(Dutch Water Defense Lines Museum)
‘’Where UNESCO World Heritage Sites cross’’
Location: Bunnik, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Price: 10,50
Duration: 1 - 2 hours
Transport: bus from Utrecht central station, and a short walk
Language: Dutch / English (Audio probably also in German, French, Ukrainian, Italian, Turkish Spanish, Chinese, Arabic)
Activities: play games, learn history, walk around in nature, play with water
Date of visit: Friday 17 March 2023Website
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a location or monument that is protected because it has a special cultural or physical significance. These places are all over the world, some of the more known ones are Machu Picchu in Peru, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Yellowstone National Park in the USA, or The Great Wall of China. There are so far 1154 monuments on the list if you want to check out which one is close to you, there is a map with every monument!
In the Netherlands, we have 12 of these monuments, 2 of which cross here! One is the Lower Germanic Limes, which is the northern border of the Roman Empire and follows the river of the Rhine. This horizontal line going from the Netherlands all the way to Greece was protected by a roman soldier from the year 40 to 400 (in the Netherlands at least).
This is also how my city came to be, build upon an ancient roman Castellum.
De oud Hollandse Waterlinie
The second one is The Dutch Water Lines, which is an important line of defence in Dutch history. This is a vertical line of villages and farmlands that are so below water level that it's made to be drowned in the protection of the rest of the country.
Around the 1500’s the Dutch found out that enemies don't like wet feet, they would drown parts of land if enemies were approaching, these enemies back then were usually the French, Spaniards, or Germans. The Dutch would raise the water level exactly knee-high (50 cm / 20 inches) if you made it too high they would just get a boat, and if it was too low they could walk through it. The villages that would be put underwater would first get a short notice to evacuate of course. So in the Netherlands, you have 3 big rivers protecting us from the bottom, you only need to put guards on bridges, since without those you can simply not cross. But the middle of the country was open to attacks. So this line of land was made, which some higher-up paths, just like the bridges. Even if the land was underwater people could take roads, but on the other hand, it did force armies to take these small predictable roads, with forts full of armies next to em. so they usually just gave up
the Old water linies have been used 2 times against the French. The first time worked well and they retreated. The second time the French had leaned and waited for winter, after flooding the lands it froze over, and they could simply walk. However, the French were not prepared that even back then the Dutch were outstanding ice skaters and simply put their army in skates. The French once again gave up.
Our savior in WW1
Then they kept bettering the waterworks and moved in a bit to include Utrecht in the protected part. These new water lines were however never put to use again, but that doesn't mean they didn't serve us well. Let's skip some time, 1914, World War 1 started. The Netherlands wanted to stay neutral, and this worked. Not because the Germans were so polite to take everything except for us, but because of the tread that we had our water lines.
From found German documents they do talk about the fact that they simply could not take our country as ‘’ one can fight in the desert or the mountains, but no one can fight in mud’’.
1939, World War 2. We said we were going to stay neutral again, But German didn't take it. Quickly we flooded our lands, but that doesn't go as quickly as you might think. The big difference now was that there was a new invention, planes. They simply flew over the water, jumped with parachutes, and absolutely bomb Rotterdam to a pile of rubble. Within 4 days, the Netherlands had given up. I mean to be honest, our military back then were some guys in bikes, we weren't prepared for planes and bombs from them.
After this, the water lines were actually used one more time when the Allied forces of the English, American, Canadian, and Polish armies came to free the Netherlands. The Nazis then opened the limes to try to stop them.
What about the museum tho
Well, after reading all of that, you would assume you probably don't even have to go to the museum anymore. But I still recommend it! It is the most fun and interactive museum I have been to yet. When I walked in, I got a little bracelet that I had to personalize with my language of choice and my postcode. Now I could turn on any videos, games and talking statues. Anything scanned will be in your preferred language. And the postcode is used to determine where you live, and to make references to protecting you (if you live left of the waterline).
Usually, I love reading everything in a museum, but I was happy that in this museum all information was told to you through audio, videos, and games. There were little booklets on the wall if you really wanted more information, but that felt more optional. Whereas in most museums it's the other way around.
Other things you could do at the museum were a VR flight with a sightly moving chair to make you feel like you're really flying over the Netherlands in a parachute. In the middle of the museum was an outside space where they build a replica of the waterline and different dams and doors so you or kids could play around with water while not knowing they are actually learning how it all works. This was closed now tho because it's practically still winter.
Another great thing about this museum was that not all the fun stuff was ‘’for 6 - 12’’ or something. I see a lot of museums having fun interactive learning things, or art workshops, but it's all just for children, bro I know I'm 23 but why can't I do a treasure hunt and answer silly little questions?? In this museum it was not for kids, anyone could do anything.
they really keep up to date, as mentioned before, with the VR and other technology. But also on politics. They had this part about the war between Russia and Ukraine. How when Russia attacked they assumed it would be easy to take Kiev quickly. But it turned out to be harder, as Ukraine did the same technique we have been learning about here, they flooded the rivers. It is not as big as here, but it was also not planned. I thought it was so cool to include information like this.
Lastly, I also would like to say that this was once again a museum with friendly people, and that really just makes it all so much better. People that are hyped to teach you about the topics. I started with a guy showing me around the first room, asking me what had piqued my interest to come here and what I hoped to learn, so he could better personalize his story to my situation. Sadly I have no reasons, and I know nothing of this, but I do love learning!
Fort Vechten
It is a pretty small museum, to be honest, but that doesn't matter, as along these water linies there are so many forts. Just like the one, this museum was a part of, the fort itself is free to walk around, and the nature there is always beautiful. This is because the waterline and the forts were the property of the military, so no one could build their businesses and other buildings near them. Now that it is protected, it will still not be possible. So all of these areas are green and full of nature. Part of the fort was closed as it was a protected place for bats to sleep the whole winter, the dark thick walls of a fort are perfect for that.
Would I pay the price: no not really I think 7 euros would be the max, and I'm not such a big ‘’waterlinie’’ fan that I would go over that
Would I revisit it: Definitely, it was a lot of fun and a nice walk.
Who do I recommend it to: Dutch people interested in nature and history. Also, to tourists that are specifically into Dutch history or waterworks. Also very kid friendly
Interactive: 5
Educational: 5
Storytelling: 5
Price: 4
memorable: 3
Total score: 4,4
