Hilversum is where Dutch television, film, and radio are made. If the Netherlands were the United States, Hilversum would be its Hollywood – just without the palm trees.
This is where nearly all national TV shows are recorded, series are filmed, news is broadcast, and even animated films are produced. The city practically breathes media – home to the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, as well as the headquarters of major TV and radio stations.
But Hilversum isn’t only known for what’s on the screen. It also boasts one of the most striking modernist buildings in the country – a monolithic broadcast tower built in the 1930s. It looks like something from a futuristic film set, but it’s real – and once sent signals across the globe.
If you’re curious about how television is made, Hilversum is the perfect place to peek behind the scenes of the Dutch media industry.
