Wehrmacht cottage in Asten-Heusden

In the middle of the “Het Woold” golf course in Asten-Heusden, there is a Wehrmacht hut, which houses a small war museum. The hut can only be visited by appointment (at Het Woold). 

In the area between holes 7 and 9 are the remains of a Wehrmacht hut from the Second World War. Maurice van Gelder spoke with Con van Nieuwenhoven, who did a great deal of research to uncover the facts. Let's go back in time... 

During the Second World War, the German army built the so-called Kammhuber Line to defend German cities against Allied bombing from England. German General Joseph Kammhuber had already been ordered in July 1940 to build an air defence line.

The Germans had the Flak (anti-aircraft artillery) to defend their airspace, but that was not enough. 

General Kammhuber began by setting up night fighter units. By the end of the year, the Luftwaffe had expanded the number of night fighters to 165 aircraft. The night fighters were assisted by the beams of searchlights from the Wehrmacht huts. 

This method could only be used at night in clear weather and was called the “Helle Nachtjagd” (Hellish Night Hunt). The Kammhuber Line was located on a strip of land that stretched more than 200 km inland from the North Sea coast. At fixed intervals, there were observation posts (Wehrmacht huts), radar installations, anti-aircraft batteries and airfields with day and night fighters.

At the time, there was also an airfield near Venlo. Aircraft took off from the “Fliegerhorst” Venlo airfield and used searchlights to intercept British bombers.

Searchlights were placed at various locations around the Peel, including three in Someren on Slievenstraat, Steeg-Broekstraat and one along Kerkendijk. In Heusden, there was one on Gezandebaan and one at the beginning of Ospelseweg, and another in Ommel, north of the Goossens chicken slaughterhouse.

Nine searchlights were placed in the municipality of Deurne, one in the Peel near the Nachtegaal, one in Leensel, one in Sloot in Liessel and another on Ospel-dijk. 

In March 1941, the air battle over the southern Netherlands began. The Germans set up a searchlight zone (“Scheinwerferbatterie”) to protect the Ruhr area in Germany from attacking Allied aircraft. The searchlights were connected by telephone to each other and also to Gilze Rijen and Eindhoven.

After the agricultural land was returned to its owners, the Wehrmacht cottage on Gezandebaan was occupied by Tinuske Berkers and his growing family due to the housing shortage at the time. Many of these Wehrmacht cottages have disappeared. However, the dilapidated building on Gezandebaan remained standing because of its historical significance. This is how the building ended up in the construction plans for the golf course. The building was renovated in 2012 and now houses a small museum. The current owners of the golf course have purchased an old searchlight, among other things. 

On average, fifteen soldiers were stationed there. The German soldiers operated the equipment and searchlights to detect enemy aircraft and then shoot them down. It is one of the few remaining Wehrmacht houses.

The building has a glass roof and is decorated with historical artefacts from the war years.

In 2013, “van Geffen reclame” produced a short film about the Wehrmacht House.