Launch Tilburg Twilight

During the launch of this fantastic Tilburg Twilight book, mayor Theo Weterings was given the honor of presenting the first copies to the elderly attendees from Stichting Met Je Hart.

In the run-up to a major renovation of Mercure Hotel Tilburg Centrum, Niek van den Broek, general manager, came up with the idea of decorating the rooms with photos of Tilburg. In this way, Niek wanted to connect the hotel with the city. With this idea in mind, he approached photographer Camiel Donders to ask whether he had any beautiful images of the city available that could be used for the hotel. Camiel thought it would be better to make a new tour of Tilburg and capture notable places.

Photos at dusk

By chance, Camiel took a beautiful photo of Tilburg’s Palace-City Hall at dusk. Camiel and Niek were immediately extremely enthusiastic about this photo, and from there the idea was put into action. In total, 80 of the 108 hotel rooms needed a city view. A huge job, because for good twilight you need a full moon and it must not be cloudy. Ultimately, photographing all those beautiful places took three years.

Phenomenal stories

Because the result was stunning, Niek decided to contact Marcel de Reuver, a city guide in Tilburg. He was asked whether he would like to write beautiful, historical stories to accompany these cityscapes. No sooner said than done. Marcel wrote phenomenal stories for the 80 cityscapes, all with a little wink. Thanks to these wonderful texts, each room now tells a unique story about Tilburg.

The book Tilburg Twilight

The entire project took much more time than was estimated in advance. “It would be a shame to do nothing further with this,” Niek thought. He decided to compile the photos and stories and turn them into a book: Tilburg Twilight. “In this way, we can give the history of Tilburg, together with unique photos, back to the city.” Today was the launch of the book, at which Mayor Theo Weterings was given the honor of handing over the first copies to the elderly people present from the Met Je Hart foundation.

The book can be admired free of charge in the hotel. The book is also available for purchase from today for only €12.95 at Mercure Hotel Tilburg Centrum, VVV Tilburg, Gianotten Mutsaers and Ollie’s Brandstore. “It really is a gem to put on the table,” said Niek.