energy (and generated heat) that they build a water tower for cooling water. It also served the people in the village. Near the car park, you will find the tower with 2 small pump houses next to it. Don't be fooled by their size, though... They are pretty DEEP.

^{Pump houses}

So what happened during the Second World War?

The Germans knew about this spot and the technology and they were pretty quick to take over control at Radio Kootwijk. I heard some stories about employees secretly sabotaging systems over the years. But as soon as it was obvious the Canadians were coming, they took away all the machines and blew up all the radio towers around the building (5 towers of 212 meters high). The idea was to blow up the last tower next to the building and let it fall on top of it to destroy the cathedral, but there wasn't a scratch on the building. It took some time to find back the equipment and most of it was never returned.

Cold War shelter?

During the Cold War, they decided to build an underground bunker near Radio Kootwijk. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed in, but it probably looks more impressive on the inside 😎

^{The bunker entrance kinda stands out in the landscape}

Finally, Open Sesame!

So we heard everything about the past hundred years in Radio Kootwijk. We saw the remains, bunkers, pictures and even a short documentary. But after the coffee, it was finally time to go inside the building!

It was just beautiful and also a bit weird because it was very typical Amsterdam style, so very far away from the city. Everything was in an almost perfect shape. The eye for detail! I loved the original staircase that instantly teleported me to an Amsterdam school building. We were allowed in almost all parts of the building and it was a huge treat. We could even enter the roof to enjoy the view around us!

The huge windows let in some gorgeous light. And you could easily enjoy the landscape outside while seeing the "modern" design on the inside. I already knew that the floor of the hall was supposed to be amazing, but didn't have a clue if we were going to be allowed in there. So imagine my slight shriek of joy when I suddenly stood in the hall to get hypnotised by the floor!

I am so happy that I got to see this with my own eyes! I just can't get enough of my own photos and I wish I knew how to capture this better to come close to the feeling that I had. But I will become a better photographer soon enough and I'll just return to the building to do it again.... and again...

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I almost forgot to take my 360 photos!! Happy to be able to walk back in before the tour finished and take that final shot. Time for food and a drink before I get my drone from the car and do some serious flying around!

^{A tinyplanet made with my 360-camera}