engineering

Utrecht Post Office

Utrecht Post Office is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Utrecht Post Office rather than just read about it. In short: The former Utrecht Main Post Office (Dutch: Hoofdpostkantoor Utrecht, Post Neude or Post Utrecht) building completed in 1924, is situated on Neude square, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Since 2020 it has served as the headquarters of the Utrecht Public Library.

Key takeaways

Utrecht Post Office belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Utrecht Post Office to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Utrecht Post Office from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The former Utrecht Main Post Office (Dutch: Hoofdpostkantoor Utrecht, Post Neude or Post Utrecht) building completed in 1924, is situated on Neude square, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Since 2020 it has served as the headquarters of the Utrecht Public Library.

History On the site, a convent dedicated to St. Cecilia was built around 1400 for the nuns of the third order of Francis of Assisi. After the Protestant Reformation the building was possessed by the municipality of Utrecht and continued to exist until 1647. Afterwards, the Dutch National Mint was located here until its move as Royal Dutch Mint to Leidseweg 90, Utrecht, in 1911. In the hall of the former post office a commemorative plaque recalls this predecessor and the issue of the first Dutch stamp here on December 27, 1851. It is a donation by the Utrechtsche Philatelistenvereeniging (Utrecht Philatelist Society) and was designed by Dutch artist Maarten Pauw. The National Mint building at Neude was demolished and in 1919-1924 the main post office was constructed here, designed by architect Joseph Crouwel jr. (1885–1962). In the 1970s, the building was renovated under the direction of Dutch architect René van Raalte. In 2008, it was announced that Fortis Vastgoed (now ASR Nederland real estate development) would take over the building from the Dutch telecommunications company KPN. On October 28, 2011, Utrecht Post closed as the very last independent post office in the Netherlands. For some years the former post office could not be repurposed. Starting in 2016, the building was converted into a multipurpose cultural centre. Since 2020, the headquarters of the Utrecht public library has resided in the monumental building. This Neude branch of the municipal library was scheduled to open to the public on March 13, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this happened only in phases starting from May 11, 2020. On April 23, 2020, the new shop of Broese Booksellers in the rear of the former post office along the Oudegracht was opened by Utrecht novelist Ronald Giphart.

Description The former Main Post Office was designed by architect Joseph Crouwel jr. in the style of the Amsterdamse School and was inspired by work of the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. Construction began in 1919 and was completed in 1924. The hall of the building is impressive due to the high parabolic supporting arches. Six large Art Deco black statues made of Belgian Petit Granit decorate the walls of the main entrance hall. Five of these are human figures representing the five continents (Africa, America, Asia, Australia and Europe) with corresponding animals, while a sixth statue symbolises trade and prosperity. The statues and ornaments were made by Hendrik van den Eijnde inspired by ancient Egyptian and Assyrian sculpture. Van den Eijnde also created the pair of white lion statues outside the front entrance at Neude square, which were added later at the request of and paid by Utrecht citizens. They were not part of the initial design. The interior large clock at the north end wall in the large entrance hall was produced by the De Porceleyne Fles company. Richard Roland Holst created the stained glass work above the entrance representing the Dutch Maiden in the garden of the provinces. In the 1970s, the building was renovated under the direction of Dutch architect René van Raalte. After the closure of the post office here in 2011, it was restructured from 2016 onward into both a large cultural centre and offices for the Utrecht Public Library. The centre includes a library, cinema, auditorium, two cafés and restaurants, exhibition spaces, workplaces for visitors and a large underground bicycle parking lot in the former telephone cable basement. A modern extension to the rear of the building (Oudegracht side) was added in the former courtyard to accommodate a large book shop.

PTT Telecom The national state telecommunication service PTT Telecom, forerunner of KPN, has been a long-time co-user of this building. The various floors housed offices, telephone exchanges, and an amplifier station where long-distance connections converged. At PTT Telecom, this building was known as UT1. In the 1990s, much of the telephone traffic of the province of Utrecht and the Betuwe was handled via this building through the Ericsson AXE traffic centre UT1F. In addition, there was a 5ESS centre UT1D serving the Culemborg (0345), Tiel (0344) and Woerden (0348) telephone areas. The 5ESS switchboard UT-C1G handled telephone traffic in parts of the city of Utrecht and surrounding towns such as Maarssen and Breukelen (0346). The cellar underneath the building accommodated the extensive telephone cables connecting Utrecht city.

Gallery

See also KPN, successor company to PTT Telecom National monument list for Utrecht city (nl) Utrecht Public Library

References

External links Photographs and other relevant documents can be retrieved from the Utrecht municipal and provincial archive (Het Utrechts Archief, HUA) by querying its online database, "De zoekterm hoofdpostkantoor geeft de volgende resultaten". hetutrechtsarchief.nl. "iconen van de post, 1924 hoofdpostkantoor utrecht Joseph Crouwel". TNT Post. Archived from the original on 2022-03-06. Retrieved March 20, 2024.

Literature van den Berg, Ton; den Boer, Arjan; Goosen, Dick; Stoppelenburg, Nettie; van Vlimmeren, Ton (2020). Neude : Hart van Utrecht. Zwolle: WBOOKS. ISBN 978-94-625-8382-5. OCLC 1149926235. 't Hart, P.D. (1992). Een machtig middel tot volksontwikkeling : honderd jaar openbare bibliotheken in de stad Utrecht 1892-1992 (in Dutch). Zwolle: Catena. ISBN 9789072211415. OCLC 65588225. Heidemann, Willeke (2023). Rondleiders Alfabet, versie 2023 (in Dutch). Utrecht: Bibliotheek Utrecht, internal publication. de Keizer, Harry (2007). Historische Muurreclames Utrecht (in Dutch). Gemeente Utrecht, Werkgroep Directe Voorzieningen. OCLC 212427413. Meyer, G.A.E.B.; (Kluit-)de Clercq), A.E. (1917). De Openbare Leeszaal te Utrecht 1892-1917 (in Dutch). Utrecht: [Den Boer]. OCLC 64114968.

Media related to Hoofdpostkantoor, Utrecht at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Utrecht Post Office

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Utrecht Post Office claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Utrecht Post Office before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Utrecht Post Office ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Utrecht Post Office

In research: Utrecht Post Office appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Utrecht Post Office in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Utrecht Post Office is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1924 establishments in the Netherlands, Former post office buildings, Government buildings completed in 1924, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Utrecht Post Office outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Utrecht Post Office in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Utrecht Post Office means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Utrecht Post Office out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Utrecht Post Office in simple terms?

Why does Utrecht Post Office matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Utrecht Post Office?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Utrecht Post Office.