Nederlandse Vestingsteden Film Reaction! 

thx. for the mentioning and the shout outs, i hope that many will love this time travel trough the history of The Netherlands, grts from a Nijmeegse cheesehead, living now in Germany, and pls. stay safe in these crazy times...

A shout out to Ronny for the perfect subtitles, he did a really great job! 👌🏼👍🏻✌🏼

Okay that’s it: I’m never going on a plane holiday again; in stead I’m going to discover my own country. Never been in any of these cities so will be pure enjoyment PLUS minimizing my carbon footprint.

The story about the cunning fox Reinaert is a satirical animal story, in wich the medieval society a mirror is held up. 🙂

09:20 Brielle. I've lived there during my childhood and still go back there now and then. It is a beautiful place to visit with lots of history and beautiful nature.

am i wrong or is april first (april fools day) has his origin in Brielle?

I missed 2 important fortified cities here; Heusden being one of the most beautiful and of course the big swamp dragon of 's Hertogenbosch. Extra difficult to conquer because of the surrounding swamps. And the capitol of the Brabant province.

Loved living in Brielle and it truly was a fantastic experience to have been throughout a few of those historical events. Thanks Ronny and Highly ☺️

Wow, you did a great job Ronny 👏🏻 To be very honest, I have never seen any of these cities during re-enactments ... 🙈 Thanks for sharing and educating even us Dutchies 😆👍🏼

Check out the city: Heusden, one of the finest in the Netherlands.

Remember April Fools came from Brielle. In the 80 years war (they even had a 12 years truce), the Duke Alva (Not sure of te English spelling of his name) was sent to conquer rebelling cities. Due to what became Geuzen, rebels who were so named due to an adviser od the Spanish regent of the area, who publicly stated not to worry about these rebels because "avant tous ils sont que des gueux" or in English they are just beggars. The French term, gueux was translated to geuzen (plural) and was taken as a batch of honor type of title. At April the first, due to the fortified city only being aproachable from the seaside, these rebels supported the city and they made sure Alva lost his battle for this city. Which lead to a new expression "Op 1 April, verloor Alva zijn bril." On April first Alva list his glasses. (Brielle and Bril [Glasses] look alike enough for people to understand the meaning) This is how Aprils Fool was born. Born in such a city, not one mentioned here though :D

I saw many ancestors this is my family wapen nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arend_van_Dorp#/media/Bestand:Arend_van_Dorp_wapen.svg

If you ever come to the Netherlands, I would guide you threw one of the fortified city's named Brielle. Note: on April 1st is party time.... You will see history big time!

30 years ago I lived for one year in that Poor Claires monastery in Megen. I know the sister that comes walking from the gate very well, although she's not alive anymore. Beautiful video. Our country may be small, but it's very versatile.

Beautiful but why is Heusden not in the video? That's something I really don't understand, it's one of the most beautiful fortified cities in the Netherlands! You should really check that one out!

It's a shame that the biggest fortified city of the Netherlands and one of the biggest in Europe Maastricht is not to see. It's still the only city in the world where you can see fortifications from the Roman time till 19th century on of all the between century's.

that is so cool! I live in Gorinchem. I didn't know about this movie!

Wow that's great I love discovering like this thank you

And this was only the province of Noord-Brabant. Where is Naarden in this video ?

Van den Vos Reynaerde (about Reinaerd the Fox) is an epic animal poem of 3469 sentences written in the 13th century. It's about the clever antics of a fox and considered a treasure of Middle-Dutch literature

Dit is maar de helft van de verdedigingswerken. Want die loopt door van Naardenvesting naar Huizen via Spakenburg naar Harderwijk en Elburg tot Kampen en dan door, helemaal naar Groenlo. Tegen de Duitse grens Groetjes uit Spakenburg, Gerben T.

I wish they covered the city of Breda in the overview aswell. Breda used to be a huge fortified and star shaped city that had a big role in the defence of The Netherlands. The fortifications were almost all dismantled over the years unfortunatly. But there are a few remains left. It's definitely worth mentioning and interresting to look up old maps of the city.

I learned something through this video! Thanks for reacting and a big compliment to Ronnie for the translations!

HI! I live in 1 off those vestingsteden, Geertruidenberg. I am born here, and i am very proud. You are always welcome to visit, especcialy on 1 off the festival days. We will visit the curch and drink on the terras 👍🍷🍺

They sang the beggar song : Merck toch hoe sterck. A Dutch patriotic war song. 💪😊🌷

So glad, no Amsterdam! :-)

If you visit the Netherlands pleass contact me ;-) i live in te provence of north brabant and there are a lot of Vestingsteden in this area. And maybe we can go on a boat. My brother owns a 1911 steamtug. Converted with a dieselengine in the 50s.

