Netherlands > Via Oudeschans Back Home

Last night it rained heavily. Fortunately, it is dry again now. Breakfast is served in the building next to the lodging. I am greeted kindly and asked if I slept well. Then if I would like coffee, orange juice, and an egg. The breakfast is well arranged. This morning I want to take a walk around the fortress along the former defensive line. The girl at the breakfast buffet says it is a beautiful route. She advises me to wear sturdy walking shoes since the walk goes over grassy dikes and the tall grass can be wet, she warns.

Netherlands - The walking route to the former defense line

I take my luggage to my car. At ten o’clock, I set off. From the visitor center, I follow the second defensive line. Then I follow the dike to the sluice. With the sluice, the water level around the fortress could be regulated in the past. It was important that the land remained wet and marshy. Farmers were not always happy with the raised water level and sometimes cut through dikes. Soldiers had to guard the dikes. Near the German border, I come to the line. A pointed defensive line installed by the French during the French occupation. This line was supposed to resist the first attack of the Prussians. The walk continues through a meadow. I don’t see a path here. I walk by chance toward the other corner. There is no exit here. Carefully, I test whether the barbed wire is electrified. It is not. I climb over it. Further on, I see the spot where I should have come out of the meadow. I had not read the text carefully. I follow the road back to Bourtange. Via the three red access bridges, I return to the fortress. Despite the threatening sky, it has remained dry. In twenty minutes, I drive to a second fortress nearby: Oudeschans.

Netherlands - The museum in Oudeschans

Before I realize it, I cross into Germany. I don’t see a border, but suddenly the signs are in German. After a few kilometers, I enter the Netherlands again. Like Bourtange, Oudeschans had to cut off supplies to Groningen to drive out the Spaniards. Count William Louis sailed with ships over the Wadden Sea and entered the Dollard bay. At the mouth of the Aa River, in 1593 he had the fortress Bellingwolderschans built. Successfully, because in 1594 the strategically located Groningen fell. Due to the drying of the Dollard, Bellingwolderschans lost its strategic location. A new fortress was built further north: Nieuweschans. Bellingwolderschans was renamed Oudeschans. In the 19th century, the fortress fell into disrepair. Like in Bourtange, the moats were filled in and ramparts dug away. Fortunately, efforts are also being made here to restore the fortress. On Voorstraat in the fortress, I order coffee and a sandwich. Lovely in the sun on the terrace. Afterwards, I walk the fortress wall around the village. I have booked the fortress museum for one o’clock. The museum is just opening. I turn out to be the only visitor. Especially for me, the video about the history of Oudeschans is started. On the first floor, there is an exhibition about the liberation of this region. It appears the area was first liberated by the Poles, then retaken by the Germans, and finally definitively liberated by the Canadians. Many casualties occurred during those final days. A walking route is marked through the fortress. I decide not to follow it and wander through the narrow streets by myself. It’s not that big anyway. Then I return to the parking lot. As the last stop of the day and of the holiday, I drive to Midwolda.

Netherlands - The Ennemaborg coach house in Midwolda

Here stands the Ennemaborg coach house. Nowadays, an artist lives in the house. Today the exhibition is open. I look at the abstract paintings. It seems like something is hanging on every bit of wall. In the basement, you can even leaf through the paintings. I skip this. I walk into the forest behind the 18th-century coach house. I continue the walk by Gronings Landschap through the narrow strip of nature. It consists of a mix of grasslands and forests. Wild horses graze the area. Where I saw no horses this morning in Bourtange, here I do see the horses grazing on the meadows. They keep a safe distance from the walking paths. After an hour, I am back at the coach house. Before driving back home, I order some food at a snackbar in Scheemda. Then I set the navigation. It is over two and a half hours and 250 kilometers back home. Just after seven o’clock, I am back home after a surprising week through the Netherlands.