Battery Bremen

During World War I, 'The Zwin dunes and polders' were of great strategic importance to the German occupier. In 1916 the construction of the 'Bremen Battery' was started. This artillery unit had to protect the port of Zeebrugge on the one hand and was also part of the 'Hollandstellung' to protect the northern border of Belgium against an attack from the Netherlands.

The battery had a complex composition: the core consisted of four 105 mm guns that were mounted on the left by two guns and on the right by four 50 mm guns. Trenches, barbed wire fences and ammunition depots had been built around it. In the south, the troops' quarters were set up. A narrow-gauge railway provided a connection with the 'Sint-Paul' battery, which was located north of the 'Sint-Paulusfort' (Oosthoek) and where four 88 mm guns were installed. These batteries, together with a bunker line along the Dutch border, formed the 'Hollandstellung' that ran as far as Turnhout.

Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos