Grebbe Line

From the Eighty Years’ War until the Second World War, this defence line served to protect a large part of the Netherlands. The earliest plans for the Grebbe Line date from the time of the Eighty Years’ War, when the low-lying area between the hills of the Veluwe and Utrechtse Heuvelrug was selected as the ideal location for the development of a water line. The first canal of the defence line was already being dug in Woudenberg just a year after the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands was proclaimed in 1588, making this among the oldest water lines in the country. The Grebbe Line played a uniquely prominent role at many key moments in Dutch history when the country's autonomy was at stake. In 1945, when the liberating army halted at the Grebbe Line, it literally formed the boundary between war and peace.