Fort Hinderdam - Nederhorst den Berg

All that is left of Fort Hinderdam are overgrown ruins on an island in the Vecht. There’s a view of the island and the fort from the shore. Natuurmonumenten (Society for preservation of nature monuments in the Netherlands) has intentionally allowed nature to erase the traces of the military past. Hinderdam has always been very isolated due to its island location. The island has a bomb-proof guardhouse dating from 1848, a depot with a gunpowder cellar and a projectile filling station dating from 1880. The area has a lot of access points – roads and waterways that intersected the defence line, that all had to be defended from the fortifications. Soldiers had to use ruthless crossfire to hold back invading troops. From the fort at Hinderdam they had to defend the accesses formed by the K.J. Toonekade (now the Dammerkade) and both banks of the Vecht. The fort at Hinderdam was originally part of the Dutch Water Defence Line (Hollandse Waterlinie) and was added to the Defence Line of Amsterdam in 1913. Between 1934 and 1939 , another machine-gun casemate and three concrete bunkers were built. The first photo is by Nanette Elfring and the rest are by Martin Stevens.