Netherlands Antilles Opening of Bonaire Relay Station for Radio Nederland

 

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES on 6 March 1969 issued a first day cover stamp marking the opening of Radio Netherlands' relay station in Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. This particular cachet features a watercolour of the relay station and Radio Netherlands logo.

The most memorable aspect of Radio Netherlands was their interval signal, which was a version of the Eighty Years' War song Merck toch hoe sterck played on a carillon. The original recording was made at the cathedral in Den Bosch. It was replaced in August 1987 by a recording of the carillon in Grote Kerk (Breda).

On 11 May 2012 at 20:00 GMT (22:00 CEST), the Dutch service signed off at the end of a 24-hour radio marathon broadcast. This included several interviews with past staff members of the station, including the former Director General Lodewijk Bouwens. On 29 June 2012, Radio Netherlands ended broadcasting in English at 20:57 GMT (22:57 CEST) after a similar celebratory 24-hour broadcast. The final show was posted online by Jonathan Marks, the former Radio Netherlands Programme Director (1992–2003) and host of Media Network.

Source: Wikipedia