Kazemat, Lunet IV Utrecht

English translation

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Description

Cluster 47. Double VIS-Casemate / Machine-gun Casemate.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATERLINE

Introduction

DOUBLE VIS-CASEMATE / MACHINE-GUN CASEMATE on Lunet IV, as executed in limited, serial form and in reinforced concrete, added to the existing defence system, small fortification work. Such works formed part of the modernisation of the defence via so-called 'living field fortification', which usually had a dispersed character. Between 1928 and 1935, the Instruction for Establishing Positions no. 77 (V.I.S.) appeared in a number of parts. These manuals arose from the desire to standardise 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 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 forms. Various construction possibilities were given per casemate type (both single and double), which could be adapted to the (wartime and terrain) conditions under which construction had to take place. The armament (cannon or machine gun) and the resistance capacity could also differ per structure (namely W 12-15, W 15-21 or W 21-28). The first part of the V.I.S. was part VII, Construction of heavy reinforced concrete shelters. It was valid from the date of publication as a standard for the entire Dutch armed forces. Contrary to what the title suggests, part VII deals mainly with combat positions. Only two of the ten example designs concern shelters. The instructions from the V.I.S. were highly theoretical in nature or based on knowledge and experiences 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 in tactical-technical terms. 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 to already constructed works. In the Fortress Holland, a total of approximately 40 V.I.S. casemates were built, of which 34 were on new or improved accesses in the Eastern Front Fortress Holland. Some of these were constructed on the Lunettes near Utrecht, including a double version on Lunet III and another on the east side of Lunet IV. Double VIS-casemates are very rare, because only a few were built, and moreover not all of them still exist.

Description

The DOUBLE VIS-CASEMATE / MACHINE-GUN CASEMATE on Lunet IV is one of the V.I.S. casemates that were built in the mid-1930s on the four Lunettes near Utrecht. The casemate was constructed for covering and defending the Houtense Vlakte access. The casemate, executed in reinforced concrete, is largely hidden beneath a layer of earth, but the facades with entrances and shooting apertures are partly visible despite the covering. The work was built according to the Instruction for Establishing Positions V.I.S. The casemate is one storey high and rectangular in form, with a flat roof. On the side of the shooting apertures for the machine gun, the walls have a thickness of 2.30 m, on the upper side there is a covering of 1.50 metres of concrete, plus a layer of earth. The funnel-shaped inner walls of the shooting apertures are reinforced with a toothing of rail bars. The two entrances are located in the nearby long facade. Above entrance in relief "1935". The entrances lead directly into the waiting rooms for personnel. Both waiting rooms have a short passage to the combat rooms for machine guns. Both waiting rooms are moreover connected to each other by a short corridor. The interior still includes various recognisable components, such as the emplacement for the weapon, the shooting apertures and remains of closure devices.

Valuation

The DOUBLE VIS-CASEMATE / MACHINE-GUN CASEMATE on Lunet IV is of general importance because of:

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

* Military-historical values as part of a continuous military defence line between the former Zuiderzee and the Biesbosch. This consisted mainly of a coherent system of inundation fields and associated inundation facilities and shooting fields. This system was supplemented with diverse types of built or constructed (defence) works dating from different periods, which served to or contributed to the closure of terrain not to be inundated or other accesses.

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

The component dates from 1935 and is an example of a casemate built according to the Instruction for Establishing Positions. These instructions appeared between 1928 and 1935 with the aim of standardising positions and intended for their construction in wartime by the troops themselves.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the New Hollandic Waterline. Also because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex and in relation to related examples on some other Lunettes near Utrecht.

* The component is rare because only a few double V.I.S. casemates were built in the Netherlands - which moreover no longer all exist.

* The component is reasonably well preserved and can be reasonably well recognised in the field, whereby the earth covering may be considered as an addition originally intended as such.