March 21, 2013 - A Star on Land

Bourtange, Netherlands



Bourtange is a star fort and village in the Westerwolde region of the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Vlagtwedde, and lies about 32 km northeast of Emmen.

The fortifications were initially built during the Eighty Years’ War (c. 1568–1648) when William I of Orange wanted to control the only road between Germany and the city of Groningen which was controlled by the Spaniards. This road followed a sandy ridge (tange) through the marshes.

Courtesy of Mother Trip

In the 1960′s the village decided to restore and rebuild Bourtange to replicate its state of 1742 and operate as an open air museum.



Courtesy of Just Urbanism where you can also see images of other old European forts.

More Land Stars can be seen at Decoded Stuff & Mother Trip

Dutch show-offs.

It's a trap!

That is so cool!

Star Castle (now an hotel) on the Isles of Scilly.
The Dutch do it bigger and better, but it's still somewhere I intend to stay when my ship comes in. Except I'll be taking the 12 seater plane like I did last time - better than a rollercoaster for scares & thrills.

pretty cool
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Me, I'm mostly amused by the "Modern Man's Pad" just to the SW of the fort. I imagine the street lined with... what? Very large flatscreen TVs?

Heh heh heh.

I'm not sure if he invented them, but Da Vinci designed very sophisticated star forts. The payoff is that you can position cannon in the angles where the walls meet, and sweep the face of the walls with fire, with very little exposure. Anyone trying to storm the cannon must get past the musket fire from the walls.