Bunker 1 Stützpunkt Brünhild 'Park Toorenvliedt'

Headquarters "Park Toorenvliedt" after the war.
After Toorenvliedt was sold to the municipality of Middelburg in 1948, it was considered to build the park with houses, but the demolition of the bunkers turned out to be so expensive that it was decided to build a city park.
The landscape architect was instructed to hide the bunkers from view as much as possible. By constructing the park in this way, the bunkers have been spared.
However, this does not apply to the bunkers on the adjacent site of what was then Vijvervreugd, which were demolished in the mid-1960s. The house "Vijvervreugd" was demolished in 1969 after a fire.
The most important operational bunkers, the bombproof command posts and the communication bunker, are still present and are completed by seven living quarters.
This makes Toorenvliedt the last intact division headquarters in the Netherlands.
Internationally, Toorenvliedt is the most fully developed example of the approx. 35 divisional headquarters that were built along the Western European coast.
Furthermore, the direct relationship between the headquarters and the inundation of Walcheren makes the complex a valuable historical monument of the 'Battle of the Scheldt'.

An information board has been placed at the entrance of the park with the following text:
This park has a rich history as a country estate and as divisional headquarters of the Germans in World War II. Children can go on a scavenger hunt along the bunkers from the first bunker at the main entrance. There is also a route app: WWll Heritage. This can be used offline and can be downloaded via WiFi at the museum bunker. The route passes the 11 bunkers from the Second World War and tells you the history of this location.
Steel plates with lines of poetry have been applied to the bunkers in the park as a work of art. The first letter on the plates with Henri Looymans' lines of poetry form a word. They are intended as a treasure hunt for the youth and play equipment has been placed between a number of bunkers.
For the European project "World War ll Heritage", Park Toorenvliedt brought the heritage of the Second World War to the attention, making history interesting for children.

When you walk up the stairs you are standing on the roof of the first bunker and you will see the concrete corners of the bunker to the left and right. From the point on the roof where we still stand there are already a number of bunkers in the immediate vicinity, including German Division Headquarters Toorenvliedt Stützpunkt Brünhild bunker 2 and of which a description can be read here: German Division Headquarters Stp. Brünhild.

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Source

• Text: Mia van den Berg / Stichting Bunkerbehoud
• Photos: Mia van den Berg