On 1 January 2027, an era will end: Koos Cornelissen and Frank van den Nieuwenhof will hand over Café Wilhelmina to two familiar faces from their team. Janneke van Hooff and Siem Brouwer, who have been active in the business for years, will take over.
Janneke has been associated with the well-known Eindhoven café for over fourteen years and has recently worked as a full-time manager. Siem is known as Wilhelmina’s resident DJ, among other things, and will soon focus mainly on programming. “We think it’s a bit early to give it much publicity,” says Janneke cautiously. “We are still busy with the paperwork. Once everything is in place, we want to share a photo and our story with the four of us.”
The heart of the city
For decades, Café Wilhelmina, or Willemien for short, has been a household name in Eindhoven. Not only as a music café, but also as a home base for numerous choirs, music associations, and sports clubs. For example, the Wilhelmina fanfare, the Wilhelmina Men’s Choir, and the women’s choir De Vrouwen van de Hendrik rehearse in the café. Cycling clubs such as TWC Wilhelmina and the Prins Hendrik Wielervereniging also start and finish from Wilhelmina. And on match days, the café is filled with PSV supporters: it is located close to the Philips Stadium.
The café also forms the heart of Konincklycke Carnavalsvereniging Cafee Wilhelmina, which made history in 2024 with the first female city prince of Eindhoven: Rosa van den Nieuwenhof, daughter of owner Frank.
The current owners took over the café from Will Klappe and Hans Neutkens in 2003. While Frank mainly took on the daily management, Koos was responsible for the music programming. He also regularly appeared on stage as a guitarist. The atmosphere has changed little since then. Wilhelmina remained the place for singing, dancing, beer, coffee, laughter, and sometimes a tear. Even the interior has hardly changed in the past 55 years.
Change and farewell
However, change is on the way, even from outside. Wilhelminaplein is being redesigned, with more greenery, less traffic, and a more pleasant terrace for the café’s visitors.
A new chapter is dawning for Koos and Frank. Koos calls the farewell ‘exciting’ but also looks forward to the peace. “I could easily go on holiday for three months,” he says. “I can let go.” Yet the music remains close by. His guitar is never far away: “I play every day. Just finger exercises, strumming. It feels good to hold a guitar.”
The official transfer will take place on 1 January 2027. Then a new chapter will begin for Café Wilhelmina.
Source: Studio040
Translate: Ayşenur Kuran
