Widerstandsnest 34 L – Bernhardt

 In 1942, the Germans built a Navigation station codenamed ‘Bernhard’ on a 54 meters high dune top just outside the center of the village of Schoorl. This robust installation, a type FuSAn 724/725 [FunkSendeAnlage or radio transmission system], mounted on a carriage and rotating on a circular railway track, was 30 meters in diameter. The antenna was ten meters high and weighed nearly 100 tons. Nonetheless, it was capable of a 360˚ turn in one minute. The main purpose of the system was to guide the navigation of German Junker 88 bombers and Do335 night fighters. A 1944 bombing raid severely damaged the installation and disabled it for a long time. It was repaired and it resumed operation in April 1945, only to be hit once again soon thereafter. After that, the installation was not rebuilt. The troops stationed at ‘Bernhard’ were housed in dozens of type 412 Küverbunkers. A type 412 and a type 467 Küverbunker each featured a small rooftop artillery position for the defense of the radar. The position included several barracks.

The FuSAn installation was left abandoned in the dunes at the end of the war. Stories about the radar, locally known as the merry-go-round [draaimolen], ranged from the impossible to the ludicrous. After a brief period of vacancy, a new use was found for the buildings. Some of them are occupied by Jeugdherberg [youth hostel] Teun de Jager, and another currently houses the ‘Heel en al’ spiritual center. The circular track on which the system rotated, was taken out in 1988. A few remaining bunkers serve as reminders of this navigation station.