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Finish location Vesting Bourtange. Opportunity to visit the fortress (accessible for wheelchair users and for those with mobility problems, a walker can be borrowed for free at the info desk).

Many people think that the fortress Bourtange was once built to protect Groningen from attacks from the east. But things were slightly different.

In 1568, with the Battle of Heiligerlee, the 80-year war had broken out; the battle between the Spanish king Philip II and the so-called Statesmen - led by Prince William of Orange. The city of Groningen had sided with the Spanish King; the Ommelanders supported the Staatsen. William of Orange ordered the construction of a position in 1580 on the only passable road through the large, swampy Bourtang moor. 13 years later, the position was fortified and expanded with a moat, higher ramparts, barracks and a powder house. About 700 soldiers were stationed there, who could almost immediately set to work. The Spaniards tried to take the fortress in 1593 - also came close, but the marshy ground proved too great an obstacle. The next defeat for the Spanish followed a year later; the city of Groningen was conquered by William of Orange. The city and joint outskirts then jointly picked up the fight against the Spaniards. Some sixty years later, the small entrenchment was strengthened and expanded once more when the bishop of Münster marched on Groningen in 1665. This time, the fortress was meant to repel attacks from the east. And with success. 'Bommen Berend' - the bishop of Münster - was successfully repelled during the famous siege of Groningen in1672. Well into the 18th century, the Bourtange fortress was expanded and strengthened in times of war or threat, until the present structure of double pentagons and the bastions. However, the defensive function of the large swampy moor surrounding it disappeared as peat extraction continued and the area became much more passable. The cannons also had an increasingly long range, so the military significance of the fortress declined. In 1851, the fortress was officially disbanded. In the 1970s last century, the fortress was restored to its 1742 situation. Now with the aim of reliving history and making Bourtange a tourist attraction for Groningen. The fortress also seems to have succeeded in that aim so far, with an annual visitor number of 250,000 people.