Fort Rijnauwen was originally built between 1866 and 1871 as part of the New Dutch Waterline (NDW) military infrastructure that should safeguard 'Vesting Holland'. Between 1877 and 1885 it was improved and expanded. The fort was meant to defend the area southeast of Utrecht (the so-called 'Houtense Vlakte') where ground level was too high for inundation. During the mobilisation from 1914 to 1918, reinforced concrete trenches and shelters were added. The most recent military modernisation (1939) entailed equipping it with a dome casemat type G. Fort Rijnauwen is adjacent to De Uithof.
After WOII, the fort lost its military relevance. On June 15th 1965 mr. C.Th. E. graaf van Lynden van Sandenburg, 'president-curator' of the university (and also Queen's Commissioner / governor of the Province of Utrecht) and dr. M. Ruppert, university board member who was responsible for the coordination of the construction portfolio ('bouwcurator') visited the Minister of Defence, P.J.S. de Jong to explore the possibilities of obtaining Fort Rijnauwen for university purposes as an extension to De Uithof. At this occasion the Minister is quoted to have said that the fort was no longer strictly necessary for the defense of the 'empire' and that purchase could go ahead for 4 million guilders. This tea visit became the start of a complex tug-of-war between the university, the Province of Utrecht and various ministries. I'll try to unravel the timeline of this university purchase here.
On June 15th 1965 (according to the Minister: June 17th), mr. C.Th. E. graaf van Lynden van Sandenburg, 'president-curator' of the university (and also Queen's Commissioner / governor of the Province of Utrecht) and dr. M. Ruppert, university board member who was responsible for the coordination of the construction portfolio ('bouwcurator') had tea with the Minister of Defence, P.J.S. de Jong to explore the possibilities of obtaining Fort Rijnauwen for university purposes as an extension to De Uithof. At this occasion the Minister is quoted to have said that the fort was no longer strictly necessary for the defense of the 'empire' and that purchase could go ahead for 4 million guilders.
This statement was confirmed by Marinus Ruppert on June 8th 1983 during the interview that prof. A.W. (Wessel) Reinink conducted prior to the publication of his book 'Van Johannapolder tot Uithof', and referred to in note 59. It is specifically mentioned in a letter from Ruppert tot Reinink dated July 26, 1983 (in my possession).
On behalf of the board of the university ('College van Curatoren'), Ruppert asks for final agreement from the Minister on the transfer of Rijnauwen to the university in order to be able to prepare plans for the realisation of an observatory, facilities for space research, the astrophysics lab and several other future facilities.
In reaction to the university's formal request, the Minister states in a letter (202.365/4 Y) that it has become clear that the military services that still occupy the fort can be relocated elsewhere in the country and that in principle he agrees to transfer the premises to the university at a later moment. Conditional is that the university pays for the alternative military accommodations, estimated at 4.2 Mfl. The transaction will also need additional agreement from the Minister of Finance. It is estimated that it will take 2.5 years to evacuate the entire site.
In a letter, the university formally agrees with the terms that were presented by the Minister of Defense. Specifically the payment of 4.2 Mfl. was agreed upon, albeit that a payment schedule is asked for. In addition, the university states that it will seek permission from the Minister of Education for the purchase of fort Rijnauwen due to the formal obligation under the law on Higher Education (WWO, 22.12.1960) which requires such consent.
The university informs the Minister of Education (prof. mr. I.A. Diepenhorst) on the once in a lifetime opportunity to build facilities for astronomy, biophysics, biology, paleobotany, electron microscopy, veterinary bacteriology and virology as well as offices for the university's building office at Fort Rijnauwen and asks for his formal consent with the agreement that was reached with the Minister of Defense.
The Minister of Defense agrees upon a payment scheme of 250 kfl. to be paid upfront (costs for land acquisition in Tubbergen), 950 kfl. in 1967, 2.0 Mfl. in 1968 and 1.0 Mfl. in 1969, adding up to the required 4.2 Mfl. that the Ministry demands as financial compensation for the loss of Fort Rijnauwen. On Dec 5th 1966, the university confirms payment of 250 kfl. to the Ministry of Defense.
The Minister of Education formally grants his approval to the purchase of Fort Rijnauwen (D.G.W. 154.576) for the sum of 4.2 Mfl. to be paid in three annual instalments in 1967, 1968 and 1969.
