The Rijnsteeg in ’78/‘79. Only the first 12 floors were occupied at the time. Note the hoist, the workmen’s hut and the other building gear. The Nijenoord Allee was still under construction.

During the winter of ’78/‘79, pavement and parking space around the Rijnsteeg were far from finished. Therefore, living in this building required special skills…

…like trying not to lose control over your bicycle! This picture (1979) was taken for the Student Housing Department in an attempt to get them to speed up work on the road.

Winters were cold in the old days (1979), when the Rijnsteeg was just a narrow country lane, going nowhere…

Before Noord-West was built, the Binnenveld was a vast, grassy agricultural area with farm houses and cattle. This picture dates from 1979, when winter came suddenly with a temperature drop of 15 degrees in 3 hours.

To the west, in the direction of the Grebbeberg, there were only pastures, ditches and trees – brilliant for picnics. This picture (1979) was taken from the 10th floor. The big sphere in the sky is the setting sun.

A typical Rijnsteeg student room in 1979. This particular unit (9-C-5) was looking at the south, with a view over Wageningen. On good days it was possible to see as far as the Betuwe.

This is the same room from a different perspective. Note the typical seventies colours. It was, of course, 1979…

In 1978, when the student flat was delivered, the Nijenoord Allee was still under construction, making the Rijnsteeg a very quiet place on the edge of town. Note that the apartment building at the Gruttoweide hadn’t been built yet.

The apartment building at the Gruttoweide was built around 1980. As shown on the picture left, the Nijenoord Allee was open to traffic then.

This is a view from Rijnsteeg 17-C, direction South West. This photograph from 2006 shows that the South East corner of the Binnenveld had to make way for the Agro Business Park.

The Nijenoord Allee under construction in 1978.

Again the Nijenoord Allee, but this is 2006.

The next five pictures show the Rijnsteeg in five phases of its existence (and non-existence), more or less photographed from the same location. During the winter of ’78/‘79, the Rijnsteeg, although only halfway occupied, started being a new, proud landmark in the University Town of Wageningen.

Somewhere around 1980 it was finally all business as usual. No messy streets, no workers, no empty storeys left to steal hardwood for spice racks. Everyone was studying… or so it seemed…

Summer 2006. The residents had moved to other housing units, and the Rijnsteeg lay deserted. Well, not completely. A demolition team was already taking all glas, wood and metal out, leaving only an empty concrete carcass.

Another picture from the summer of 2006.

In April 2007 the building is gone. There’s just some cleaning up work to be done.

Cleaning up after the event. Soon there will be nothing left to remind the casual passer by of the fact that once many people lived here…

Seen from the Rijnsteeg, 1980: the other “star flats” Dijkgraaf, Bornsesteeg, Hoevestein and Asserpark. The red building between Hoevestein and Asserpark is the Leeuwenborgh. In this university building the departments for social studies were housed.

Same view, same location. This photo was taken in the summer, somewhere in the first half of the eighties. The big sphere in the sky is the sun, rising in the east. Must have been an early morning – or a late night…

Again same view and same location, but another era. This photo was taken in Spring 2006. Two big differences: the park between Rijnsteeg and Dijkgraaf, and the little bridge over the Nijenoord Allee.

It is often forgotten how much time we spend in places like toilets, bathrooms and showers. In student buildings, like the Rijnsteeg, the residents tend to put as much crap on the walls as they leave behind in the lavatory pan. Pictures, posters, articles, calendars, etcetera – it all finds its way to these little rooms, just to make a stay in there as comfortable as humanly possible.

The life of students is much like that of any other species. Students read and laugh in their kitchens…

…students do their dishes – and hate it, just like everyone else…

…and students, too, move on when their houses are put on the list for demolition.

Most students eat their fruit, and because of that, they are very healthy…

…students love beer and worship the Dolly Dots (the original version, that is)…

…and students don’t have the money to buy decent clothes…

The hoist in the summer of ’79. These people were travelling up and down the kitchens all day long to finish the building. Life at the Rijnsteeg was only just beginning.

