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Division Headquarters Toorenvliedt Stützpunkt Brünhild

(Netherlands, the - Zeeland - Middelburg)

Around the summer of 1942 was the estate Toorenvliedt advanced by the German army who established it's headquarters of the Atlantic on Walcheren and the two Bevelanden. The shelter of the park, the roads and the proximity of Villa 'Vijvervreugd' and castle 'Ter Hooge' made Toorenvliedt a suitable location for this important German staff.

Toorenvliedt is designated as Stützpunkt 'Brünhilde'. In 1944 about 9000 soldiers were transported from Toorenvliedt. Besides commander Generalleutnant Wilhelm Daser, the staff consisted of 13 officers, 131 troops and 35 colleagues. The adjacent 'Vijvervreugd' housed the logistic units of the staff, including the field kitchen. Castle 'Ter Hooge' was set up as officers mes and that served as home of the division commander. From this bunker were radio - telex and telephone links maintained on Walcheren and higher bars in Belgium and northern France. The message went to a part encrypted trough the legendary 'Enigma' machine.

As nerve centre of the Atlantic Toorenvliedt was of great strategic importance. The summer of 1942 also saw the construction of the first, thin-walled bunkers. The growing allied air presence in early 1944 made it necessary staff in bom free bunkers to accommodate. This was three commandobunkers, a communicationbunker and three staffbunkers. Some bunkers were camouflaged as peaceful farmhouse with a point roof and painted windows.

Most bunkers were used as shelter during bombings, the staff elected to the comfortable villa above the concrete. But when on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) the Allies landed in Normandy, was also on Walcheren the highest alert.
From that moment the staff also stayed continuously in the bunkers. The end of the division headquarters Toorenvliedt was inaugurated on October 3, 1944 by the bombing of the dike of Westkapelle. After the bombing of the other dikes, the iland Walcheren slowly but surely disappeared on the upcoming seawater. The headquarters had to be evacuated on October 17, 1944.

After the war, the bunkers were covered by plantings and grass.
In 2008 the Dutch Foundation Bunkerbehoud recovered the communicationbunker in cooperation with the town Middelburg and made it accessible.
The plan is to restore and open up for educational activities for groups and battlefieldtours. The bunker can serve as a reminder to the radical Zeeland Battle of the Schelde.

Photo 1: The communicationbunker 'Park Toorenvliedt' (Bunker 1).
Photo 2: The bunker number.
Photo 3: Boiler room, left on photo, the double armored doors. The vertical slot in the middle of the photo was for cable routing.
Photo 4: There was central heating present, the radiator is still there.
Photo 5: A special tiling in the battery room. This is the only bunker in the Atlantic that has such a tile floor. According to the story the tiles were gathered in several places, because there is no regular pattern to be found and they were needed against acid. It is not clear why such tile floor is present in this bunker.