Some cities are economically dominated by one big company player (which can have good and bad effects). Eindhoven in the Netherlands, for example, is truly Philips-Town. The electronic company had a huge impact on the development of the city since its founding in 1891. Not too surprisingly, the city also hosts a Philips Museum – which I had to visit when I was in the Eindhoven in fall 2020.

 

Philips Museum Eindhoven – Location & Admission

Philips Museum is located at the Emmasingel, right in the heart of Eindhoven. You have a lot of shopping opportunities around and the museum itself is less than ten minutes walk from Eindhoven Central Station. From the lovely NH Collection Hotel I stayed in during my time in the city, it was just a short walk was well. The museum is next to a parking garage as well, in case you arrive by car.

The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00 hrs. Adult admission is 9 Euro. The Museumkaart is accepted and leads to free entrance. During my visit, you already had to book a time slot in advance.

 

Philips Museum Eindhoven – The Visit

The museum visit starts with a chronological overview of the history of the company. Frederik and his son Gerard Philips are the founders of the franchise back in 1891. Their first product were light bulbs. Over time, there were more and more innovations. After this overview, the next stop is a replica of the original workshop of the Philips company, which is definitely one of the key exhibits of the museum.

After that, you more or less follow the products of the company. It is a mixture of a travel over time, but also by different products. Thereby the ground floor exhibits are rather about technical innovations and the expansion of the franchise to other markets like India, while the upper level rather illustrates how Philips products changed the liftstyle of generations and their customers. Sometimes, I would love to have a bit more explanation and background – on the other hand, the museum tries to be innovative in their presentation as well. The computer and home gaming history of Philips is however very rare – I would rather recommend the not-too-far-away HomeComputerMuseum in Helmond.

 

Philips and PSV Eindhoven

The development of Philips and the city of Eindhoven is also closely related to the development of the sports club PSV Eindhoven (PSV simply stands for Philips’ Sport Vereniging for “Philips Sports Federation”). I really liked this part of the exhibition, which is supported by audio guides. It nicely reflects, how PSV turned from a worker’s sports club more and more to a professional team, which is nowadays one of the big players in the Dutch soccer scene.

 

Philips Museum Eindhoven – Services

There is a souvenir store right at the entrance. Covid-19 caused the museum to implement a round course through the exhibition, which is ending in the small cafe. The cafe thus featured some additional souvenirs.

 

Philips Museum Eindhoven – My View

Philips Museum is definitely an interesting place, especially it reflects the company history as well as the city. On the other hand, it rather feels like an overview than a deep exhibition, so that overall the museum feels just too thin. This is really a shame – it strongly feels like the museum is just too limited in space to finally show its full potential. Thus, to me it is solid, but definitely not outstanding.

 

Travel-related Postings: Netherlands

Here are all my travel posting related to the Netherlands:

 

Technical Museums – Other Postings

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