For budgetary reasons, the University offers to pay up to 2.5 Mfl. in advance in the year 1967. The Ministry of Defense accepts this offer (G 32.215/J 2, December 8th 1967) and the transfer of 2.25 Mfl. (2.5 Mfl. minus 250 kfl. that was paid in December 1966) was authorised by the university official dr. H. Schamhardt on December 12th 1967.
In april 1967, a new cabinet took office. The Minister of Culture, dr. M.A.M. Klompé, takes a new position regarding the transfer of Fort Rijnauwen to the university. Questions were raised in Parliament concerning the preservation of the character of one of the most valuable fortifications of the country. The feeling was that it should remain intact and that the university's building plans would cause irreparable damage. This Minister was not amused that her Ministry had not been consulted before, nor that objections from the Province of Utrecht had not been taken into account.
She formally expresses her opinion in a letter to her colleague, the Minister of Finance, with copies to the Ministers of Education and Defense as well as to the Provincial Council of Utrecht and a number of organisations in the field of nature conservation, heritage and military history and appeals strongly to prevent the university's plans to be executed.
The new Minister of Education, dr. G.H. Veringa, informs the university of two (new) aspects concerning the purchase of Fort Rijnauwen. The first concerns a formal position regarding budgetary regulations. He withholds his consent to the payment of the university of 2.5 Mfl. to the Ministry of Defense. Payments like this should have been directed towards the Ministry of Finance (since the payment had already been carried out in December 1967, this objection was in fact post dato). Second, and more important, Veringa states that the objections from his colleague of Culture cannot be ignored, which means that in fact, he reverses the position of his predecessor of February 15 1967.
In an extensive, five-page letter, the University replies to the Minister of Education. The university argues that three (predecessors of) Ministers, of Defense, Finance and Education all have agreed on the transferal of Fort Rijnauwen to the university and that the university has acted in good faith. For this reason it cannot be considered appropriate to impose new conditions and the necessity of the finalisation of the transaction is stressed.
The university is nevertheless willing to give a detailed reaction to the objections that were raised with regard to (military) history, the preservation of nature and landscape, recreation and cultural setting. The reaction can be read as an attempt to downplay the objections.
In this letter to his colleague of Finance, the (new) Minister of Defense, W. den Toom, (with a copy to the university) states that contrary to the original plans, military replacement facilities can be realised at Fort Honswijk and Lunet a/d Snel for 2.5 Mfl. Instead of the 4.2 Mfl. that was specified earlier. He also states that the transfer of Fort Rijnauwen requires no other financial obligations for the university and that the 2.5 Mfl. that have already been paid at the university's request should be considered, albeit a somewhat unusual transaction, as an inter-departmental payment between Defense and Finance.
In June 1968, after substantial social pressure, the Provincial Council of Utrecht decided to withhold its approval of parts of the urban zoning plan for Bunnik (1966) regarding Fort Rijnauwen. As a result, the implementation of the plans of the university would become impossible. To avoid this complication, the university filed a request for annulment from the Crown ('Kroonberoep') on the 18th of July.
A formal reaction to the request for annulment was reached at the 15th of July 1971. The municipality of Bunnik (author of the urban zoning plan 1966) and the university lost their case and the Provincial Council was judged to have acted correctly in withholding its permission concerning the parts of urban zoning plan that regarded Fort Rijnauwen.
In the years that followed many reports and letters were produced by various parties that were involved in this discussion. The university sized down their original ambitions and produced a plan that was restricted to the realisation of merely the astronomical institute and observatory at the fortress. The architectural firm Wouda BV was commissioned to produce a report with a sketch design of this redrafted building plan. The sketches of this plan are shown below (August 1974). The report argues that conflicting interests could very well be reconciled, but in fact the dispute can be summarised in the antithesis 'nature' versus 'astronomy'. The community of Bunnik tried to unite all parties, but failed and saw no other option than to ask the Prime Minister for a Solomon's judgement. In the mean time as of June 1st 1971, military activity nor personnel was no longer present at Rijnauwen, the fortress was abandoned, from 1972 onwards the Ministry of Finance ('Domeinen') formally took care of the area and arrangements were made with the state forestry department ('Staatsbosbeheer') for tree maintenance.
