The port of Den Helder lies at the northern tip of Western Friesland, between the Waddenzee and the open North Sea, opposite the island of Texel. It is linked with Amsterdam by the North Holland Canal. The lighthouse, completed in 1877, is the tallest cast-iron lighthouse in Europe. Den Helder is noted both as the largest naval port in the Netherlands and is also home to the Royal Naval Academy. The town's principal sources of income are fishing and the textile industry.
Den Helder came into being about 1500, and until the end of the 18th century was no more than a fishing village.
Then in 1811 it was strongly fortified by Napoleon, who saw it as the "Gibraltar of the North", and after his fall the Dutch government retained it as a fortress. After the construction of the North Sea Canal it lost much of its importance as an outer port for the Dutch capital to IJmuiden. In 1673 Admiral de Ruyter defeated a combined British and French fleet off Den Helder. In 1799 a force of 10,000 British troops and 13,000 Russians commanded by the Duke of York landed just south of the town. The Russians were sent to take the French in the rear but lost their way in the dunes, and most of them were taken prisoner in the battle of Bergen. The British troops were defeated by General Brune in a skirmish at Castricum and forced to sail home.
From the harbor a dike entirely built of blocks of Norwegian granite and rising over 60m/200ft from the sea bottom runs out to the village of Huisduinen, with a 69m/226ft high lighthouse (Vuurtoren De Lange Jaap). The dike, also known as the Zeepromenade because of its magnificent view of the Marsdiep and the island of Texel, shelters a 10km/6mi long stretch of coast which is constantly threatened by storm tides.
In Havenplein (Harbor Square; landing-stage for ferries to Texel) is a war memorial commemorating Dutch sailors who fell in the two world wars. Farther west stands a memorial to Dutch lifeboatmen lost at sea.
In the adjoining museum there is a good audio-visual display and an excellent collection of ship models.
In Hoofdgracht is the Torentje Naval Museum, in a former explosives store of 1827. The museum, opened in 1966, documents the history of the Dutch navy from 1813 to the present day.
Hours:
January 15 to November 30: 10am-5pm; Sun:1pm-4:30pm; Sat:1pm-4:30pm; Closed: Mon
June 1 to August 31: 10am-5pm; Sun:1pm-4:30pm; Mon:1pm-5pm; Sat:1pm-4:30pm; Closed: Mon
A little way east of Den Helder, beyond the North Holland Canal, is the harbor of Nieuwe Diep, which together with the naval arsenal, the dockyards and the Royal Naval College is known as Willemsoord. In the gardens of the Naval Institute are the mast of a gunboat blown up by Lieutenant van Speyk during the Belgian revolution (picture in Naval Museum) and four cannon from Admiral de Ruyter's flagship "Zeven Provinciën".
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Den Helder
