Dutch Water Line
Central Netherlands
One of the Inundation Sluices (near Utrecht).
Type	Defensive line
Built	1629–1940
Construction materials	Flooded plains, sluices, earth walls, brick, concrete, steel
In use	1629–1940
Controlled by	Netherlands
Battles/wars	Third Anglo-Dutch War

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

History

The Dutch Water Line was a series of water based defences conceived by Maurice of Nassau and realised by his half brother Fredrick Henry. Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange - portrait by Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt Maurice of Nassau (in Dutch Maurits van Nassau) (14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625), Prince of Orange (1618–1625), son of William the Silent and Princess Anna of Saxony, was born at the castle of Dillenburg. ... Frederick Henry (January 29, 1584–March 14, 1647), Prince of Orange, the youngest child of William the Silent, was born at Delft about six months before his fathers assassination. ...

Early in the Eighty Years' War of Independence against Spain the Dutch had realized that flooding low lying areas formed an excellent defence against enemy troops, as was demonstrated, for example, during the siege of Leiden, 1574. In the latter half of the war when the economic heartland of the Dutch Republic (i.e. the province of Holland) had been freed of Spanish troops. Maurice of Orange Nassau planned to protect it with a line of flooded land protected by fortresses that ran from the Zuiderzee (present IJsselmeer) down to the river Waal. Combatants Dutch rebels Spanish Empire The Eighty Years War, or Dutch Revolt or Revolt of the Netherlands (1566[1]–1648), was the revolt of the Seventeen Provinces in the Netherlands against the Spanish (Habsburg) empire. ... Leyden redirects here. ... Events April 14 - Battle of Mookerheyde. ... Map of Dutch Republic by Joannes Janssonius United Netherlands redirects here. ... Holland is a region in the central-western part of the Netherlands. ... Landsat photo The Zuider Zee (Dutch: Zuiderzee, pronounced ZIGH-der-zee) was a former shallow inlet of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km inland and at most 50 km wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 meters and a coastline... Traditional boat on the IJsselmeer Landsat photo The IJsselmeer (or Lake IJssel) is a shallow lake of some 1250 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. ... Edited Satellite image of the Rhine-Waal fork, showing the beginning of river Waal (green). ...

In 1629 prince Fredrick Henry of Orange Nassau started the execution of the plan. Sluices were constructed in dikes and forts and fortified towns were created at strategic points along the line with guns covering especially the dikes that traversed the water line. The water level in the flooded areas was carefully maintained to a level deep enough to make an advance on foot precarious and shallow enough to rule out effective use of boats (other than the flat bottomed gun barges used by the Dutch defenders). Under the water level additional obstacles like ditches, trous de loup and later barbed wire and mines were hidden. The trees lining the dikes that formed the only roads through the line, could be turned into abatis in time of war. In wintertime the water level could be manipulated to weaken ice covering, while the ice itself could be used when broken up, to form further obstacles that would expose advancing troops longer to fire from the defenders. Events March 4 - Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter. ... Trous de loup In mediaeval fortification, a trou de loup (plural trous de loup) was a type of booby trap or defensive obstacle. ... A selection of forms of barbed wire. ... A land mine is a type of self-contained explosive device which is placed onto or into the ground, exploding when triggered by a vehicle, a person, or an animal. ... This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. ...

The Dutch Water Line proved its value less than forty years after its construction during the Dutch War (or Third Anglo-Dutch War) (1672) when it stopped the armies of Louis XIV from conquering the Dutch Republic. And in 1794-1795 the revolutionary French armies only overcame the obstacle posed by the Dutch Water Line due to the heavy frost that had frozen solid the flooded areas. Dutch War may refer to: The Dutch-Portuguese War, 1588–1661 Any of the four Anglo-Dutch Wars: The First Anglo-Dutch War, 1652–1654 The Second Anglo-Dutch War, 1665–1667 The Third Anglo-Dutch War, 1672–1674 The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, 1780–1784 The Franco-Dutch War... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Events England, France, Munster and Cologne invade the United Provinces, therefore this name is know as ´het rampjaar´ (the disaster year) in the Netherlands. ... Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715) ruled as King of France and of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death just prior to his seventy-seventh birthday. ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

