Kazemat (B10), Betonnen werken Muiden-Muiderberg Muiden

English translation

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Description

Cluster 2. V.I.S.-Casemates.

NEW HOLLAND WATER LINE

Introduction

V.I.S.-CASEMATES were added in serial form as armed concrete defensive works to the existing defence system. Between 1928 and 1935, the Regulations for Arranging Positions no. 77 (V.I.S.) appeared in a number of parts. These works arose from the desire to standardise the construction of armed concrete group shelters and fighting positions, which had previously been lacking. The regulations were intended for the construction of positions in wartime conditions, by the troops themselves. For peacetime, the engineers would create other designs. Because the V.I.S. was intended for inexperienced conscript soldiers, the designs of the casemates were as simple as possible, with rectangular shapes. Various construction options were provided for each casemate type, which could be adapted to the (wartime and terrain) conditions under which construction had to take place. The resistance capacity could also vary per structure, being W 12-15, W 15-21 or W 21-28. The first work of the V.I.S. was part VII, Construction of heavy armed concrete shelters. It was valid from the date of publication as the standard for the entire Dutch armed forces. Contrary to what the title suggests, part VII mainly deals with fighting positions. Only two of the ten example designs concern shelters. The regulations from the V.I.S. were largely theoretical in nature or based on knowledge and experience from neighbouring countries and the First World War. There were therefore various critical voices from military circles, both regarding the health risks to personnel, and from a tactical and technical perspective. Only after a number of V.I.S.-casemates (in peacetime) had been built, did a training casemate come into existence, intended for the training of operating personnel. This led to some adjustments of the already-built works. In the Fortress Holland a total of approximately 40 V.I.S.-casemates were built, of which 34 pieces at new or improved accesses in the Eastern Front Fortress Holland. Near the V.I.S. machine-gun casemate Hakkelaarsbrug-South, some tetrahedra remain as remnants of a roadside anti-tank obstacle from the mobilisation period 1939-1940.

Description

Four V.I.S.-CASEMATES as remaining elements of the defence of an important access recently realised. In 1931 a number of V.I.S.-casemates were built to defend the state road Amersfoort-Amsterdam, which formed a new access within the inundation fields between Muiden and Muiderberg. Of these the machine-gun casemates Hakkelaarsbrug-South, Hakkelaarsbrug-North and Muiden-West and the gun casemate Muiden-East remain. Hakkelaarsbrug-South is located south of the state road Amersfoort-Amsterdam (A1) in the hamlet De Goog. The casemate derives its name from the nearby bridge over the Naarder Trekvaart. The casemate served together with the identical casemate Hakkelaarsbrug-North (located in the complex Concrete Works Muiderberg, south-east of the Googweg) to provide flanking fire at the meanwhile demolished gun casemate Hakkelaarsbrug-Middle. The V.I.S. machine-gun casemate Muiden-West lies at the Weesper Binnenweg on the western bank of the Vecht directly south of Muiden and was, together with the meanwhile also demolished machine-gun casemate Muiden-Middle, intended to provide flanking fire at the V.I.S. gun casemate Muiden-East. The latter is located at the Zuidpolderweg east of Muiden.

The casemates, constructed in armed concrete, are partly built up. Each casemate was built according to the Regulations for Arranging Positions (V.I.S.) no 77, type V. The casemate is one storey high and rectangular in shape with a flat roof. On the side of the embrasure for the machine gun, the walls have a thickness of between 1.80 m and 2.30 m, on the upper side there is a covering of 1.50 metres of concrete, in principle provided with a layer of earth. The entrance of Hakkelaarsbrug-South is located on the left in the east wall, at both Muiden-West and Muiden-Middle in the west wall. The entrance gives onto a right-angled corridor to which two rooms adjourn. The first room was a waiting room for personnel and had a periscope, the second a fighting room for the machine gun or gun. Both rooms have a rifle embrasure in the direction of the corridor. For the machine gun or gun there is an embrasure on the other side. At Hakkelaarsbrug-South this is the west wall, at Muiden-West and Muiden-Middle the east wall. The funnel-shaped walls of these embrasures are reinforced with a toothing of rail bars.

Valuation

The four V.I.S.-CASEMATES within the complex Concrete Works Muiden-Muiderberg are of general interest because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Holland Water Line as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially realised from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others over approximately 125 years.

* Architectural-historical values in particular as an expression of military-strategic architecture, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th centuries), b. the race with increasingly powerful offensive means (20th century) c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century)

The components date from 1931 and are examples of V.I.S.-casemates, according to the Regulations for Arranging Positions.

* Ensemble value and situational values as components of the New Holland Water Line and because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The components are fairly rare because only 40 V.I.S.-casemates were built in the Netherlands and because of the mutual relationship between the various casemates which had to defend the state road Amersfoort-Amsterdam between Muiden and Muiderberg. One of the associated casemates, Hakkelaarsbrug-North, is located in the complex Concrete Works Muiderberg.

* The components are preserved in fairly good condition and can still be readily recognised as such in the field.