Love this video. And your reaction for it. I live in the Netherlands my hole life. And even I have not seen it all. Thank you for this upload and your reaction to it. Even I need to learn more about my country

Wauw, haven't seen this before, didnt knew before that it was like this in this country. Cool to see as well and watching also the other mills😉

We saw the torture horse in my hometown Grave 18:26 and it was real torture if you had to sit on that horse.If you sit on a chair your whole bottom is supported, but on that horse there is almost no support, so after a short while it's going to hurt like hell and they left you on that horse for hours and hours and sometimes they even attached extra weights to the legs. They say that if you had been on that horse you would never commit the same crime again or any other for that matter haha, I believe them 😂

Too bad they did not mention that the April 1st tradition of fooling people stems from the liberation of Brielle by the Geuzen, because it does. What i have always loved about the story of the Watergeuzen is that the word 'geus' stems from the french word 'Les Gueux' which means the beggars. The Spanish called the rebels that to scorn them but the rebels took the word and started calling themselves Geuzen, making it a word of pride. Wikipedia calls that process of taking a perjorative and using it as a badge of pride linguistic reappropriation, but in Dutch it's still called a Geuzennaam.

Of course i have heard all these story's but so nice to see it all back again and fresh up my memory and interesting to show and tell to my grandchildren.

Born and raised in Gorinchem. Lived there for 26 years. It is a beautiful city.

Brielle, my home town!

Hallo Paul since april this year I live in Woudrichem. We go on bike to Gorinchem Loevestein and fort Vuren. Not mentioned is fort Almkerk. Also situated here. Also nearby are Heusden, Geertruidenberg, Den Bosch and Nieuwpoort. All these places are within 40 km. These vids about the Netherlands shows that we have much more than Amsterdam.

Every 6 miles another city mate. Size of Maryland. 18 million people. 2000 years.

Good job Ronny. 👍

0:00 obviously they don't exist elswhere in The Netherlands... Disasteryear 1672 only ONE stood ground and held it.. Groningen....Bourtange UNESCU Heritage site also in Groningen, the province, Leeuwarden, Diever, Ommen, Oude Schans, Nieuwe Schans, Ter Apel, Delfzijl, Coevorden to name a few... obviously made by one who lives in the American like ubble of Randstad.....

There are also old fortified towns in the former Zuiderzee (Netherlands). For example: Amsterdam, Enkhuizen, Harderwijk, Hoorn, Kampen, Naarden and Volendam, just to name a few. The Zuiderzee no longer exists after the closure of the inland sea of the Netherlands. They did this by building a dam between the provinces of North Holland and Friesland.

Born and raised in Bergen op Zoom. One of the most undefeated cities in the Netherlands, besieged 4 times, and only the French conquered it in 1747. (The Spanish failed in 1588 and 1622, and the English failed in 1814) It's also what the song Merck toch hoe Sterck, sung in the video, is about (specifically the 1622 siege)

they didn't show all starshape cities. I know they forgot Nieuwpoort, and probably more

15:37 Gorinchem, born and raised! My dad was actually born in the old city itself, near the harbor. Moved recently so now I live about 10 km from Gorinchem (and a bit closer to Woudrichem), but this is the farthest I ever lived from there. Gorgeous city if I say so myself

Like your video's so much, looking where to visit being a Dutch one myself. About your fox: an antogonist in various fables: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_den_vos_Reynaerde

Hi! My ancester was actually imprisoned in Loevestein castle 🤗 back in the 16th century

On 17 september 1944 the 82nd airborne division has landed nearby Grave. And saved the bridge at Grave against the Germans. The Bridge has the name of his liberator " the Lt Thompson Bridge".

There are a lot, lot more fortified villages, towns and cities throughout the Netherlands. About 150.

Geertruidenberg is just the best place to live if you're into cultural history and nature. My parents moved there from 1 city over but its a totally different vibe. My teenage brother describes it as: "only old people live here" though. But the city is truly beautiful. (Another weird thing in the Netherlands, something that's clearly the size of a village, has the right to call itself a city. While a major big city like den Haag (the Hague) is technically still a village 😂) Edit: Was born in Gorinchem (the triangle one with the castles nearby) and are now living near Bergen op Zoom Although they're all star city's they're completely different

Loevenstein Castle (Slot Loevenstein) was where Hugo Grotius (Hugo de Groot in Dutch) was held after he sided with Oldenbarnevelt in his struggle with Prins/Prince Maurits/Maurice during the 12-year truce in the 80-year war. He escaped by hiding in that trunk which was supposed to hold books but held him. Hugo de Groot/Grotius was a pioneer in international (maritime) law.

