Stories along the line

You are in the southernmost part of the New Dutch Waterline. Here you will find the largest collection of WW1 shelters in the Netherlands. For a long time, many of these shelters were not visibly present in the landscape. Some even disappeared completely underground. Farmers who wanted to get rid of one of these shelters dug a hole and the stand was dumped in. Others used it as a pigsty or made a flower box out of loose parts.

Around 2009, the shelters, and their historical value, were rediscovered. Erfgoed Altena enthusiastically picked up the project to make the shelters visible. Helped by Arie Schouten of the Menno van Coehoorn Foundation and driven by Kees van Maastrigt (who wrote a book about mobilization in this region), more shelters were discovered which, together with the forts, listening wells, sluices and trenches, formed the WW1 line; a unique way of national defense. Parts of the country could be inundated, or flooded to stop the enemy. In WW1, the Netherlands remained neutral and the army was mobilized but not at war. In WW2, the Netherlands was occupied by the German army for five years.

Want to know more about the New Dutch Waterline?Visit Fort Giessen and the adjacenteducation park. Check in advance for current opening hours at www.forten.nl

You can rent a (electric) bike from various rental locations. Contact them for availability and bike rental.