On Friday, the Eindhoven unveiled a piece of art. Last week, they also planted five trees in the city.
These are in honour of Eindhoven 1920-2020. The municipality planted these trees in five prominent places outside of the city centre. The artwork is at the entrance to the Town Hall.
The year 2020 was to have been a big one for the city. It marked the fact that 100 years ago the Eindhoven, Gestel, Stratum, Strijp, Tongelre and Woensel villages merged. They became the greater Eindhoven as we know it today.
‘Honour yesterday, celebrate today, create tomorrow’
The theme was ‘Honour yesterday, celebrate today, make tomorrow’, And the intention was to get the city’s people moving as much as possible. Then, COIVD-19 struck.
“We had hoped to celebrate [our centenary] with [everyone in] the city,” says Eindhoven Mayor, John Jorristma. “We’re ending this extraordinary year with the unveiling and presentation of this artwork.”
That’s why the Municipal Executive wanted a tangible, lasting reminder of Eindhoven 1920-2020. So, from now on, a work of art can be seen on entering the Residents Plaza. Marc Koppen designed it. The name of the city is written on a 16x3m wall.
The large letters ‘Eindhoven’ are made up of 235,158 first names. These are the names of the city’s inhabitants as of 1 January 2020. “As a symbol of the connection between all inhabitants of Eindhoven, there are no spaces between the names,” reads a City Council press release.
Poem
Over this enormous word is a poem by former city poet, Merel Morre. This poem centres around the future. She wrote it, especially for this purpose.
Green is also essential for the city. Hence, the decision to plant the five memorial trees. They’re at prominent locations in Gestel, Stratum, Strijp, Tongelre and Woensel.
In Gestel, they’re in the park between Hoogstraat and Laagstraat. Then, in Stratum, in the park next to the Parktheater on the corner of Le sage ten Broeklaan. In Strijp, in the Jacob Oppenheimpark.
In Tongelre, at the end of the Kempensebaan green strip. And in Woensel, on Vlokhovenseweg next to the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw church.
Variety
The council chose the Large-leaved Linden (Tilia platyphyllos). This was in consultation with various organisations in the city. That includes the Van Abbestichting and Trefpunt Groen Eindhoven.
This variety was chosen for its robustness. It contributes to biodiversity too. “It’s also suitable tree from a cultural and historical point of view,” reads the press release.
At least 100 other trees will also be planted. These will be along the Rondeweg. That’s being done in cooperation with AtelierNL. You can find more information about this here.
Source: Eindhoven City Council
Translator: Melinda Walraven
