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Stelling van Amsterdam, an early Dutch military floodwater system
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The Stelling van Amsterdam, a city wall made of water,1 was a military floodwater system intended as a defense of last refuge during any invasion of the Netherlands.
Constructed between 1874 and 1920,2 the SvA was modeled on earlier Dutch waterlines.
These hydrological systems - floodplains and mechanisms defended by fortifications and artillery - required complex techniques and elaborate coordination. They were designed for precise flooding. These temporary, emergency bodies of water would be too shallow to sail, too deep to charge.
the Stelling van Amsterdam, or "Defense Line of Amsterdam,"3 stood 10 to 15 kilometers from the old city center. Like most of the Dutch floodwater lines, it served as deterent against incursion but was never deployed.
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1.) "A city wall made of water" is a common description of the Stelling van Amsterdam in Dutch writing: "een stadsmuur van water."
↑ Return to "city wall made of water" ...
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2.)The initiation and completion dates vary between sources.
↑ Return to "between 1874 and 1920" ...
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3.) The name of the Stelling van Amsterdam is not easy to translate.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee lists the name of the system in English as the "Defence Line of Amsterdam"
↑ Return to "the name of the Stelling van Amsterdam" ...
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