The museum
What can you see in the museum?
Lots of old telephones and modern telephones, telephone boxes, 15 working telephone exchanges, telexes, faxes, radio distribution, clocks, cables and measuring equipment for cable faults & mobile telephony, tools & clothing from the period from 1880 to the present. What is striking is that everything still works in detail.
The museum is housed in an industrial building dating from 1923 at the Vlaggemanstraat. “At the time, it was built as a telephone exchange for Rotterdam Noord and it still is today, where the history of the PTT in Rotterdam is revived.
PTT: Pitch, Tent, Take a nap.
Houweling in the name refers to the former director’, says museum director and one of the volunteers, Hans Noordhoek. ‘Since digitization, there is not much to see about the modern telephone exchange. This power station is therefore located in a different part of the building.’
The museum is run by 25 enthusiastic & committed volunteers. ‘All former PTT employees and KPN employees.
Palace Network
In addition to the many old-fashioned rotary dial telephones in the museum room, there is another very special one. That is the device of the then young princess Beatrix at Drakensteyn Castle. Look, the extension numbers of the palace network are still there, for example from Soestdijk Palace and the Prime Minister.
