The polder north of Breda (NL) is a wet, swampy area. In the past, a very difficult area for warfare. With a single intervention, the site was flooded, so that it could not be navigated and not passed through by heavy artillery.
In 1624, the Spanish army laid a siege on Breda. He builds a sixty-kilometer line around the city. This line consists of trenches, camps and so-calles ‘redoutes’s, while also making smart use of the inundation fields for city defense. He built the redoutes to prevent people from escaping from Breda and to prevent an army from Holland from releasing Breda
Breda has started the reconstruction of four redoutes in the dike. The municipality of Breda wants to make the so called ‘Zuiderwaterlinie’ visible again in the ‘Low Vuchtpolder’. The first redoute has a water distribution system, necessary for the water management of the polder and for the adjacent ‘Waterakkers’ residential area. The direction of the water and the access bridge accentuate the connection between the polder and the neighboring residential areas.
During the Kickoff Meeting of WaVE, the project partners visited this first of the four redoutes, which has been restored to its full glory.
