Fort Kijkduin

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View of the east side of Fort Kijkduin

The former Fort Kijkduin (initially called Fort Morand ) is located in the Dutch city ​​of Den Helder .

description

Guard house at the entrance of the fort

The building is located west of Den Helder, within sight of the beach. The area is surrounded by a high defensive wall, which is also called "drummer" (Dutch: tamboer ). Behind it there is initially a guard house and the house of the guardian. From here, a 65-meter-long ramp leads into the so-called “Réduit”, which was once the accommodation for the soldiers stationed here. This consists of eight vaults, the first two of which now house an aquarium, while the remaining six house a museum dealing with the history of the fort.

history

Aerial view of Fort Kijkduin, dated around 1920-1940

In 1811, Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte ordered the construction of Fort Morand in the strategically important city of Den Helder. During the construction phase between 1811 and 1813, in addition to craftsmen from the province of North Holland , hundreds of Spanish prisoners of war were used. The total cost of building the fort is estimated at around 230,000 French francs .

Shortly after the fort was completed, Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Leipzig , many of the positions he had set up in the Netherlands were then abandoned or blown up. Fort Morand was held by the Dutch-French admiral Carel Hendrik Verhuell until May 4, 1814 . On June 28, 1814, Wilhelm I , the sovereign Prince of the Netherlands, had the name of the Fort of Morand changed to today's Kijkduin by decree.

On May 29, 1820, the same visited again the defenses of Den Helder. In particular, he reportedly disagreed with the backfilling of the Fort Kijkduin dry trench. In 1821 and 1822, a 22 meter high fortified lighthouse was built on the highest point of the fort.

During the First World War , command of Fort Kijkduin and the other positions along the Den Helder defense line was given to the commander of the Willemsoord naval base in Den Helder. On the beach south-east of the fort, the first tests with reinforced concrete-reinforced anti-tank traps were carried out in 1916.

Mobilization began in the Netherlands in 1938 in anticipation of World War II , but Fort Kijkduin initially remained largely unmanned. There was only a small crew to coordinate artillery fire. In May 1940 the fort was handed over to soldiers of the German Wehrmacht without a fight . Under German occupation , the fortifications of the fort were partially reinforced and the fort was integrated into the Atlantic Wall . In addition, systems were installed that allowed trucks to be unloaded undetected. This was done because tests were carried out on new torpedoes and anti-aircraft weapons in Fort Kijkduin. In 1942, the Kroontjesbunker , still visible today, was built east of the fort as a command post for the air defense . Despite at least 117 recorded bombings of the city of Den Helder, Fort Kijkduin was never bombed during the war.

In 1996 the fort was renovated by the Stelling Den Helder Foundation and its current use as a museum.

museum

The aquarium in the vaults of the fort

Today the fort is developed as a museum. It offers a walk through underground vaults, extensive presentations of historical weapons and weapons from the Second World War and an excellent view of the North Sea . The exhibition is supplemented by a larger sea water aquarium including a 12 meter long glass tunnel under which visitors can run. This was the first of its kind in the Netherlands in 1996. The aquarium deals thematically with the underwater world of the North Sea.

The fort is now officially designated as a Rijksmonument .

Web links

Commons : Fort Kijkduin  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Over Fort Kijkduin. In: fortkijkduin.nl/. Retrieved July 9, 2018 (Dutch).
  2. ↑ De inlijving bij Frankrijk (1810-1814). In: fortendenhelder.nl. Retrieved July 9, 2018 (Dutch).
  3. ↑ Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (1815-1830). In: fortendenhelder.nl. Retrieved July 9, 2018 (Dutch).
  4. ^ De mobilisatie Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918). In: fortendenhelder.nl. Retrieved July 9, 2018 (Dutch).
  5. ↑ Fort Kijkduin. In: tracesofwar.com. Accessed July 9, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Fort Kijkduin. In: zeestad.nl. Retrieved July 9, 2018 (Dutch).
  7. ↑ Aquarium. In: fortkijkduin.nl. Retrieved July 9, 2018 (Dutch).
  8. ^ Fort Kijkduin in Huisduinen. In: rijksmonumenten.nl. October 12, 2014, accessed July 9, 2018 (Dutch).

Coordinates: 52 ° 57 ′ 2.4 ″  N , 4 ° 43 ′ 18.6 ″  E