Routes

Planner

Features

Updates

App

Get the App

Liberation route: drunken Germans in the polder

Liberation route: drunken Germans in the polder

Highlight • Monument

Liberation route: drunken Germans in the polder

Name: Liberation route: drunken Germans in the polder
Rating: 2

Recommended by 7 cyclists

Save

Location: Waalwijk, North Brabant, Netherlands

Save

See rides here

Take Me There

Routes here

Top cycling routes to Liberation route: drunken Germans in the polder

5.0

(3)

riders

1. Bike loop from Besoijen

22.4km

01:16

20m

Easy bike ride. Great for any fitness level. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Easy

riders

2. Kersenhofje Café loop from Landgoed Driessen

32.5km

01:51

30m

Easy bike ride. Great for any fitness level. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Easy

riders

3. Town Hall of Sprang-Capelle loop from Zanddonk

15.6km

00:55

10m

Easy bike ride. Great for any fitness level. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

Navigate

Send to Phone

Save

Easy

Tips

ZuinigeRijder

May 12, 2025

Drunken Germans in the polder
Around the liberation of the Langstraat, German soldiers have to guard a special location. They don't feel like doing that.

Opposite Café van Heumen (now Café Landzicht), the German air force probably erects a transmission mast, already in 1941. This is intended as an aid for German aircraft, especially in bad weather and at night. The mast is surrounded by barbed wire and is off-limits to civilians. It is very visible, because it is opposite Café Van Heumen, a well-known restaurant just outside Waalwijk. It remains quiet in the immediate vicinity for a long time. That changes at the end of September 1944. In the meantime, part of North Brabant has been liberated as part of Operation Market-Garden. More and more German troops arrive in the still occupied part, including units with anti-aircraft guns, the so-called Flak. Also close to the transmission mast.

A total of fourteen guns from Flak-Abteilung 665 take up positions along the Winterdijk from the Westeinde in Besoijen to the Labbegat in Capelle at the end of September. This unit spent most of the occupation in the vicinity of Rotterdam and even shot down a few Allied bombers. Due to the rapid Allied advance through France and Belgium at the beginning of September, the unit is sent south. This is how they end up in North Brabant. But the soldiers have very little desire to be so close to the front. In the weekend of 1 October, they are completely wasted. They walk along the dike and shout ‘Wir ergeben uns bald (we will surrender soon)’. Many a civilian who hears this thinks ‘if only that were true’. Unfortunately, it takes until 30 October for the enemy to leave here for good.

Translated by Google •

In the know? Log-in to add a tip for other adventurers!

Details

Informations

Elevation 40 m

Weather

Today

Tuesday 2 December

9°C

7°C

20 %

If you start your activity now...

Max wind speed: 20.0 km/h

Most visited during

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

See rides here

Take Me There

Location: Waalwijk, North Brabant, Netherlands

Other Popular Places to Check Out

Fietspad Duinen van Roestelberg

Gravelpad

Kasteel Zuidewijn

Fietspad Met Uitzicht Op De Efteling-achtbanen

Max & Moritz Family Coaster

Gansoyen Lock

Sand Dunes of Loonse en Drunense Duinen

MTB Route Loonse en Drunense Duinen

Kaatsheuvelse Ijsbaan Pond

Snelfietsroute Tilburg–Waalwijk

F261 Fietspad

Beeld 'De Dijkwachters'

Liberation route: drunken Germans in the polder

1. Bike loop from Besoijen

2. Kersenhofje Café loop from Landgoed Driessen

3. Town Hall of Sprang-Capelle loop from Zanddonk

Other Popular Places to Check Out

We value your privacy ⛰️

We value your privacy ⛰️