Radio Kootwijk - Building A

The site of national heritage that I visited has got everything to do with colonial history. Please check the extras as well.

A radio service was required to communicate with our colonies and thus, in 1918, a serious radio transmitter was commissioned. The main building still stands and is an architectural delight. The construction of the transmitter led to the creation of a tiny village, called Radio Kootwijk (really!). Below is an excerpt of its wiki page:

Radio Kootwijk is a small town in the Netherlands, with approximately 120 (status 2006) inhabitants. It is situated in a heather and forest rich territory in the Veluwe region, east of the sandhills of the Kootwijkerzand and the town of Apeldoorn.

The housing accommodations of Radio Kootwijk arose as a result of the building of a shortwave radio transmitter 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. At the end of World War II, the German occupying forces blew up the transmitter. Afterward some of the radio towers were rebuilt.

Due to the development of new technologies like Communications satellites, Radio Kootwijk lost its position as main overseas wireless connection point of the Netherlands. In 1980, the last transmission mast was blown up, and in 2004 the park lost its last transmitter functions.

The main building of the former transmitter park, designed by Dutch architect Julius Maria Luthmann, constructed fully in concrete and named 'Building A', 'The Cathedral' or sometimes 'The Sphynx', was officially appointed as a monument. It is used as venue and scenery for several cultural events and productions, including the American film Mindhunters in 2004.