The forts also clearly show what changed over the years – and wars. For example, the imposing tower of Fort Honswijk was actually one floor higher. “It was a great lookout post, the oldest and largest of the entire waterline,” explains Johan van der Gun. Van der Gun is chairman of the Honswijk-Everdingen Foundation and knows the forts like the back of his hand. “180 years ago, there were six cannons on the roof, which could fire from here to Culemborg! Yet over time a floor was added. What was a beautiful lookout post in 1840 became a target with the arrival of heavier weaponry. The tower became lower and wider, with a thick layer of soil that could smother any projectile impacts.”
Along the Dutch Waterlines: more than 100 forts
