Grift bridge “1917” The first horse tram in Utrecht was taken into use in 1879 for the connection with Zeist via the Biltstraat. A second line followed in 1889, connecting the Hoogelanden within the city via the Oudegracht with the Ledig Erf. In June 1906, the first electric tram came into service in Utrecht, which […]
The Plompetower
The Plompetoren The canal: from defense line to city park The impressive Plompetoren, almost 40 meters high, protected the entrance to the Plompetorengracht for centuries. Initially, the underpass was in the tower itself, but around 1540 a new water gate was made next to the tower. This new entrance was defended with cannons from the […]
The scale
The scale There used to be serious cylinders here They provided work and gave us lettered light Now I’m on my terp of packaged litter Green cultivated, carefully decorated for a bit of relaxation for spoiled children I lay my elbow on my knee and gaze at a horizon full of urban obstacles It doesn’t […]
Rubbish or paradise
Junk or paradise? Rough grasslands Natural monuments deliberately choose to make the grasslands rougher in this area than in other places. People sometimes experience this as ‘unorganized’, but for insects, birds and small mammals this is a true paradise! The fields are sown with a mixture of grasses and flowers. This ensures a vast variety […]
Castle “De Haar”
Landgoed Haarzuilens includes the imposing Kasteel de Haar with its castle gardens, the village of Haarzuilens and the surrounding lands. There is something for everyone in the area: a visit to a castle, a nice walk or bike ride in nature and a lunch or picnic in between these activities. Castle the hair Few castles […]
tempered glass
Armored glass Until the 1970s, the only measure to prevent attacks on or sabotage of the telecommunications network was simply to lock the front doors after closing time. After the train hijackings and hostage-taking, but also with the emergence of terrorist groups such as the Bader Meinhof and RaRa, there was a growing awareness that […]
Romance – Bicycle parking
Romance When a lot of staff still worked in this building in the 1960s, romances also arose. My best memory of the Neude In 1960 I, Joop van Luijn, worked at the assembly department in the telephone exchanges on the Neude. That same year I met my current wife in the post office. Irene worked […]
someone to call
Calling someone? Back in the day, if you wanted to call someone and you didn’t have a telephone number, you could call the number information service 008. You got the telephone operators on the line who helped you look up the number. In the carousel archive above the ladies or in one of the books […]
Telephone exchange office 2010
Telephone exchange 2010 This photo shows one of the four telephone exchanges in the building around the turn of the century. With this exchange, telephone traffic between other exchanges, including those of the other telephone providers, was processed. The exchange was previously included in the national telephone traffic network. Other exchanges in the building processed […]
New distributor
New distributor Around 1990, the distributor looked very different, but it was of equal function as the present day. Here the cables that went to the customers were connected to the telephone exchanges and the Internet equipment. The main distributor was behind the windows of the building on the Drakenburgstraat side.