At May 16th 1974, the Provincial Council agreed upon the 'Streekplan Midden en Zuidoost Utrecht' (a regional plan with a 10 year scope) which denotes Fort Rijnauwen primarily as an important nature reserve area. However, the plan also allows for the development towards a city park (recreational function), and even facilitates a (limited) possibility of building an observatory.
The mayor of Bunnik contacted the Prime Minister of yet another cabinet, drs. J. M. de Uyl, requesting his interdepartmental coordination and mediation. Bunnik feared an endless process of appeals and lawsuits and tried to avoid these bij choosing this unorthodox route. As a result an interdepartmental committee was installed under responsibility of the Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning, drs. J.P.A. Gruijters. The committee was chaired by the Director General of Spatial Planning of the Ministry. prof. dr. mr. J. Witzen.
The interdepartmental committee held a first meeting on November 25th 1975. On January 21st 1976 a hearing was organised at a university location and Fort Rijnauwen was visited. Based on the findings of the hearing and visit, the committee concluded that objections to building of an observatory on the premises were completely justified. Severe damage to the natural values of the area was to be feared, not only during the building period, but also as a result of the structural use by the staff (and students) of the institute. The committee presented these views in an interim report that appeared on the 20th of September 1976. The committee also recommended further study on alternative locations within De Uithof with a preference for the former farm 'De Uithof' at the Toulouselaan. A new complication now arose: location Toulouselaan was situated within the city boundaries of Utrecht which would mean accommodating an observatory in the urban plans of Utrecht instead of Bunnik.
Based on the findings of the interdepartmental committee, the university researched alternative locations for the astronomy institute and observatory. The conclusions: location at Rijnauwen remains -by far- the best option. An alternative at the location of the former farm 'De Uithof' is far less preferable, but acceptable for the university under specific conditions. The university stresses the actual uncertainty of this location due to the formal spatial position within the jurisdiction of Utrecht.
The municipal council of Utrecht informs the Director-General of Spatial Planning in a letter dated the 4th of October 1977 that preparations for a concept-urban planning document for De Uithof are carried out and that many issues and spatial demands have to be taken into consideration, a.o. and most prominently the location of the university hospital. The situation of the institute of astronomy and the observatory is among these issues. After much consideration the council of Utrecht is hesitantly willing to accept situating the observatory within the Uithof boundaries (under strict conditions, yet to be determined) and only if the location at Fort Rijnauwen is proved to be impossible.
In a letter to the Director General of Spatial planning, the Council of Utrecht clarifies that after consulting the provincial government, and in spite of their shared conclusion that situating the observatory c.a. at Fort Rijnauwen would be preferable form the scientific point of view, it reaches the conclusion that there are no objections to allow for an alternative location in De Uithof which will be accommodated in the draft urban zoning plan.
On October 27th 1978, the Prime Minister of the next cabinet, Mr. A.A.M. van Agt, sends two letters, one to the local authorities of Bunnik and one to the university. He concludes that due to the fact that the city of Utrecht, in collaboration with the university, has succeeded in finding a number of alternative locations for the astronomy department and the observatory in De Uithof that can be worked out in more detail, national involvement can now be terminated. He urges Bunnik to restart the procedure concerning its urban zoning plan that was suspended earlier due to the discussion on the destination of Fort Rijnauwen. He expresses his gratitude towards the university and praises its cooperative attitude reaching an alternative solution. In other words: the impasse that started well over ten years earlier ends here. No university facilities will be built at Fort Rijnauwen.
Although discussion on the future character of fort Rijnauwen stops here, there is still the matter of money that the university paid to be solved.
As late as April 28th 1981, the university writes a letter to the Minister of Defense (yet another cabinet) that summarises the facts and timeline of the Rijnauwen file between 1965 and 1978. The university concludes that the possibility of the transferral of fort Rijnauwen to the university has finally and irrevocably been blocked, which means that earlier payments regarding the purchase should be returned. The 2.5 Mfl. that was paid at the end of 1966 is now reclaimed.
