Location: Eastern Netherlands
Documentation date: Spring of 2021
The Germans built thousands of bunkers and other defensive structures along more than 5.000 kilometres of the Western European coast during World War II. This was the so called Atlantikwall. Spanning from Norway to France, it was meant so stop the invasion of the Western Allied Forces.
Most parts of the unfinished Atlantikwall have been deconstructed since. This complex of bunkers, called “Stützpunktgruppe Schouwen” in German, is not only the biggest but also the best preserved in the Netherlands. It once housed a complete infantry battalion (300 – 1000 soldiers) and hence included a wide range of huge bunkers for: kitchens, a field hospital, numerous storage rooms and barracks.
Today “Stützpunktgruppe Schouwen” is part of a nature reserve. You can visit most parts of it all year, some of the bunkers can be visited in the summer via an official tour, check out the Natuurmonumenten website or the local VVV for more info. Several protected bat species life in the bunkers. Besides the numerous bunkers, visiting is also worth it for the atmospheric landscape. Wild horses roam the area and thousands of daffodils sprout in the forest in spring.
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