Crisscross through Rhenen

Sights in the center
The walk starts at the railway station, or at the parking spaces next to it. Descend and walk under the Rhine Bridge. Here you walk onto the Cuneralaan. Cunera is the legendary patron saint against throat diseases, cattle diseases and drowning. On the left you pass the Cunera hill, with twelve young lindens. This was her tomb in the 4th century AD where miraculous things happened.

Everything you want to know about Cunera van Rhenen can be found at the VVV and next door in museum Het Rondeel. Both lie in the shadow of the 15th-century Cunera Church and its 84-metre-high tower. Church and tower can be visited by appointment, with a guide. 

Beyond the church is the Koningshof, which reminds us of'wren\\\' Frederik van de Palatinate. He was king of Bohemia in 1619, but was driven out of Prague after just one winter. Frederik built a summer palace in Rhenen. A beautiful building, but unfortunately demolished in 1815. You can still see it on stadrhenen.nl.

The Koningin Elizabethplantsoen is named after the wife of Frederik van de Palatinate. Elizabeth, nicknamed the'Pearl of Britain\\\', was the daughter of the English King James I. On top of the 15th-century city wall is the Panorama Mill. At the mill you have a nice view over the city. 

Past the shops in the Molenstraat you descend to the Frederik van de Paltshof. After the German artillery bombardment in May 1940, the inner city burned down. Only the old post office (next to the Hema) and a handful of other buildings remained standing. The city was rebuilt in record time in 1941-\\'42 in the style of the Delft School. See: dewegvandeweerbouw.nl.

Travelers traveled along this ancient road, connecting Cologne with the Zuiderzee. The Danish King Christian II spent a night here with his mistress Dyveke in the early 16th century. The innkeeper immortalized this rendezvous in the name of his inn.

On the Buitenomme you can see that the Cunera Church is on the edge of Rhenen. That is strange, because most of the churches are in the center. The difference here is probably due to the Rhine. When there were no dikes yet, the river suddenly shifted its course towards Rhenen around 1200. The water then scoured along the ridge for 150 years and dragged the lowest-lying houses in Rhenen with it.

From the bastion of the demolished Bergpoort, one of the three city gates, you have a view of the Betuwe. At the terrace of the'Het Oude Gemeentehuis\\\' restaurant, a monument recalls the bombardment of May 1940. With the text: Even if the city is destroyed and does not want to die from it, it will emerge with greater splendor from ashes and freeze fabric. (from:'Gijsbrecht van Aemstel\\\' )

Green nature outside the city
The Viaduct over the'Spoorgat\\\' near Rhenen plays a role in the novella'Titaantjes\\\' by Nescio (pseudonym of JHF Grönloh). He tells the writer how, standing on this viaduct, he realizes that beautiful Rhenen,'the center of the world\\\', means a lot to him and his friends. A quarter of a century later, during the Battle of the Grebbeberg, Captain Gelderman and the last Dutch defenders fought their losing battle at this viaduct. grebbeberg.nl/app/

You leave the inhabited world here and follow a few kilometers of forest edge. Along the way you can enjoy views over the Gelderse Valley to the hills of the Veluwe. You pass old trapakers (grafts), which farmers built to prevent their crops from washing down the slope.

At the three thick beeches on the Heimersteinselaan you can turn right. After a hundred meters there is a piece of reconstructed trench on the left. In May 1940, the'stop line\\\' was located here, the rear of three kilometers of defense lines. At this place the Germans had to be'stopped\\\' at all costs.

You arrive at the military cemetery and national monument on the Grebbeberg. More than 850 soldiers are buried here, 420 were killed in the Battle of the Grebbeberg. The annual national military commemoration of the dead is held at the monument on May 4. There is an information center of the War Graves Foundation.

Cross the busy provincial road here and follow the beautiful beech avenue. Here in the forest of the Grebbeberg you are a guest in the world of small and large mammals. Roe deer, herds of Konik horses and Galloway cattle. Owls, buzzards, bats and the rare stone mater also live here.

The largest and oldest Walburg in our country is located on the Heimenberg. It was already there in 700, when Franks and Frisians fought each other here. Whoever built it, with their primitive tools they did a huge job. There is now an earth fort of 5 hectares, the equivalent of 10 football fields. Nothing is yet known about builders and residents.

The King's Table in Rhenen
Next to the ruins of the forester's house from 1840 is a hill with four lime trees: the King's Table. Here Frederick of the Palatinate and Elisabeth Stuart rested from hunting. Just like us, they looked out over river land from a height of 52 meters. Today, at the foot of the mountain, lies nature reserve De Blauwe Kamer, breeding ground for spoonbills, cormorants and about 60 other bird species. The large osprey also comes to visit.

Via a steel staircase you descend from the Koningstafel to the Cuneralaan, an unpaved path along the Bisschop Davidgrift. In times of war, Rhine water flowed through this canal into the Gelderse Vallei. A water line (Grebbe line) had to stop the approaching enemy. On the other side of the canal you can see the green ramparts of bastions. These defenses were to prevent the enemy from reaching the bridge over Grebbesluis.

In front of you is the Rhine bridge. Before May 1940 this was a railway bridge. In WWII it was destroyed twice: in 1940 by the Dutch army, in 1944 by British bombers. It was not until 1957 that a new road bridge was built. That was during the Cold War. That is why space has been saved in the pillar with the level gauge for an explosive charge.

Are you still looking forward to this environment? Then try route 549762 over the Grebbeberg  or a walk in the vicinity of Soest .