The New Dutch Waterline

Map of the New Waterline

Concrete shelters at Fort Ruigenhoek

After the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed. Soon after king William I decided to modernise the waterline. This New Water Line was partly shifted east of Utrecht. In the next 100 years the main Dutch defence line would be the new water line which was further extended and modernised in the 19th century with forts containing round gun towers reminiscent of Martello towers. The line was mobilised but never attacked during the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 and WW I. At the advent of the Second World War most of the earth and brick fortifications in the Water Line were too vulnerable to modern artillery and bombs to withstand a protracted siege. To remedy this a large number of pillboxes were added. However, the Dutch had decided to use a more eastern main defence line, the Grebbe line, and reserved a secondary role for the Water line. When the Grebbe line was broken on May 13th, the field army was withdrawn to the Water Line. However, modern warfare could circumvent fixed defense lines (cf. the French Maginot line). While the Dutch army was fighting a fixed battle at the Grebbe line, German airborne troops had captured the southern approaches into the heart of "Fortress Holland" by surprise — the key points being the bridges at Moerdijk, Dordrecht and Rotterdam. When resistance did not cease, the Germans forced the Dutch into surrender by aerial bombing of Rotterdam, and threatening the same for Utrecht and Amsterdam. Therefore, during the Battle of the Netherlands in May 1940 there was no fighting at the line itself. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (850x2182, 262 KB) Description Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie (military defensive line) in the Netherlands. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (850x2182, 262 KB) Description Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie (military defensive line) in the Netherlands. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... The Battle of New Orleans 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Battle of Waterloo Conflict Napoleonic Wars Date June 18, 1815 Place Waterloo, Belgium Result Decisive Allied victory Map of the Waterloo campaign The Battle of Waterloo, fought on June 18, 1815, was Napoleon Bonapartes last battle. ... Map of the kingdom United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815 - 1830) (1839) (Dutch: Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, French: Royaume-Uni des Pays-Bas and German: Vereinigte Königreich der Niederlande) were the unofficial names used to refer to a new unified European state created during the Congress of Vienna in... King William I of the Netherlands, born William Frederik of Orange-Nassau (The Hague, 24 August 1772 - Berlin, 12 December 1843), was the second King of the Netherlands (the first king was Louis I Napoleon Bonaparte). ... Utrecht ( (help· info)) is a municipality and the capital city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. ... Martello towers are small defensive forts built by the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The Maginot Line (IPA: [maÊ’ino], named after French minister of defence André Maginot) was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine gun posts and other defenses which France constructed along its borders with Germany and with Italy in the wake of World War I. Generally the term... Moerdijk is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. ... This is about the Dutch city of Dordrecht. ... Rotterdam Location Coat of arms The coat of arms reads Sterker door strijd, i. ... Combatants Kingdom of the Netherlands Nazi Germany Commanders Henry G. Winkelman, Jan Joseph Godfried baron van Voorst tot Voorst Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Strength 9 divisions, 676 guns, 1 tank (inoperational), 124 aircraft Total: 350,000 men 22 divisions, 1,378 guns, 759 tanks, 1150 aircraft Total: 750... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...

After the Second World War, the Dutch government redesigned the idea of a waterline to counter a possible Soviet invasion. This third version of the waterline was erected more to the east, at the IJssel in Gelderland. In case of an invasion, the water of the Rhine and the Waal were set to divert into the IJssel, flooding the river and bordering lands. The plan was never tested, and dismantled by the Dutch government in 1963. Soviet redirects here. ... Satellite image of the IJssel basin River IJssel, sometimes called Gelderse IJssel (Gelderland IJssel) to avoid confusion with its Holland counterpart, is a 120 km long branch of the Rhine in the Dutch provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel. ... Capital Arnhem Queens Commissioner Clemens Cornielje Religion (1999) Protestant 31% Catholic 29% Area  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water   4,975 km² (1st) 161 km² Population (2005)  â€¢ Total  â€¢ Density 1,970,865 (4th) 393/km² (6th) Inclusion {{{inclusion}}} Anthem Ons Gelderland ISO NL-GE Official website www. ... Loreley At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (Dutch Rijn, French Rhin, German Rhein, Italian: Reno, Romansch: Rein, ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ... Edited Satellite image of the Rhine-Waal fork, showing the beginning of river Waal (green). ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ...

Afterwards...

