It is mid February, where millions of Dutch people should be on the canals and lakes enjoying ice skating and drinking Beerenburg to stay warm. Today's temperture is a balmy 55 degrees, with no snow or ice anywhere to be found... Global warming a hoax??
It took about 35 minutes to drive to the small town of Doornenburg, close to the border with Germany where the Rhine and Waal rivers split. The route started out going through a meadow following some cow tracks to a short wooded area. Right after that, I passed some curious ponies and walked into the very quiet town center of Doornenburg, which has a population of about 2,800. From there, it took another 5 minutes to reach the Doornenburg Castle, which is number 2 on the top 10 list of Dutch Castles.
Doornenburg Castle, locally known as Kasteel Doornenburg, lies next to the village with the same name, in the Gelderland province in the Netherlands. Doornenburg Castle is a good example of a late medieval castle with a bailey. The castle is first mentioned in 1295. It isn't known how the castle looked back then. The oldest parts of the present structure date back to the 14th century. The castle then consisted of a large hall with cellars and a walled rectangular courtyard on a moated island. There's evidence that the hall was plastered red on the outside. In the 15th century the courtyard was gradually built over. Also the various parts were continually heightened which, finally in the 16th century, gave the castle its present block shaped appearance. The formidable walled bailey in its present form dates back to the 15th century. The chapel is probably a 16th century addition while the domestic buildings and the farm on the bailey date back to the 17th-18th century. There's really not much to tell about the history of the castle up until 1936. It was never besieged, it didn't play any role in the political history of the Netherlands and no one of fame ever resided in it. In its history it was, among some others, owned by the families Van Doornik, Van Bylandt and van Homoet. In 1936 the castle was bought, in dilapidated shape, by a local industrialist JH. van Heek (who had previously also bought Bergh Castle), who handed it over to his "Foundation for preservation of the Doornenburg". A large restoration followed, which was completed in 1941. This was obviously bad timing as the castle became situated in the front line in 1944, following the failed Battle of Arnhem. The castle then became a German headquarter which caused the castle to be destroyed by British bombers on March 14, 1945. The fleeing Germans then blew up the gate building. Although rebuilding the castle seemed a lost cause, the foundation again started to rebuild the castle in its late-medieval style. In 1966 Doornenburg Castle had risen again. Doornenburg Castle is a nice castle to visit although you have to keep in mind that the present structure is predominantly the result of the 20th century rebuilding following WW2. The walled bailey is unique in the Netherlands. The bailey is freely accessible, only guided tours of the castle. (Source: Castles.nl).
After walking around the castle and checking out the bailey, the route took be back through the center of town, and towards the Waal river. At the river I followed the route along the water line towards an old fort, Fort Pannerden.
The fort was constructed between 1869 and 1871 to serve as part of the New Dutch Waterline. Originally built completely out of brick and mortar, with just one main battery guarding the Rhine, it was upgraded significantly during 1885-1895. The main battery was completely rebuilt, with armour and concrete, while two additional armoured batteries were added and the roof of the fort was reinforced with concrete. The fort had strategic significance in that it guarded the Pannerden Canal, which supplied the water for the inundations of the New Dutch Waterline and could potentially be used as a route towards the main line of defence, but the fort saw little active service. In World War I the Netherlands remained neutral, although the fort was manned as part of a general mobilisation. In World War II on May 10, 1940, during the German invasion of the Netherlands, the fort was first bypassed and then surrounded. On May 11, cut off from the rest of the Dutch army, the commander of the fort surrendered under threat of artillery bombardment and air attack. The Germans built a number of heavily fortified "bunkers", from which they could control the rivers. (The bunkers are still there today). Most of the fort was subsequently stripped of all useful materials and after 1945 the building fell into disuse. Recent history From 1988 onwards, there have been attempts to repair the fort, but during the 1990s those plans fell through and all work was abandoned. On June 12, 2000, the fort was squatted. Working with local residents and Stichting Fort Pannerden (a foundation set up to maintain and promote the fort), the squatters carried out essential repairs and held a monthly open day. The local city council (gemeente Lingewaard) forbade the open days and the owner, Staatsbosbeheer, took the squatters to court, saying it wanted to make a museum there. The owner won the court case. After the squatters refused to leave, they were evicted in a two-day operation by police, riot police and army forces beginning November 7, 2006. Twenty five squatters were removed from inside the building. On November 25, 2006, the fort was resquatted by a group of between eighty and one hundred squatters. After first threatening to evict the fort again despite the huge costs involved, the council signed a contract in December with the squatters. The squatters agreed not to live there, but four out of the group were now responsible for the upkeep of the building. The open days were once more permitted, until they left when work to restore the fort began in 2009. (Source: Wikipedia).
The strategic position of the Fort is obvious, especially once you start walking to the Pannerdense Kop, a strip of land which narrows further and further until you reach the very end, where the River Rhine splits into the Pannerdensch Canal and the River Waal. Both the canal and the river get a lot of traffic from river barges carrying containers, fuel, chemicals, etc. between Rotterdam and Germany.
After walking back along the narrow strip of land to the Fort, the route took me along the Pannerdensch canal to the small community of Sterreschans, and back to my car.
This was a very nice walk on a beautiful day with lots of history and beautiful scenery.
