Kazemat, Woudrichem

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Cluster 81.

NEW HOLLAND WATERLINE

Introduction

Three CONCRETE BLOCKS OF CAST-STEEL DOMED CASEMATES TYPE G (also: casemates with cast-steel dome, type G) as components of the linear and access defence of the complex Intermediate Position Woudrichem-Werkendam and as 20th-century additions to the existing defence. In 1936, as a supplement to the reinforced concrete casemate, the so-called cast-steel domed casemate was introduced in the Netherlands, which was based on a system already applied in France in 1917. The armoured domes used were small in size (favourable with regard to visibility and hit probability), round in form (favourable with regard to deflecting hits and strength), relatively simple to produce in series, and they had an 'external' firing opening (favourable with regard to gases and noise). Moreover, they could be manufactured in the Netherlands, which significantly reduced dependence on foreign countries. A first order of 100 units in the Netherlands (from DEMKA) was however followed by a second of 50 units from the Belgian Soc. Anonyme John Cockerill. In total, over 700 must have been cast in a short time, but only a few of these have survived. The cast-steel domes, with a diameter of 1.75 m and thicknesses of 10-17 centimetres, were installed in multiple casemate types with resistance classes W 12-15 to W 21-28.

Shortly before the start of the Second World War, so-called Cast-Steel Domed Casemates Type G were built in various places in the Dutch lines, notably in the Ijssel Line, the Maas Line, the Grebbe Line (each approximately 150) and the New Holland Waterline (approximately 80 in a reinforced version). The usual construction of reinforced concrete with one or more fixed firing ports was hereby abandoned in favour of a system that possessed a firing direction that could be projected within variable limits (up to 270°), within a cast-steel cylinder with domed roof. Most domes were placed in the Domed Casemates Type G. Cast-Steel Domed Casemates Type G were built according to a standardised design and consist of a cast-steel dome (usually removed), which was anchored in a reinforced concrete structure. On the front side was a firing port with a cantilevered section - an 'eyebrow' for protection of the weapon - and on the other side an entrance closed by a steel hatch. The concrete structure consists of a relatively low rectangular storey, with a bevelled section on the front side, to achieve maximum field of fire. The standard armament for domed casemates in the New Holland Waterline consisted of a heavy machine gun. The firing port and the access to the casemate could be sealed 'gas-tight' from within.

During the Second World War, the vast majority of domes inland were demolished by the occupier from the casemates - partly by blowing them up - to be melted down for other steel requirements. At the coast they were partly incorporated into the defence, but were mostly demolished after the war nonetheless. As a result, complete domed casemates are rare, but they are found, among other places, still on the Fort at Vechten. The concrete structures in which they were placed are more common - but usually in damaged form. The three preserved Concrete Blocks of Cast-Steel Domed Casemates Type G within the complex Intermediate Position Woudrichem-Werkendam were part of the defence of the access over the bank levee / current ridge of the former streamlet the Alm, which was difficult or impossible to inundate.

Description

The three CONCRETE BLOCKS OF CAST-STEEL DOMED CASEMATES TYPE G (also: casemates with cast-steel dome, type G) are relatively low, almost square, concrete consoles (approximately 7.00 x 6.50 x 3.00 m; w x d x h), with at the height of the space hollowed out for the dome a rearward sloping surface. On the rear side they have a hollow in the concrete to allow access to the dome. Two of them lie on the north side of the bank levee / current ridge to the south-east of Sleeuwijk, near the Roef and the Oudendijk, the third lies to the south of the bank levee / current ridge of the former Alm, somewhat north-east of the Fort on the Uppelse Dijk. The three domed casemates were deprived of their domes in the course of the Second World War and suffered concrete damage in the process.

Valuation

The three CONCRETE BLOCKS OF CAST-STEEL DOMED CASEMATES TYPE G (also: casemates with cast-steel dome, type G) within the complex Intermediate Position Woudrichem-Werkendam are of general interest by virtue of:

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

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic building, which is based on the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

This concerns components from the period 1939-1940, namely some concrete remains of casemates with cast-steel dome, type G.

* Ensemble value and situational values as components of the New Holland Waterline in general and by virtue of the (mutual) functional, functionally-spatial and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The components are representative (characteristic) because they have been preserved in a clearly recognisable linear relationship with other components of the complex.

* The components are reasonably well preserved because important physical characteristics have remained recognisable despite wilful, partial dismantling of the works.