Asperen – Fort Asperen

<p class=Tabelraster1″>Fort Asperen is a so-called tower fort that was built as part of the New Dutch Waterline. Since 1981, it has become famous as a host of cultural events and has been re-named KunstFort (ArtFort). With this new designation, Fort Asperen was the first fort on the New Dutch Waterline to gain the status of cultural destination.</p> <p><strong>Waterline</strong><br />The Waterline was a uniquely Dutch defence system that was deployed successfully for the first time in 1672, Het Rampjaar (literally the year of disaster, which marked the start of the Franco-Dutch War of 1672-1678). In that year, the floodgates were opened and dams were broken in order to submerge large tracts of land with 30 and 60 cm of water. Countless ditches and gullies were completely submerged to form immense and invisible underwater barriers for enemy forces with moving vehicles. Dikes, roads and other areas of dry land were protected by forts.</p> <p><strong>Fort Asperen</strong><br />Fort Asperen is a so-called tower fort, which were forts made of robust masonry and approximately 33 metres in diameter. Construction of Fort Asperen began in 1840. It has a moat and a wooden bridge.On the 12th of April 1940, the waterline was flooded for the last time as Fort Asperen prepared for battle. The German Luftwaffe flew straight over the 19^th-century defences and dropped its paratroopers a long way away from the waterline. With that, came the end of the waterline as means of defence.</p> <p><strong>Arts &amp culture</strong><br />Fort Asperen remained the property of the Ministry of Defence until 1959, after which, it passed on to the Forestry Commission in 1986. In 1981, a series of open-air events were hosted here, that attracted thousands of visitors. Since then, Stichting KunstFort Asperen (Asperen ArtFort Foundation) has been organising annual cultural events and exhibitions featuring well-known artists including Peter Greenaway and Ben van Berkel. In 2009, the fort became a national monument.</p>”