Inundation area near fort Ruigenhoek

Fort Rhijnauwen view from the Vossegatsedijk

Today many of the forts are still more or less intact. There is renewed interest in the waterline for its natural beauty. Bike tours and hiking paths are organised with the line as theme. Some of the forts are open for bikers/hikers to stay the night. Others have a variety of uses, for example Utrecht University houses its botanical garden in Fort Hoofddijk. Due to the unique nature of the line, the Dutch government is considering to nominate the whole defensive line as a UNESCO world heritage site, as they did with the ring of fortresses around Amsterdam. Utrecht University (Universiteit Utrecht in Dutch) is a university in Utrecht, The Netherlands. ... Inside the United States Botanic Garden Inside the Rio de Janeiro Botanic Garden (Brazil), 1890 Botanical gardens (in Latin, hortus botanicus) grow a wide variety of plants primarily categorized and documented for scientific purposes, but also for the enjoyment and education of visitors, a consideration that has become essential to... UNESCO logo UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... Stelling van Amsterdam Stelling van Amsterdam is the name (in Dutch) given to a ring of fortifications around Amsterdam. ...

Forts and Fortified towns on the New Waterline

To protect weaknesses in the waterline a series of forts and fortified towns have been constructed.

:

Order of forts following the line from north to south.

Forts explicitly build to defend a town are mentioned with the relevant town between brackets

• Fort Pampus (Amsterdam)
• Permanent battery De Westbatterij (Muiden)
• Castle Muiderslot (Muiden)
• Fortified town of Muiden
• Fortified town of Weesp
• Fort aan de Ossenmarkt (Weesp)
• Fort Uitermeer
• Fort Hinderdam
• Fort Ronduit (Naarden)
• Foritified town of Naarden
• Permanent batteries at the Karnemelksloot (Naarden)
• Fort Uitermeer
• Fort Kijkuit
• Fort Spion
• Fort Nieuwersluis
• Fort bij Tienhoven
• Fort aan de Klop (Utrecht)
• Fort de Gagel (Utrecht)
• Fort op de Ruigenhoeksedijk (Utrecht)
• Fort Blauwkapel (Utrecht)
• Fort op de Voordorpsdijk (Utrecht)
• Fort aan de Biltstraat (Utrecht)
• Minor fort Werk aan de Hoofddijk (Utrecht)
• Fort bij Rhijnauwen (Utrecht)
• Lunetten, a series of small halfmoon shaped forts:

• Lunet I (Utrecht)
• Lunet II (Utrecht)
• Lunet III (Utrecht)
• Lunet IV (Utrecht)

• Fort bij Vechten (Utrecht)
• Fort bij 't Hemeltje
• Fort bij Jutphaas
• Minor fort Werk aan de Waalse Wetering
• Minor fort Werk aan de Korte Uitweg
• Lunet aan de Snel
• Fort Honswijk
• Minor fort Werk aan de Groene Weg
• Minor fort Werk aan de Spoel
• Fort Everdingen
• Minor fort Werk op de spoorweg bij de Diefdijk
• Fort bij Asperen
• Fort bij de Nieuwe Steeg
• Fort bij Vuren
• Fortified town of Gorinchem
• Fortified town of Woudrichem
• Castle Loevestein
• Minor fort Werk aan de Bakkerskil
• Fort Steurgat

In military science, a battery is a group of artillery guns or rockets, so grouped in order to facilitate battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion. ... The Muiderslot is located at the mouth of the river Vecht, some 15 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam, where it flows into what used to be the Zuiderzee. ... Muiden is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ... Weesp (population: 17,843 in 2004) is a town in the north-western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ... Naarden is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ... Dalem Gate Gorinchem (population: 34,623 in 2004), also called Gorkum, is a city in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ... Woudrichem is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. ... Castle Loevestein (Slot Loevestein in Dutch) is a medieval castle built by the knight Dirc Loef van Horne in 1368. ...

References

General

• Wandelplatform-LAW. Waterliniepad (in Dutch) 1st edition, 2004. ISBN 90-71068-61-7

See also

• List of fortifications

This is a list of fortifications past and present, a fortification being a major physical defensive structure often composed of a more or less wall-connected series of forts. ...

External links

• National Project The Dutch Water Line
• Information on the IJssellinie