16th-18th CENTURY FORT OF BOURTANGE, NETHERLANDS
Bourtange is a start fort in Groningen, Netherlands. Designed by Diederik van Sonoy, it was built in the 1590s by order of Stadhouder Willem Lodewijk of Nassau under the supervision of Pauwel Symonsz of Bolsward. During the Eighty Years' War, Willem needed to cut off the communications between Spanish-controlled Groningen and Germany. He decided to build fortifications on the Bourtange passage. The pentagonal star fort was completed in 1593, a network of canals and lakes were used as moats.
Soon after its construction, Spanish forces from Groningen besieged it without success. The fort was enlarged in 1607 and 1645 with the addition of outworks, wet ditches and a crownwork. Bourtange faced another siege in July 1672 against the forces of the Prince-Bishop of Münster, France's German ally during the Franco-Dutch war. Bourtange was defended by **Colonel Bernard Johan Prott **who was offered 200,000 guilders in exchange for an immediate surrender. Prott rejected the bribe and responded to the bishop that there were 200.000 bullets waiting for him if he refused to leave! After several days of bombardment and shelling, the Germans were forced to withdraw, later taking the castle of Wedde and the town of Winschoten.
Bourtange remained a part of the defensive network of the Dutch United Provinces until its demilitarization in 1851. The village was restored to its 1742 form in the 1960's.
-Don’t miss the Battle for Bourtange on June 11-12! https://www.facebook.com/events/653101022687876/...
-Old photographs of Bourtange: https://bourtange.jouwweb.nl/foto-s-van-oud-bourtange
-Drone aerial photography by @johan_drone_adventures
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