The Philips NatLab years: 1964–1994

This article, written in honor of Jürgen Buschow on the occasion of his 90th birthday, discusses his work during a 30-year career at the Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven (The Netherlands), traditionally called the NatLab. We comment on this unique research environment and on Jürgen's way of working, and focus on his scientific work in the fields of permanent magnets, metal-hydrides for rechargeable batteries, and materials for magneto-optical recording, to which he made seminal and lasting contributions.