The campus before the foundation of TU/e

The main reason for the selection of Eindhoven as location for the second university of technology in the Netherlands was the status the city had achieved as the main industrial center in the south of the country. But another contributing factor was the fact that Eindhoven has at its disposal a large tract of open terrain at a short distance from the station and the city center. This so-called valley of the river Dommel, to the northeast of the city center, had never been built on because it was too marshy. As a consequence, developing the new campus would require piles to be driven to support most of the new buildings. One of the most noteworthy buildings which used to stand on the present-day TU/e campus was the Woensel Watermill. This mill had already been in service since medieval times. Located too on what is now the campus was the De Spechten (The Woodpeckers) football club, made up of employees of the former Picus wood processing firm. But in the period of reconstruction following World War Two all this had to make way for progress. The watermill was demolished and the course of the river Dommel was even changed to facilitate construction of the Auditorium building. This special shows a series of images of the TU/e campus as it looked before the university was founded, and from the university's early years when much of the terrain was still recognizable in its former shape. The photographs belong partly to our own archives, but most have been made available to us by the Eindhoven in Beeld (Eindhoven in the Picture) historic foundation.