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Visitor centres

Visit one of the three visitor centers of the Defense Line of Amsterdam and learn all about the history, water management, strategic location and current functions of the fortresses.

Forteiland Pampus - bezoekerscentrum

Forteiland Pampus

Why was the Defense Line of Amsterdam built? Has the Defense Line of Amsterdam ever been put into operation? What is inundation? What did Pampus mean for the Defense Line of Amsterdam? These are all questions that you will find answers to in the visitor center of the Defense Line of Amsterdam on Forteiland Pampus.

On Pampus you will experience how Amsterdam was defended by the 135 km long Defense Line of Amsterdam at the end of the 19th century. Have you ever taken a flight in a hot air balloon? Meet the ‘Secret weapon of Amsterdam’ in a virtual flight.

From April to October, Fort Island Pampus is open daily from Tuesday to Sunday. Pampus is always closed on Mondays.

www.pampus.nl

Bezoekerscentrum Fort Kijk
Mike-Bink

Fort K'ijk

Learn all about the Defense Line of Amsterdam and the surrounding nature at the new experience center Fort K'ijk in Fort bij Krommeniedijk, part of the Defense Line of Amsterdam.

How was a fortress built, how was the defence line kept a secret and how can you experience the inundation? What movements are there in invisible or rare nature. And what are the future dreams for the Defense Line? Follow the Defense Line as the source of all stories and participate in this story.

www.fortkijk.nl

Bezoekerscentrum Fort C (Muizenfort), Muiden
Gerke van der Hoef

Fort C Vesting Muiden

The visitor center in Muizenfort shows a permanent exhibition about the development of Muiden over the centuries and the role the city played in the Defense Line of Amsterdam and the New Dutch Waterline. A film tells the story of Muiden's origins and history. For the children there is a discovery furniture with which they can learn more about the Muiden Fortress in an interactive way. The visitor center is also a tourist information point (unmanned) with digital column and leaflets about routes and sights in and around Muiden.

The visitor center is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The address is Vestingplein 1.

www.fortc.nl

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Passable part of an inundation in the form of elevated terrain, a road, (railway) embankment or waterway.

Collective term for projectile weapons.

Also called bulwark. An outward-projecting pentagonal structure, suitable for delivering flanking fire.

A storage site for military equipment. The parks in the Defence Line are spread out over sectors (sector parks) and groups (group parks).

A battery that is positioned behind armour plates.

A fort with one or more armoured artillery positions.

A number of artillery pieces combined into one group.

Shielded position from which defenders can harass the enemy.

A (low) defensive structure that extends into the moat and can be used to give flanking fire.

A space that is protected against enemy fire and is outfitted with a gun port, behind which a piece of artillery is placed.

An army division whose tasks include, amongst other things, the construction of temporary and permanent defensive structures. The term ‘engineer’ is derived from the French word ‘ingenieur’.

Also called covert way. A pathway that is protected from enemy fire by an earthen wall and can be used for transporting soldiers and military equipment.

Also called stop-log sluice. A temporary dam that stops the inundation water when beams are stacked up in its recesses.

Water purification system that improves the quality of drinking water by extracting iron.

Earthen elevation surrounding a defensive structure, featuring a breastwork.

A (wooden) shed where artillery and military engineering equipment were stored.

The part of a terrain that can be fired at.

Long-range flanking fire: fire support for the secondary forts. Short-range flanking fire: fire that covers the surroundings of the defensive structure itself.

Known in Dutch as ‘Vestingwet’. The act of the 18th of April 1874 that stipulated which forts would become part of the Dutch national defence system.

The side of a defensive structure that is facing away from the enemy.

In the Defence Line forts this is a casemate giving short-range and long-range flanking fire.

Undercarriage for a cannon or other heavy firearm.

Shell that is filled with highly explosive material.

The flooding of land to keep the enemy at bay.

Also called inlet sluice. A sluice that is constructed with the aim of letting water into a certain area.

An independent system of connected defensive structures.

Artillery that gives frontal fire over large distances, directly aimed at enemy positions.

A simple (temporary) defensive structure manned by a small number of soldiers.

An underground connecting passageway that is shellproof.

Known in Dutch as ‘Kringenwet’. Act of January 1853 that stipulates restrictions with regard to the construction of buildings in the vicinity of defensive structures, the so-called forbidden zones (‘kringen’), in order to guarantee a free field of fire.

A chart that is installed next to the gun port to give the operators of the artillery insight into the distances of targets and the corresponding firing angles.

A place of last refuge for the defenders of a fort, which can be defended independently.

A turret that is lifted up to give fire and is retracted and thus made almost invisible once the firing has stopped.

Position that provides shelter to retreating troops.

Battery that is situated in close proximity to a fort and performs some of the tasks that have been assigned to that fort.

The ability of a building to withstand gunfire thanks to brickwork, concrete or a bottom layer.

A shellproof depot for storing artillery and other essential military equipment.

A fort’s courtyard.

Ground-plan.

A turnable armoured artillery position.