- Type
- Fortress
- Built
- 1887 · 19th century
- Location
- North Holland, Netherlands
- Heritage
- part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (an old town or a valley, for example)
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 52.3647°, 5.0689°
History
The fort was meant to guard the entrance to the IJ and the port of Amsterdam from the then open Zuiderzee, together with batteries on the Vuurtoreneiland and at Diemerdam. Work began in 1887 with the building of an island on the Pampus shoal, and the fort itself, standing on some 3,800 piles, was completed in 1895; its main armament was four 24 cm Krupp guns in two revolving armoured cupolas. The fort only had its full garrison of about 200 men during the First World War and never saw action. Once the Afsluitdijk closed off the Zuiderzee in 1932 it lost its purpose, and the army left in 1933. During the occupation the Germans removed the guns and cupolas for scrap, and in the winter of 1944–1945 local people walked across the ice to strip out its timber for fuel. In 1990 the fort was bought by the Pampus Foundation, which secured the buildings and opened them to visitors.
What to see
In season, usually from spring to autumn, a ferry runs to the island from Muiden (a crossing of about 20 minutes), and boats also sail from Amsterdam; it can be reached by private boat too. Visitors explore the oval brick-and-concrete fort building with its former quarters and magazines, the dry moat and the counterscarp, and by the harbour stands the island's only gun, recovered from the wreck of a German minesweeper lost in 1917. In summer the island hosts family activities and other events.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q924769
Popularity: articles about this site in 15 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).