Heusden: a rebuilt fortress that remained a town
After heavy damage in 1944, Heusden got its gates and harbour back. On the ramparts, three windmills look out over the Bergsche Maas.
Heusden is a fortified town on the Maas. After the destruction of 1944 the town was badly damaged, according to the regional tourist board. The execution of a major restoration began in 1968. Anyone walking around there now therefore sees a historic structure that was deliberately restored in the twentieth century.
During that restoration two town gates were rebuilt. The old town harbour returned by excavating a walking park dating from 1904. For surrounding houses, the 1649 town plan by Blaeu served as a basis, according to the tourist board.
The work received recognition: in 1975 Heusden received the Nationale Monumentenprijs and in 1978 a Europa Nostra restoration award. The tourist board stresses that Heusden was not meant to become an open-air museum, but a town where people continue to live and work.
On the fortress ramparts on the side of the Bergsche Maas stand three post mills, VisitBrabant reports. Volunteer millers operate them. The mills do not turn according to a fixed schedule, the mill site reports; a turning mill is therefore no certainty on any given day.
According to VisitBrabant, the mills can be visited by appointment all year round. Fixed visiting times and a rate are not stated for a visit by appointment. For information about the fortress, the regional board refers to the Toeristisch Informatiepunt Heusden, without giving an address or opening hours in the retrieved text.
A visit to Heusden thus revolves around the ramparts, gates, harbour and the ordinary town life in between. For an autumn activity or guided tour, the organiser’s calendar is the starting point.