The Kamerlingh Onnes Building is a university building and former laboratory in Leiden (Steenschuur 25).
The building is named after physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853–1926). A century ago, he achieved the remarkable feat of liquefying the noble gas helium at a temperature of –269°C, just above absolute zero. This groundbreaking discovery inspired the building’s nickname: “the coldest place on Earth.”
The ECG’s birthplace
It is important to note that in this building Willem Einthoven created the electrocardiogram (ECG), life-saving discovery for which he got the Nobel prize in Medicine in 1924.
At that time, the laboratory was one of the most important centres worldwide in the field of theoretical and experimental physics.
It now houses the faculty of Law of the University of Leiden.
We also find information boards about the discoveries in front of the building.
- Photos by Luca Borghi ti.supmacinu|ihgrob.l#| (August 2025) and page layout by Mirella Spinozzi (October 2025)
- Locate the item on this Google Map