I am currently live in Bad Nieuweschans. One of the couple of stars here in Groningen province. They protected the road to the city of Groningen.

On my fathers side (spanisch side) thy bigin the wor, now on my moms side ( dutsch side) ty difendent the people in the netherland...now if they had know 100 jears later they had a cilderen ...wold they begon the wore?

Like Pasunsopra already said: Reynaerd the Fox is one of the oldest known poems. Check Wikipedia about it. (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_den_vos_Reynaerde ) The story tells about a ordinary fox, known as a rebel in animalsociety. The king wanted to punish the fox but with many smart trics and moves the fox escaped. In that days it was the only way to critisize society (nobles, priests) to use animalfigures. Everyone in that period knows exactly who was that stupid king and the smart fox. Knowing that before reading, it is funny and sharp. The writer understood the little souls of human beeings. That's for sure.

When I was very young my parents moved from The Hague, which by the way is a village officially, to Woudrichem, which is a city. My mom had a hard time to adjust. So after about two years we went back to The Hague.

I was born and raised in Gorinchem and still live here. My parents got married at old city hall. Gorinchem is also the city that saw the last witch burning in the medieval Netherlands.

The whole year around there are reinactments in a lot of places all around NL. A lof of different styles like medieval, WW2 and 80year-during-war. They forgot one of the most famous ones. You already saw a video of it; Bourtange (in the north of NL)

About Brielle, there comes 1 april fools come from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Brielle

Guess what you now know how that 'arrogance' the Dutch display in their comments came to be. Pride in what essentially has been a struggle for survival against overwhelming odds.

The Spaniards didn't have to conquer these towns. Cutting the lines of supplies would cause illness and starvation. A 'vestingsstad' was guaranteed to be attacked by the Spanish.

Also the best history lesson comes from the movie " admiral the ruyther " , after the Spanish, the English came . We didn't had a good ground army, but we did have a good navy. So that's the reason why we flooded the land , we had low depths ships. Beautiful story. I was never interested in history. You know its the past. But when you get older. I got more interested, in how a small country like us could keep it's independence and unbeatable. And like Frank Sinatra " we do it our way" .

Ty so much for these videos! Good kickstarters to start planning trips with my little girl again after 2 years of Covid.❤

there are 97 Starforetresses in The Netherl;ands, practically every city, town, village older then 150-200 years is a star fortress... sadly this video takes only west part of The Netherlands, North and East are many more and better maintained ones.. and a UNESCO one in Groningen, Fortress Bourtange Check it out... :) seeing Randstad isn't visiting the Netherlands at all...

My hometown, terneuzen, was such a city too, but unfortunately none of it is left but some old maps and a 19th-century building. And the cannons mentioned in the video ofc lol. It lost its status in 1910 and to be fair, most of the walls were broken down in the early 20th century out of necessity, but I still wish they had put more effort into preserving what little history was left after that :/

at 20:52 Look at : nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_den_vos_Reynaerde (If I had an address, I could mail you a translation. (Don't have, don't want Insta)

One of the things that is not mentioned in the video's is that these cities became cities during the feudal age. If you were not a citizen (city-zen) of the city or part of the roman church, then you were a peasant. Peasants belong to the land they are born on. They must work the land for whoever rules it and are not free to leave. In case of conflict, the ruler of the land can draft any male peasant over the age of 14 to fight for whoever rules the land. Peasants are not slaves and therefore cannot be sold. Whoever controls the land controls the peasants that come with it. Cities were democracies: everybody has a say in how the city is ruled....as long as you are a man...and of course ...upper class. But all citizens have civil rights. They are free to leave and free to choose an occupation. If a village was turned unto a city, that was a big, big deal...

De "GROENE DRAAK" , de Lemsteraak van de Koning. Ligt ook in Muiden"VESTING". We hebben er naast gelegen aan de andere kant van de stijger. Met een klein kajuit bootje van 5.20.

Reinhart the Fox: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0B9fciNTNkE.html

We also have something similar in north Holland, to defend Amsterdam. And something, that is an expression but a real thing " voor pampus liggen " ( doing nothing just lay there) maybe interesting too.

video of Rheinhardt the fox ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0B9fciNTNkE.html

Not a fortress city anymore, but Bredevoort (in the East of the province of Gelderland) also is a nice and tiny little city. It's also known as the "city of books" because it has many little book stores. Every year in September streets, houses gardens, the park and squares are decorated with tea lights and colorful light displays built around a theme and there will be all sorts of street theatre and music performances everywhere during a three day event called Bredevoort Schittert (English: Bredevoort Sparkles). The event is definitely worth visiting. The town itself doesn't offer too much, in my opinion.

