Ritthem is a village in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

. It is located in the municipality of

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic l ...

, about 4 kilometres east of the city.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1235 as Rithem, and means "settlement near

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

". Ritthem is an incomplete circular church village which developed in the Middle Ages on a ridge. The Dutch Reformed church is a single aisled church with a leaning tower from the 14th century. The 16th century nave was damaged in 1572 during the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

and rebuilt in 1611 without a choir. Ritthem was home to 362 people in 1840. Ritthem was a separate municipality until 1966, when it was merged with Vlissingen.

Fort Rammekens

Fort Rammekens was built between 1547 and 1556 by orders of

Mary of Hungary Mary, also known as Maria of Anjou (, , ; 137117 May 1395), reigned as Queen of Hungary and Croatia (officially 'king') between 1382 and 1385, and from 1386 until her death. She was the daughter of Louis the Great, King of Hungary and Poland, ...

to control the

Westerschelde The Western Scheldt ( nl, Westerschelde) in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands, is the estuary of the Scheldt river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are now disconnected from the Scheldt, leaving the W ...

(Antwerp) and the former (Middelburg). The fort was a near triangular shape. It was modified and extended several times. The last modification was by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

in 1810 who added nine

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...

s on the seaside. In 1863, it was decommissioned and used as a ammunition depot. During World War II, it was used by the Germans as part of Landfront Vlissingen and the

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticip ...

. In 1944, the dyke was bombed by the Allies, and filled up with caissons in 1945.

Gallery

File:Fort Rammekens.jpg, Fort Rammekens File:Voor- en zijgevel - Ritthem - 20188719 - RCE.jpg, Street view

References

{{Commons category, position=left Populated places in Zeeland Former municipalities of Zeeland Vlissingen