The Middle Ages is the era of fortification. As soon as cities emerge, inhabitants feel the need to defend themselves against anyone intent on targeting their prosperity. As weapons improve, high, thick walls and heavy gates no longer suffice. Cities hide behind heavy ramparts featuring bastions, ravelins, and lunettes. In France, the fortification engineer Vauban elevates the art of designing impregnable fortresses to great heights.

Menno van Coehoorn adapts Vauban’s ideas to the Dutch situation. Here, it is not necessarily a broad rampart that must repel the enemy; water can help! He incorporates inundations into the defense of city and country. The Bergen op Zoom sections of the Southern Water Line show the final stage of fortification construction in the Netherlands, with everything represented therein: bastions, ravelins, lunettes, glacis, and inundations, but also listening tunnels, kilometers-long galleries, and ‘flutter mines’. Much of the fortification has been demolished; Not visible, but often still present below ground level. We are talking about the ‘Hidden Fortress’. In Bergen op Zoom, a part has been uncovered and is open to visitors. In a cellar, you will find the remains of a section of the fortress, including the remnants of a massive stair tower, the ‘Galerie Majeure’, and fluttering mines. Then there is the unique situation where a scale model was made in 1750, depicting the entire city with every house and the complete fortress in detail. All together, it measures about 15 by 6 meters. In the Menno van Coehoorn tour, you get a complete picture of Menno van Coehoorn’s fortress, starting with the scale model of Bergen op Zoom in 1750. There, we have a full overview and see the strategic ingenuity of Menno van Coehoorn. Then we proceed through the city to a still-existing ravelin, descend into the casemates, and imagine ourselves as soldiers peering at the enemy through the loopholes. Finally, we see the excavated remains in the Cellar and are surprised on giant screens by the story of the French siege in 1747, which put an end to the illustrious fortress. Prices and reservations Would you like to join the Menno van Coehoorn tour? Book via the Stadsgidsen Bergen op Zoom website or VVV Brabantse Wal. Price € 14 per person. Minimum group size 6 people, maximum group size 12 people. Reservations for groups smaller than 6 people are possible. The price is then € 84 per walk.