Vesting Bourtange

Vesting Bourtange · Vesting Bourtange · 2026 The audio tour takes visitors back to the summer of 1672, when the army of the Bishop of Münster, Christoph Bernhard von Galen (Bommen Berend), marched toward Groningen.

How did a small fortress with only a few hundred defenders manage to hold out against a massive army?

The story is told through the physical setting. Visitors stand at the very spots where history unfolded and are transported back to 1672 by the narrator. There are three main storylines: - Military tension: the strategic location, the marsh, the defenses, and the threat of a siege. - Human drama: Commander Bernard Johan Prott, who finds himself facing his former employer, Bommen Berend. - Emotional climax: Prott sends his wife, Albertina Lucretia Schnabel, to Groningen for her safety, where she perishes during the bombardment. The most significant dramatic twist is that Bourtange is not conquered, even though no actual battle takes place at the fortress.

Multilingual audio tour in Dutch, English and German.