Soesterberg is a town 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

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. It is a part of the municipality of Soest, and lies about 5 km northeast of

Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of "Seist" was first mentioned in a charter in the year 83 ...

, on the road between

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...

and

. It was the location of

Soesterberg Air Base Soesterberg Air Base was a Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) military air base located in Soesterberg, east-northeast of Utrecht. It was first established as an airfield in 1911, and in 1913, the Dutch Army bought the field and established t ...

History

The town was first mentioned in 1840 as Berg, meaning hill belonging to Soest. In 1840, it was home to 253 people. The military airbase and the tram line

–

caused a rapid growth of the village in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1939, a monastery was established by the

Society of the Divine Word The Society of the Divine Word ( la, Societas Verbi Divini), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic Church, Catholic clerical religious congregation ...

. In 1940, an officer's casino was built for the German

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

. It is one of the few remaining buildings in Nazi architectural style in the Netherlands, and has thick walls. It was captured intact by the Canadians in 1945, and was used by the

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

and

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. It has been converted into an apartment building. In 1837, a Catholic church was built which was replaced between 1952 and 1953 by the Carolus Borromeus Church.

Soesterberg Air Base

In 1910, the heathland north of the village was used as an airfield. The Dutch Airforce (then called

LuchtVaartafdeling , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

or LVa, literally airdriving department) was established here in 1913. From 1954 to 1994, Soesterberg Air Base became a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

base for the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

32nd FS (originally 512th FDS later it became 32nd FD, 32nd FIS, and 32nd TFS), and the village of Soesterberg housed a number of American families. The 32nd is the only US military unit that has been under direct operational control of a foreign nation (operational control fell to the Dutch military). It was the home of the Dutch army helicopter force until the base's closure in 2010 due to the reduction of the Dutch military establishment. It is now the location of the

Nationaal Militair Museum The Nationaal Militair Museum (NMM) is a military museum in Soesterberg, Netherlands. It focuses on the history of the Dutch Armed Forces with emphasis on the Royal Netherlands Army and the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The Stichting Koninklijke De ...

, which opened in 2014. Nearby is the site of the

Lockerbie trial The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988. The 36-week bench trial took place at a specially convened Scottish Court in the Netherlands se ...

of Libyan agents who blew up

Pan Am Flight 103 Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...

over the Scottish town of

Lockerbie Lockerbie (, gd, Locarbaidh) is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway, south-western Scotland. It is about from Glasgow, and from the border with England. The United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town ...

in 1988.

Gallery

File:Soesterberg Oude Postkantoor Koppenlaan 17-17a.JPG, Former post office File:Overzicht - Soesterberg - 20536011 - RCE.jpg, Colony house De Stompert File:Overzicht van het wooncenter Soesterberg gelegen aan het kruispunt Amersfoortsestraat en de Richelleweg - Soesterberg - 20535965 - RCE.jpg, Shopping centre File:Parochie Carolus Borromeus Soesterberg.jpg, Carolus Borromeus Church

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Utrecht (province) Soest, Netherlands

History

Soesterberg Air Base

Gallery

See also

References