Somewhere at the start of the new millennium. No-one suspected that only a couple of years later…

…a tall crane was going to eat the Rijnsteeg for breakfast.

Beneden with bicycle stands. In 1980 there is no sign of Noord-West. Across the Rijnsteeg there are only pastures.

Beneden with bicycle stands. In 2006, across the Rijnsteeg, the houses and offices of Noord-West can be seen.

Where’s the phone? I’m sure it was here yesterday!

Early in the morning around 11:30. Those students must be still asleep, right? Nope, they are gone…

The first wireless phones were huge. They proved to be a disaster for students; it was just impossible to find out who had them…

Going to college will open doors that remain closed to others. You will have to find out for yourself, though, what lies behind those doors…

1980, taken from the 10th floor: a picture of the Binnenveld, the pasture area beyond the Rijnsteeg. No human noise as far as the eye can see…

2006, taken in the same direction from the 18th floor: the grasslands have bent before the powers of man to make way for modern residential quarters.

The year 1980: the Binnenveld north of the Rijnsteeg.

The year 2006: the same area. The residential quarter is called Noord-West.

This was the Binnenveld in 1980. No buildings, just lush pastureland.

In 2006, the Agro Business Park is situated on the eastern edge of the Binnenveld.

After the last residents had left, in 2006, all the doors to the corridors were closed up…

…to prevent anyone from entering.

And they certainly meant it! Shame. Would have been a great place to party and give the building it’s well-deserved goodbye…

Whisper your name, in an empty room…

…you brush past my skin, as soft as fur.

A number of rooms on the four lower floors were equipped with their own kitchen units.

These rooms were located in the so-called T-sections.

The T-section on the A-corridor, looking West.

Another view of the same T-section. Now looking East.

The view when you’re coming out of the entrance. These three pictures were taken in 2006, after the residents had moved out.

This young man is enjoying the pleasures of student beverage nr. one: beer. The year is 1979.

The same kitchen, but the picture is taken in 2006.

Beneden, the bar downstairs; a symbol for freedom fun and cheap alcohol abuse.

Left: the commemmorative plaque that was presented to Beneden after the very first bar committee resigned. Right: famous last words…

Beneden was the first part of the Rijnsteeg complex destined to meet its maker – ‘to prevent partying and other illegal uses.’ What a shame.

One of the most famous bar sports in Beneden – except for toepen and table football – was darts. Decades before Raymond van Barneveld made the game famous in the Netherlands, some brave pioneers already threw their titanium darts at a professional board.

Reunion for former Beneden committee members in 2000. Second to the left is Miek Hommersom, former janitor of the Rijnsteeg complex.

Somewhere in the eighties. The dartboard is waiting for a game of tactics or 501.

Spring 2006. Beneden is closed for demolition and temporarily used as a depository. The dartboard is gone…

During the eighties Beneden spawned an actual darts team, which even won some local prizes.

The proud team captains with their prize.

Somewhere during the first half of the eighties. A regular evening at the bar in Beneden.

The end of days. Beneden is closed and all the bar instruments are gone

Check out those prices Beer was NLG 0,75 a glass. You can only dream of that today…

That day, many moons past closing time…

Tending at the bar in Beneden was a famous sport for Rijnsteeg residents.

During Beneden’s first years, modest amounts of hard liquor were still adequate and the Brand beer was supplied in metal barrels. You can see the picture is taken a long time ago; there is a record player, but no CD…

During the nineties the use of beer barrels was abandoned for cold storage in huge tanks. Makes you think…

A favourite pastime of certain students was playing in bands. Beneden was not only used as a rehearsal room, but also as a venue for small gigs. A band association (RAM-Rijnsteeg Amateur Muzikanten) was even founded. Left: rehearsal Modern Management in 1980. If you want to see pictures of the bands and listen to some of their music, please check out the RAM bands page.

What’s Left in concert, somewhere in 1983. If you want to see pictures of the bands and listen to some of their music, please check out the RAM bands page.