I grew up in Brielle. If I can I certainly go back and visit on april 1st to see old friends and their contributions to the 16th century festivities

Weird video. It's a tourist info video more interested in luring new visitors by showcasing all that's going on today. The actual fortifications are mentioned almost as an afterthought and not really explained at all.

Born in Woudrichem lived there for 24 years. now living in Gorinchem the other town mentioned. Great to see your enthousiasm and interest in our little country. Watched lot of your vids last days. great to see you react especialy the music vids. You realy a great ambasador for us down there.

There was a downside to these fortified cities. The enemy couldn't get in but the people inside couldn't go out. Armies used this to their advantage by throwing dead animals over the walls to cause sickness and death.

Some of thoose places are in my city. A colleague of mine is actually running a small camping site directly beside the prison tower in Megen, so if you want to come over here you’re welcome!

The best way to describe the dutch, is compare it to a non Newton fluid, if you leave it alone its fluid, every one minding his own business. But if you punch it from outside. Its solid.

Funny, my town not a star city as you call it but is was a fortified city. That flag, the red/white one with the towere on it? That's Alkmaar. That city was how the 80 year old war with the spanisch ended. Some pieces of that time are still very much present in the city centre. it's aslo in the northwest and not the south like all the cities in this vid.

Yes that's a good documentary but I don't understand why Heusden is not in that list? Heusden is really beautiful when you see that on google earth, if you ask me that is the most beautiful star fort in the netherlands!

My folks have their sailing boat in the harbor of Willemstad. The best place to start a holiday of just sailing from town to town, soaking in all these Dutch harbor towns. It really is the best!

's-Hertogenbosch, my lovely city

Speaking of scale, the distance between the most western and the most eastern of these cities is 130 kilometers or 80 miles.

@10:00 agreed I live fairly close to brielle and i visit there as a domestic tourist, now even brielle has a lot of things build outside the walls but the centre is preserved, its special even to me , i really feel happy just having a stroll around the place, beautiful area wholesale as well with the oostvaarders plassen fairly close to a large city for the convience of that but on the side of the river thats a lot more calm and rural , so perfect combination between accesibility and escapism

Heusden is a beautiful vestingstad. And Woudrichem too with castle Loevestein. They all have their charms. They were all around the major rivers.

I lived a long time in Brielle and later worked there. its a beautiful city, i dressed up every year.

my school was in the reinaert de vos straat but I forgot the story behind the name a long time ago.

I like your positive vibes my dude.

Star cities ... how nice to call them like that

I have lived in Hellevoetssluis for 1 year

I grew up and lived in a fortress town for nearly 20 years (Hellevoetsluis). It's a beautiful place to live, especially because of it's historicity. Hellevoetsluis was once the most important military port in The Netherlands and home to the fleets of admirals like Michiel De Ruyter (the greatest admiral ever), Piet Hein and Maarten Tromp. Definitely worth a visit and it's also close to Brielle, which is the fortress town where the 80 years war/revolt against the Spanish occupiers began. Right now I actually live really close to Hulst (which was also mentioned in the video), another beautiful city to definitely visit.

I learnt a lot of this video 😇 I live near Willemstad, it's only a few kilometres away. There are a few new vestingsteden on my wishlist to visit 😀

New sub, love your videos 🤗🤗

One word, just one word: Naarden!!!

Sees still ... hey, I grew up there! :D

< YOU HAVE TO COME TO OUR COUNTRY!!

I was born in Hulst. Grew up near it, left the area for a while and now live about 9 miles from Hulst again. Beautiful city, rich history and the 'Vestingfeesten' are always fun to attend.

Yes Bergen op zoom houd u vroom. My village.

Lol im in this video

Reynard de vos, (the fox) is a poem from willem die madoc. It describes a day at the kings place , all animals show up and complain about reynard and when the king hears about it he disided to get him to courd to explain why he did these thing to the people(animals) . Maybe there is a english version?

Thank you!

I'm Dutch but I also learned a lot from this video. For instance, I had no idea they did these "Vestingdagen" with all the reenactments and cannon fire and such. I'll definitely have to go some time.

Breda Spanjaards gat.

My province Noord Brabant is the big deal in thing i see