BOMBPROOF BARRACKS HAERLEM

Military living

Strict, solid and functional. This brick colossus unmistakably had a military purpose. It was the bombproof barracks. The classrooms offered a safe shelter to more than 300 men. This is where the personnel of the coastal battery on Front I-II slept, worked and stayed. Mainly coastal artillerymen, but also a handful of engineers and nurses. In some classrooms, as many as 28 people had to sleep.

Soldiers and corporals slept in the basement. There were also 2 huge cisterns. More dormitories were set up over the other floors. The ranks and classes were strictly separated, because that's how it was supposed to be. At street level were the waiting room, the hospital, the kitchen and the toilets. On the top floor, next to the telegraph office, the fortress commander resided.

There was order and discipline. There was a prescription for everything. It had to be. With so many people in the barracks, discipline and hygiene were of great importance. Moreover, the army did not always attract the best people in the past. Alcohol abuse was a major problem. Those who crossed the line could count on hefty penalties. The large punishment chambers at the back of the stairwell are the silent witnesses.

Yet many soldiers had it quite good here. The food was not bad at all. Clean water came out of the pump. Bath once a week. Clean clothes. Those who were sick went to the doctor. All by the standards of the time. But many conscripts had to make do with less at home.

Solidly built

Two gable stones mention the years of construction. In 1880, the spade went into the ground. In 1881 the flag was raised. First, 768 wooden piles were driven. Tens of thousands of bricks made the building. On the roof a meter-thick ground cover to smother grenades. All manual work, from the first pile to completion. For less than 100,000 guilders.

The back wall is 80 centimeters thick. The side walls 2 meters. The vaulted roof 1 meter. The partition walls inside are also 1 meter thick. The massive brick building is hidden under a large layer of sand and clay. Only the façade remained in sight. Turned away from the attacking side. That together made the barracks bomb-proof.

But not for long. In 1885, a Frenchman invented a new type of explosive. Grenades filled with them would have crushed the barracks. The invention caused a crisis in fortification. Brick went out of fashion. Engineers sought refuge in concrete. At 'Fort Haerlem' – as the barracks are popularly called in Hellevoetse – everything remained the same. And it remained the most striking military building in the fortress.

Current Usage

The building is currently used by three institutions:

• Scouting Hellevoetsluis
  As part of Scouting Netherlands, this association offers children from 5 to 23 years old a natural and adventurous game.
• Musicians' consultation Hellevoetsluis (MOH)
  Gives musicians an opportunity to practice their hobby in various rooms in the basements of barracks Haerlem.
• Hellevoetsluis Defence Works Foundation (Fronttaal)
  This foundation organizes various activities to draw attention to the special military heritage of Hellevoetsluis.