Correspondence of 1981 and 1982 between the Ministry and the university culminates in a (very short) letter dated 23rd of June 1982, signed by the (deputy) Minister of Defense, J. van Houwelingen, stating that his Ministry cooperated in clearing out Fort Rijnauwen in 1971 in exchange for the payment of 4.2 Mfl., later reduced to 2.5 Mfl. He sees no reasons for reimbursement and argues that the Ministry of Defense has no other rol in the matter.
The files contain an undated draft letter that was handed over to a legal adviser, mr. G.F.Th. Hesselink. It says that the university does not accept the argumentation form the Ministry and stresses that its claim for reimbursement is justified, based on the fact that the 2.5 Mfl. that was paid has to be considered as payment for a valid transaction which was not implemented. Hence: undue payment was executed. The university reserves the right to take further legal action.
The university commissioned the law-firm Star Busmann & Hooft Graafland (mr. Hesselink, as mentioned above) to provide a legal analysis in order to estimate the chance of successfully reclaiming the money that was paid as an advance on the purchase of Fort Rijnauwen, arguing that university could not be held responsible for the absence of a formal purchase agreement. The law-firm produced a nine page report on the basis of the correspondence over the period 1966 thru the 1970s. The report does not conclude unequivolently in favour of the university. In hindsight, it would have been wise for the university in its letter of Februari 27, 1968, not only to have objected to the blocking of using Fort Rijnauwen for its educational purposes, but also to have made made a proviso regarding the payment that had already been made. Unfortunately there is no such explicit reference. Furthermore, it is noted that the Ministry of Defense correctly argued that it is not authorised to sell state property. This is the prerogative of the Minister of Finance; the Ministry of Defense uses terminology indicating the transfer of responsibility ('overdracht in materieel beheer') of the fortress for its agreement on the transferral, not ownership. It can therefore be argued that payments done by the university to the Ministry of Defense may be seen as compensation for military efforts elsewhere and not as part of the purchase.
It was also noted that in the years from 1971 onwards all attention was focused on the discussion of the functional possibilities of Fort Rijnauwen and finding alternative locations for realisation of the ambitions of the university, but that the aspect of the finances was completely ignored. This weakened the changes for a successful claim for the university. It is unclear whether the claim has actually been made and whether the letter that was drafted for this purpose in juli 1982 was finalised and sent to the Minister.
I have not been able to establish whether reimbursment of the 2.5 Mfl. has ever been made. Most likely, the university has lost its money. Just before X-mas 1982, the university took a long shot and wrote to the former 'bouwcurator' Marinus Ruppert who had left the university 15 years earlier whether he remembered details of the transaction that could be helpful to tip the legal balance in favour of the university.
In a letter dated on December 31st 1982, Ruppert gives his reaction. He starts with a warning that when getting older, one has to be increasingly careful with memories. In a more factual tone, he adds that he, nor the Minister of Defense with whom this process began ever doubted his authority concerning selling the premises. In his opinion both the Ministries of Education and Finance rubber-stamped the transaction. The payment of 2.5 Mfl. was meant to make it possible for the military to leave the premises, not as an act in itself, but in order to facilitate the university. No doubts there. He judges the position that the Ministry takes contrary to the rules of good governance and suggests that the university reopens deliberations with the (deputy) Minister.
It seems that no such action was taken for unclear reasons and the university must have written off its loss.
Vossegatsedijk 3-5, Bunnik
Fort
The original fort Rijnauwen was commissioned in december 1868 (to the Middelburg firm P.J. Lienders). The building costs amounted to 766,242 guilders, plus another 142,338 guilders for the expropriation of the land. The fort was built according to the modern (polygonal) layout. The front is 360 meters long and is oriented towards the road between Zeist and De Bilt. When it was built, the fort had two entrance posts that were converted into a guard building during the modernisation in 1879.
The detailed timeline for the period during which the university had business with Fort Rijnauwen is described above.
31.4 hectares
None
During the Second World War the fort was used by the Germans as an ammunition depot. From 1942 onwards they executed Dutch and Belgian resistance fighters, including eleven members of the Erkens resistance organization on October 9, 1943. The total number of those executed is unknown; estimates range from 250 to 500 victims. The names of 54 people have been discovered and memorial stones have been placed for them.
In 1945 the Canadian army was stationed at the fort to dispose of the abandoned German weapons and ammunition that were still present in large numbers.
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