Brielle Fortress

Brielle, also known as Den Briel, has for centuries featured in sayings in the Dutch language, the most famous of which is perhaps: ”Op 1 april verloor Alva zijn bril” (Alva lost his spectacles on 1st April). On 1st April 1572 the Sea Beggars appeared in front of the Noordpoort (North Gate) of Den Briel demanding that this small but strategically important harbour town be handed over. At that time, the people of Den Briel had still not yet joined in the revolt against the King of Spain and his envoy, the Duke of Alva. After the cry went up "In the name of Orange, open the gate!”, the Sea Beggars forced their way into the town and Alva lost Den Briel (‘bril’ is the Dutch word for spectacles, and is pronounced the same as Briel).

This was to be the first time that the Spanish lost control over a town in the Netherlands. Brielle was important for the Sea Beggars because it had, by medieval standards, a relatively large harbour. Lying on the river Maas, Brielle was a good trans-shipment harbour for boats on their way to Zeeland, Rotterdam and Dordrecht. Fishing and trading boats sailed to various European countries from there. Brielle had an agreement with the Hansa towns, and in Sweden, traders from Brielle even set up their own trading posts.

After the Sea Beggars had taken over Brielle, they started replacing the medieval city walls with more modern fortifications designed by the famous architects, William Paen and Menno van Coehoorn. The new fortifications were completed in 1713. Little has changed in the town since then, and the fortifications form one of the most important and complete land and water fortification systems remaining in the Netherlands.