Grebbeberg

The Grebbeberg is a 52-meter high hill located east of Rhenen, Netherlands in the province of Utrecht. It forms the southeastern tip of the Utrecht Hill Ridge, a moraine. Due to its strategic location with a view of the Lower Rhine and the Betuwe, this hill was historically of great importance. The Grebbe Line was constructed from here in the 18th century. The hill is best known for the Battle of the Grebbeberg in May 1940. On the Grebbeberg is the Grebbeberg War Cemetery where Dutch soldiers are buried. == History == Fortifications were located on the Grebbeberg early on. The ring wall with dry moat, the so-called , probably dates from the seventh century and has been restored several times. The original function is not clear; it may be a defense work of the Frisians against the Franks, but also the other way around. After 1620, the exiled Winter King, Frederick V of the Palatinate, had his hunting ground here, where he held hunting feasts on a plateau above the Rhine, the so-called King's Table. === World War II ===

In May 1940, Dutch soldiers fought a German assault army on the Grebbeberg, including Waffen-SS units. Remnants of fortifications still stand as a symbol of the battle. The Grebbeberg War Cemetery is the first official one in the Netherlands. Since 1946, Dutch soldiers who fell elsewhere have also been buried here. The plot has almost 850 graves. A monument has been placed at the honorary cemetery where the dead from the Second World War are commemorated every year on May 4. == Nature == The Grebbeberg was originally covered with plantations of coppice oak. Since the plantations have lost their purpose, an upright oak forest has been able to develop. In 2002 the Grebbeberg was connected to the nature reserve in the floodplains. This allows the free-living herds of Konik horses and Galloway cattle to seek the safety of the mountain at high tide. On the Grebbeberg itself, Het Utrechts Landschap owns 66 hectares, mainly forest.