The city forest of Eindhoven, which includes the De Wielewaal estate and the Philips de Jonghpark, has a new name, Lichtbos Eindhoven.
A three-person jury consisting of Alderperson Rik Thijs, city marketeer Peter Kentie and Eline Hintzen, a great-granddaughter of Frits Philips, chose the name. According to the trio, this name came out on top of 389 entries. And not without reason, as the name attaches a reference to the city’s history.
“Because Philips has grown with light all over the world, and so the forest will always remain connected to the Philips family. Which has been and will always be of unprecedented importance to Eindhoven,” according to the jury.
29 million euros
Lichtbos Eindhoven, which covers the green area between the Boschdijk, the Beatrixkanaal, the Anthony Fokkerweg and the Elburglaan, is a collection of estates, parks and country houses. For example, De Mispelhoef, De Grote Beek, the Philips de Jonghpark, Philips van Lenneppark, Welschap and the De Wielewaal estate are part of the city forest.
The city bought the latter two years ago for 29 million euros. Recently, 3.6 million euros were set aside to make the estate accessible to the public. The municipality of Eindhoven wants to start opening up De Wielewaal next year.