Modern Management in concert, somewhere in 1984.

All good things come to an end, it is said.

Beneden was definitely a good thing…

And it has now finally come to an end.

Between drinking coffee, visiting friends, going to bars, and enjoying all sorts of extra-curricular activities, there was even some time planned for studying.

Most of the time, though, was spent on really important stuff, like making plans for a bright future where one could make a living by producing a couple of guitar songs…

Checking out the neighbours in the new apartment building across the street.

Dinner in the elevator. Oh, and in case anyone wants to know: no-one got seasick. Interestingly, people who wanted to travel with the elevator, either mentioned in a friendly way they would wait for another car, or just got in and behaved as if having dinner in an elevator was a completely normal thing to do.

Balconies were always places of fun, whether it was for studying, water fights, drinking coffee…

…teasing hard-working downstairs neighbours with cold beer hanging from a rope….

…or just for checking out the world through tinted shades and acting cool.

The spiral staircase. How many times have you taken it because the elevator didn’t work…?

The entrance. How many times have you walked through those revolving doors…?

The mailboxes and the notice board. How often have you collected your mail here, and checked out posters about cool parties in the city…? I’m wondering if all those often repeated movements might have done something to the brain…

The stairwell with the spiral staircase. There was a time when I could take it with my eyes closed, and I can still feel the smooth red synthetic material of the rail.

Nameplates of people who have now spread around the Netherlands, Europe, or the world.

Picture taken in 1980. These are the Dijkgraaf and the Bornsesteeg, seen from the parking lot of the Rijnsteeg complex. The land in between still has its traditional agricultural destination.

Picture taken in 2006, roughly from the same location. The grassland is no longer used for agricultural purposes. It is now a park with trees, footways and a pond.

For 29 years – from 1978 – 2007 – the Rijnsteeg has been an important landmarq for Wageningen.

It could be seen from many miles away, forming a unity with the line of other star flats.

The Rijnsteeg complex has housed thousands of students, youngsters and scientists from around the world.

The Rijnsteeg, spring 2006. Picture taken from the Dijkgraaf with telephoto lens.

The Rijnsteeg, spring 2006. Picture taken from the Dijkgraaf with wide angle lens.

The Rijnsteeg, summer 2006. The end is near.

Room with a view in the year 1979.

Room with a view in the year 2006.

Somehow Babette seems to bear a lot of resemblance to a girl that once lived here…

An almost deserted kitchen in the A-wing Spring 2006

The rooms and the cupboards are all empty…

The last resident is moving out…

And the demolition contractor is securing the place.

If it ain’t going to be fixed… why not break it already?

First phase of the demolition: removal of (amongst others) windows and casings. Beneden is already history.

There used to be a cupboard here…

And this is where they had a phone…

Summer 2006. First demolition phase well under way.

A silent protest… or perhaps just the result of combining intoxication with illegal trespassing.

This building is nothing more than an empty carcass.

And we’ve got a music fan here: Sempre Sereno!

This room was designed, built, and lived in, and now it’s about to be demolished…

The big crane is nibbling away from its favourite snack.

Autumn 2006. The wings are gone, only the stair well and the surrounding rooms and kitchens are left.

It’s the same mess as back in 1978, sort of…

A surrealistic picture, especially for someone who has lived here.

This picture was taken from the Nijenoord Allee.

This picture was taken from the Nijenoord Allee.

This picture was taken from the side of the Nijenoord Allee.

This picture was taken from the side of the Nijenoord Allee.

This picture was taken from the side of the Nijenoord Allee.

This picture was taken from the side of the Nijenoord Allee.

This picture was taken from the side of the Nijenoord Allee.

Alive and kicking; somewhere around 2000.

Summer 2006. A carcass, waiting to be demolished.

Winter 2006/2007. Almost done.

Picture taken from http://rijnsteeg.bit.nl. This webcam site has shown the complete demolition process of the Rijnsteeg online. The camera was placed on the roof of the MeteoConsult building.