Kazemat, Biltsestraatweg bij 160

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 38. V.I.S.-Casemates.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATERLINE

Introduction

FOUR V.I.S.-CASEMATES (including nos. a, b and c) as heavy, reinforced concrete combat positions added to the work in the 1930s of the 20th century. Three of the four casemates at Fort De Bilt are located on the east side of the work in the rampart; two specimens (a and c, both originally fitted out as machine-gun casemates) respectively on the north-eastern and south-eastern bastion and the third (b, fitted out as a gun casemate) in the southern part of the fort, in the short curtain, directly beside the Biltsestraatweg. These three casemates served to defend the important access of the road driven diagonally through the fort around 1930. The road was led diagonally through the fort instead of around it, whereby an enemy force in case of a (surprise) attack could rapidly enter the city. In the road a tank obstruction (still existing, incorporated in the road surface, but now no longer visible) was installed, consisting of a reinforced concrete block in which inclined steel profile beams could be placed at right angles.
The fourth V.I.S.-casemate (d?) is located in the northern curtain rampart between the north-eastern and north-western bastions. This casemate commanded part of the north-eastern inundation area near Utrecht. This casemate was used by the German occupier in the Second World War, among other things, as a cell and at the executions of approximately 140 resistance fighters and this specimen is therefore also called the 'death bunker'. The work thus represents special commemorative value. A fifth casemate, also equipped with a machine gun, lay in the southern curtain rampart between the south-eastern and south-western bastions; this casemate was demolished after 1945.

Between 1928 and 1935 the Instruction for the Fitting-out of Positions no. 77 (V.I.S.) appeared in several parts. These volumes originated from the wish to standardize the construction of reinforced concrete group shelters and combat positions, which had been lacking until then. The instructions were intended for the construction of positions in wartime conditions, by the troops themselves. For peacetime, the engineers would make other designs. The V.I.S. standard type came into development from 1928 onwards and served as a combat position for heavy machine guns or anti-tank guns. 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 building possibilities were given per casemate type, which could be adapted to the (war and terrain) conditions under which building had to take place. The resistance capacity could also vary per building, namely W 12-15, W 15-21 or W 21-28. The first volume of the V.I.S. was part VII, Construction of heavy reinforced concrete shelters. It applied from the date of publication as the standard for the entire Dutch armed forces. In contrast to what the title suggests, part VII mainly deals with combat positions. Only two of the ten example designs concern shelters. The instructions from the V.I.S. were strongly theoretical in nature or based on knowledge and experiences from neighbouring countries and the First World War. There were thus various critical voices from military circles, both regarding the health risks to the men, as well as in tactical and technical respects. Only after a number of V.I.S.-casemates (in peacetime) had been built did a training casemate come into being, intended for the training of operating personnel. This led to some adjustments of the already constructed works. In the Vesting Holland a total of approximately 40 V.I.S.-casemates were built, of which 34 were added to new or improved accesses in the East Front Vesting Holland.

Description

FOUR V.I.S.-CASEMATES (including nos. a, b and c), constructed between 1931 and 1936 and built as compensation for the straightening of the road - the access Biltsestraatweg. Three casemates were built on the fort and two in the ramparts of the covered communal roads; one of these two was demolished. V.I.S.-casemates are built of heavy reinforced concrete, comprise one storey under a flat roof and they have a rectangular ground plan on a widened foundation plate. The casemates are partly earthed over. Each casemate was built according to the Instruction for the Fitting-out of Positions (V.I.S.) no. 77 type V. On the side of the shooting opening for the machine gun the walls have a thickness of between 1.80 m and 2.30 m, on the top side there is a covering of 1.50 metres concrete, in principle provided with a layer of earth. The entrance stands on a right-angled passage to which two spaces adjoin. The first space was a waiting room for the men and had a periscope, the second a combat room for the machine gun or the gun. Both spaces have a shooting opening for a rifle in the direction of the passage. For the machine gun or the gun there is a shooting opening on the other side. The funnel-shaped walls of these shooting openings are reinforced with a toothing of rail bars. The casemate in the northern curtain rampart has become known as the 'death bunker', as a result of the confinement and executions of resistance fighters during the Second World War and this specimen thus represents special commemorative values.

Valuation

The FOUR V.I.S.-CASEMATES (including nos. a, b and c) of Fort De Bilt are of general interest because of:

* Cultural-historical values as components of the New Hollandic Waterline as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and originally realized from 1815 onwards 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 architecture, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th century), b. the race with the increasingly reinforced offensive means (20th century).

These are four components dating from the 1930s of the 20th century, namely examples in essentially standard form of positioning places for machine guns / respectively one gun.

* Ensemble value and situational values as components of the New Hollandic Waterline. Also because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex. The casemate in the northern curtain rampart represents special commemorative values because of its use as a cell and execution site in the Second World War.

* The components are representative because they are good examples of (partially) interconnected constructed and operating works at a fort from the 1930s of the 20th century.

* The components are reasonably well preserved because the works have remained recognizable in form, function and location.