The Heerenveen plant, situated in the North of the Netherlands, was started in 1961.  The official opening was on June 22, 1962. This TekWeek from that date describes the operation. Guernsey was started just a few years earlier. Why build another European plant. Our best guess is Guernsey was in the European Free Trade Association but not in the European Common Market, Heerenveen was in the European Common Market and that had additional benefits for Tektronix,

These two letters are are the earliest correspondence we have for Heerenveen. They were written in mid-1961 regarding employment opportunities for Anne Oosterhof. The second letter in Dutch says that Tektronix Holland has no P.O. Box at the moment and gives an address at Victoria Avenue for the Guernsey facility. Click on the image to view the PDF.

 

This photo was taken in 1962. Loekie De Jong is on the left, a young Earl Wantland is in the center, and Hennie de Jong is on the right.

This November 1962 issue of TekTalk describes the opening festivities of the Heerenveen site.  Earl addressed  the employees in Dutch "Het is mij een voorrecht U allen hartelijk welkom te heten op een bijeenkomst, die ik als een mijlpaal zie op de weg naar ons einddoel: de vervaardiging van oscilloscopes." This translates to "It is a great pleasure to give you all a heartly welcome at this meeting which I see as a milestoneon the way to our goal: The manufacture of oscilloscopes." Click on the image to view the PDF.

 

This November 1963 issue of TekTalk features history of international operations which includes Heerenveen.  Click on the image to view the PDF.

 

This undated photo shows an aerial view of the Heerenveen facility.

This undated photo shows a partial view of the Heerenveen facility.

 

This Heerenveen roster is from October 1, 1966. Our copy was missing the very top of the pages so some names have been cut off. The document was reformatted to reduce the number of pages so these names now appear anywhere in the page. If you know these names please contact the museum and we will update the document. Click on the image to view the PDF.

 

This price list is from the C. N. Rood company who distributed products in Holland in 1967. Click on the image to view the PDF.

 

Heerenveen manufactured all components except the cathode ray tube and a number of products for distribution into Europe.

 

This February 6, 1970 TekWeek features the addition of a new 40,000 square foot manufacturing wing. The celebration included a 10 foot tall model of the 7504 oscilloscope. Click on the image to view a larger resolution PDF of the photo.

 

This April 30, 1971 TekWeek features the 10th anniversary of Heerenveen. Tek Holland was formed the year before the plant opened.

 

The photo this is part of a series called " langs de productielijn" (along the production line) and is of the planning department in the 1970s.

 

The June 11, 1981 issue of TekWeek featured a 20th anniversary of Heerenveen.  Click on the image to read the PDF.

 

This 20 Years Tektronix Heerenveen document is in 3 languages English, Dutch and Frisian (the local language in the north of the Netherlands and Germany). It consists mainly of interviews with employees and reflects the value that Tektronix had for it's employees. The cover illustrates the products produced, the 545 in 1961, and the 468, produced in 1981. The 468 was a significant product produced exclusively at Heerenveen for world-wide distribution. Click on the image to view the PDF.

This photo is from the 20th anniversary celebration. Left to right: Lyle Fischer, Marianne Huel, and Earl Wantland.

 

This 20th anniversary interview of Earl Wantland was published in the Troniek magazine for Heerenveen employees. Click on the image to view the PDF (Dutch)

The article has been transcribed and translated into English. Click on the image to view the PDF (English).

 

This The July 2, 1981 issue of TekWeek featured the 20th anniversary celebration.  Click on the image to read the PDF.

 

This August 8, 1985 TekWeek featured 10, 20, and 30 year anniversaries at Heerenveen.

This July 25, 1986 TekWeek featured 10 and 20 year anniversaries at Heerenveen.

 

Heerenveen reached 800 employees by 1986.  These two December 19, 1986 TekWeek articles celebrate the 25th anniversary and the consolidation of the 7600 series oscilloscope manufacturing to Heerenveen.

We also have this undated 35mm slide from a presentation showing the manufacturing area.

By 1988 there was a significant downsizing of the plant.  Coincident in 1988, the manufacturing plant at Hoddesdon, UK, the former Telequipment plant, was shuttered and production of the 2200 series moved to Heerenveen. In 1989 the manufacturing plant in Guernsey was shuttered and production of 2400 series was also moved to Heerenveen.  In the years that followed up to 1994 Heerenveen also produced the TDS and 11k series oscilloscopes.  Heerenveen designed the 2212 and 2216 combiscopes (mixed analog/digital) for production.  At the of 1994 all manufacturing activities in Heerenveen were shut down but the Benelux Repair Center (BRC) continued. Color Printer and Imaging Division (CPID) started a new entity called the European Distribution Center (EDC) which configured printers for distribution in Europe.  Network Displays (NWD) and Measurement Business Division (MBD) also started configuring products at the EDC for fast distribution in Europe.

The Heerenveen building was sold to a bible printing company called Jongbloed and a new facility for the EDC and BRC was built in 1996 on Mercurius street near the highway.

 

This 1998 photo shows Rick Wills (center), President of European Operations and Tektronix CEO in 2000, along with Charles Haagsma (left), and Dick Postma (right) in the EDC.

 

In 2000 with the breakup of Tektronix, the EDC and BRC was sold with CPID and shuttered.

There are two videos of the Heerenveen Plant on our Video Gallery page.  There were a number of managing directors of Heerenveen over its 39 year history.

1961-1964 Earl Wantland
1964-1967 Tom McLean
1967-1970 Larry Mayhew
1970-1973 Tony Brian
1973-1978 Howard Mikesel/Jan Gielisse
1978-1981 Lyle Fisher
1981-1985 Pim Brouwer
1985-1994 Jan Gielisse
1994-1996 Gerd Lindemann
1996-1998 Frederic Servant
1998-2000 Dick Postma

Click on the page image below to open a PDF article on the history of Heerenveen by Gerrit de Vries and Aletta van Meurs.

 

Gerrit de Vries posted 75 photos on the Facebook Heerenveen page to celebrate the 75th anniversary. We have compiled all the photos into this album. Click on the image to view the PDF.

 

We have two undated photos from Heerenveen. The second we do not know the individuals or the occasion so let the museum know if you can add any details.

 

Here are some photos from the Heerenveen plant.

 

The building is currently used in the  production of Bibles and will be torn down for new development in 2026/27. Former Heerenveen employees were able to tour the building on November 22, 2024. Dick Vuijk was one of the tour guides and made this video commemorating the day. The video is subtitled in Dutch so here are the English translations.

At start:
A serenade to Jongbloed printing companies as a thank you for the hospitable reception of ex-Tektronix employees.
Made possible on Friday, November 22, 2024 by the tireless efforts of Gerrit de Vries
who spared no effort or expense to contact the management of Jongbloed printing companies.
Thanks to him we were able to walk once more over these historic grounds, which are now even sacred ground
because of the many Bibles that are now printed here in several languages.

 At 0:49
And also a reminder to telephone operator Aad van de Berg who always turns off the radio on Friday Morning
on the EO that broadcasted the Musical Fruit Basket. Opinions about this were divided…

At 1:09
Here once was the 7000 line where the plug-ins were made …

At 1:17
Marijke Broorsmal’s canteen.

At 1:55
The warehouse and the metal shop used to be here.

At 2:43 a slideshow of photos from the visit begins
On November 22, 2024, the time had come: around 70 former colleagues met each other again here

At 2:55
Former workplace Gerrit (on the left)

At 6:11
Jongbloed order processing department
workplace Aad van de Berg: “any recovery reports can still be passed on”

At 6:35
Tektronix canteen where many anniversaries were also celebrated