Bomvrij militair object, Fort Blauwkapel Utrecht

English translation

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Description

Cluster 33. Shelters Type 1918 / I.

NEW HOLLAND WATER LINE

Introduction

TWO SHELTERS TYPE 1918 / I as components of the access defence with trench systems and the like on Fort Blauwkapel. Concrete shelters were a response to the advent of heavy projectiles and high-explosive grenades. These had 12 to 16 times greater explosive force than the grenades used previously and had a large destructive effect on ramparts, earth coverings and the masonry of buildings, which was also a reason for decentralising the defence. Shelters type 1918 / I and 1918 / II were built according to more or less uniform or standard design in 1918 at multiple locations in West-Netherlands. The total number of built examples in the New Holland Water Line amounts to approximately 225; the majority (approximately 165) of these still exist. Shelters Type 1918 / I were created mainly on the front - which usually means eastern - side of double trench systems. The Shelter Type 1918 / II is mostly built along the rear or western trench. In a number of cases Shelters Type 1918 were also built on or near existing forts, such as on Fort Blauwkapel, where two examples of Type 1918 / I remain. One lies on the northeastern bastion of the work and the other on the south-southeast side of the work, next to the berm of the Bastionweg - between this road and the track to Hilversum. This latter example lies several metres outside the boundary of the fort layout, but is nevertheless counted as part of the Fort Blauwkapel complex. Both shelters are fairly clearly recognisable in the terrain. The traditionally completely closed front or face side of the shelters was usually covered by earthworks that formed part of a glacis to protect the trench or a covered way. The earthworks are mostly no longer present or only barely recognisable. Because trenches and other earthworks have been levelled almost everywhere subsequently, the concrete shelters nowadays often lie partly below ground level. In a number of cases, in the years 1936-1938 an opening was made on the front, diagonally or to the side to serve as a gun port for a machine gun. Thus the function changed from shelter to machine gun pillbox. This also happened to the northeastern Shelter Type 1918 / I on Fort Blauwkapel.

Description

The TWO SHELTERS TYPE 1918 / I on Fort Blauwkapel are single-storey, constructed in approximately 100 cm thick reinforced cast concrete, blast-proof, military shelters, which could provide protection for 4 infantry / artillery personnel, at protection class W 15-21. The shelters 1918 / I are built on a rectangular ground plan of approximately 5.00 x 5.50 x 3.70 m (w x d x h), of which the base is rarely visible. The visible height above ground level varies. Both blind side walls are executed vertically, while the closed front / face side slopes slightly backwards to transition with a sharp bend into the roof plane sloping slightly upward to the rear. This roof plane descends after an obtuse angle at a slope of approximately 45° towards the often invisible, or only partly visible, low, vertical rear wall. The shelters Type 1918 / I are constructed as monolithic concrete works and were accessible only via one access opening, on the trench side - the throat side. These eccentrically, right-hand positioned openings in the wall are surrounded by a thickened concrete surround, which is arranged more or less in the same plane as the rear, sloping roof plane. Iron hooks in the ceilings near the entrances, in which iron shutters could be hung. The interior of the shelters 1918 / I consists of a rectangular space, which is accessible in a bent posture via the concrete staircase of a few steps located in a corner. The example located on the northeastern bastion was converted in 1936/1937 into a machine gun pillbox by making a gun opening on the front side.

Valuation

The TWO SHELTERS TYPE 1918 / I on Fort Blauwkapel 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 implemented 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 building practice, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th centuries), b. the race with increasingly powerful offensive means (19th and 20th centuries), c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

These are components from the period 1914-1918 which are examples of reinforced concrete personnel shelters.

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

* The components are representative (characteristic) because they are more or less clearly recognisable as elements that have been added to the existing fortification system.

* The components are reasonably well preserved and are readily identifiable as built components on the fort.