Tilburg is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 217,595 (31 January 2019), it is the second-largest municipality in North Brabant and sixth-largest in the Netherlands.
Tilburg University is located in Tilburg, as are Avans University of Applied Sciences and Fontys University of Applied Sciences. Tilburg is known for its ten-day-long funfair,[7] held in July each year. The Monday during the funfair is called “Roze Maandag” (Pink Monday), and is primarily LGBT-oriented.
There are three railway stations within the municipality: Tilburg, Tilburg Universiteit and Tilburg Reeshof. The 75-hectare (185-acre) “Spoorzone” area around Tilburg Central station, once a Dutch Railways train maintenance yard, has been purchased by the city and is being transformed into an urban zone.
Beverages
Schrobbelèr is a local liqueur. It has an alcoholic percentage of 21.5%, slightly lower than most bitters and has a relatively sweet flavour. The drink is sold in a stone jar and is drunk cold from own glass, a high and tiny chalice glass, larger than a Jägermeister glass. The drink originated in 1973 when Tilburgian entrepreneur Jan Wassing started experimenting with a drink with lower alcoholic percentage that was appropriate for his stomach. The result was successful. The drink is distilled now at Loven industrial area in Tilburg by the Eindhoven company Schrobbeler Ltd, without the è on the last vowel. The drink is especially consumed at Carnival. The name is derived from the profession of ‘Schrobbelaar’, in the textile industry in Tilburg. The profession was unskilled and had a low wage.
Another known drink from Tilburg is Peerke’s Nat, which has a higher alcoholic percentage than Schrobbelèr (25%) and was introduced at the beatification of Peter Donders (locally named Peerke). The drink is sold in bottles of 70 centiliters.
The Koningshoeven Brewery brews trappist beer. It was founded in 1884 at Koningshoeven Abbey.
Open air art
Tilburg has some notable art in the city, mostly supported by KORT (Kunst in Open Ruimte Tilburg, Dutch for Art in Open Space Tilburg).[38] The most notorious example is the turning house on the Hasseltrotonde, a roundabout,[39] mostly being criticised for being ‘no art’ and ‘waste of money’. However, the house was erected in 2008. Besides being responsible for newer, modern art, KORT also gives information about older works of art, like the Willem II statue on the Heuvel
Museums
Tilburg has an outstanding museum of Modern Art, De Pont, which houses works from renowned artists such as Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor and Richard Serra. There is also a large textile museum, offering not only a historical view in its former factory, but also a laboratory for design, production and development of textile as a material.
The Textile Museum: A Museum in a restored factory with striking glass entrance, for industrial & designer textiles. Tilburg has traditionally had a rich textile industry. The traces of this form of industry can be found in various places in the city.
De Pont, The museum of Modern Art located in Tilburg. De Pont houses works from renowned artists such as Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor and Richard Serra. The museum is housed in a former wool mill, an important piece of Tilburg’s history. The artwork ‘Skymirror’ is displayed on the square in front of the museum. A work by Anish Kapoor.
Nature Museum Brabant: The Museum is dedicated to natural history. The museum was housed in the former intendant residence of King Willem II. The collection of Natuurmuseum Brabant consists of stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes, animals “on strong water”, dried plants, stones, minerals, fossils and archaeological objects.
Museum Scryption: This was a former museum in Tilburg with the main theme ‘written communication’.
SEA Foundation Tilburg: an internationally oriented art foundation, exhibition space and artist residence for artists, writers and curators.
Citymuseum Tilburg[edit]
The collection that Stadsmuseum Tilburg manages falls into the Tilburg City Collection. In addition, it manages the Memory of Tilburg with more than 4400 stories.
The tilburg city museum does not have a fixed location, but operates, among other things, in the Peerke Donders Pavilion and Vincent’s Drawing Room.
- Vincent’s drawing room: In Vincent’s Drawing Room you will find a museum room where the authentic room of Vincent van Gogh has been recreated and a modern drawing room with drawing computers. Vincent van Gogh lived and studied several years in Tilburg. The house where he lived can’t be visited. The square where the house is located has been redesigned in the Van Gogh style.
- Peerke Donders Pavilion: A museum for charity, in honor of Petrus Donders.
