TIMETUBE 2 km long permanent artwork

In 2025

TIMETUBE

In the years 1832-1834 there has been a dutch army camp of King Willem I close to Oirschot. Ten thousand soldiers spend two summers in this camp.

All this happened on a large open field. The camp was called the linnen city and was two kilometres long. Today it’s a forest with no references to this large camp. Many small artifacts have been found of the camp and with archeological research the camp has been discovered. It will become a national archeological side.

The artworks TIMETUBE wants to give the people visiting the forest a direct experience of the camp. A reference is made by the resurrection of the Prinsentent. The tent of Willem I, with lasered in the large table the drawing of the camp from 1832.

And a line of gates in the shape of the entrance of a tent. Every 30 meters there is a gate on the line exactly in the direction where the tents have been standing. This line passes now through the forest in an angle to the present direction of the pathways. If you walk on the forest path you are in the today world if you follow the line of the gates you entered the TIMETUBE and you are moving in the past.

The permanent artwork TIMETUBE is commissioned by the city of Oirschot & the ministry of Defence.
Kunstloc Brabant en RCE rijksdienst voor het cultureel erfgoed were strongly involved.

Graphic design of the sign and the large table by Ruud Willems.
Construction by Fons Snelder and his team.

Thanks to: Netty van de Kamp, Toon Verspaandonk, Jose Schreurs, Bart Nootebos, Ellen Boersma, Doke Sweere & many others.

The line of gates starts at this point. Along road De Hanenberg in Oostelbeers.
Precise location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/XbsetzXfkBMiu8QG7

A drawing of the camp in 1832.
The position of the two kilometer long camp close to the village of Oostelbeers.
A round sign gives notice of one end of the camp and it’s direction. – two kilometres back in time –
A six metres high gate is the start of the one and a half kilometres long line with 45 gates through the forest. The TIMETUBE.
The long red line is the exact direction of the camp in 1832. Below: each red dot is a gate standing in the forest. In 1832 there was no forest, it was a large open field.
Some photo’s of the different gates of TIMETUBE. Another webpage will show all the gates.
On this position there is still a small hill in the forest where the tent of the king Willem I was standing. Because of archeological reasons I could not recreat the tent on this little hill. So I created a new hill close by with an interpretation of the Prinsentent. You can enter the tent, sound the gong, sit at the table and study the map of the camp.
In the near future the forest path will become a tourist bicycle lane and grass will grow on the hill.
A gong with a sign of king Willem I is hanging in the tent.
The table has room for 8 people.
Graphic designer Ruud Willems used this old drawing to design the map on the table.
The drawing is lasered out of the stainless steel table.
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