Bunkers Atlantikwall

Concrete, sand and salty wind

Along the coast between Hoek van Holland and Den Haag lie the remains of the Atlantikwall, the defensive system the Germans built along the entire Western European coastline during the Second World War. Dozens of concrete bunkers still stand in the dunes here, some upright, others tilted or half buried by drifting sand. They are large, grey and unmovable. And photographically, they are extraordinary.

What makes this place special is the contrast. Heavy industrial concrete in the middle of a natural dune and coastal landscape. That gives you a lot to work with as a photographer. You can let the bunkers dominate the frame, or make them small within a wide landscape with open skies above. Both approaches work.

Light and season

You can visit here at any time of year. In summer the light is soft early in the morning and around golden hour, but the crowds grow as the beach fills up. In winter you often have the dunes to yourself. Stormy weather is genuinely worth seeking out here. When the waves are high and the sky is threatening, the bunkers take on something rawer and more ominous. That suits the history of the place.

Overcast days work well for close-up shots of the concrete itself, the texture, rust, moss, graffiti. Harsh sun makes things more difficult, but you can play with shadow lines instead.

Composition and focal length

With a wide angle, say 16mm to 24mm, you can give both the bunker and the sky plenty of room in the frame. A telephoto, 70mm or longer, compresses the space and lets you press a bunker flat against the dune landscape. I personally like to start with a 35mm as an everyday reference point and then decide whether to move closer or further away.

Pay attention to leading lines in the sand, tracks, shadows from marram grass, the horizon. A human figure next to a bunker immediately gives a sense of scale, and that almost always works.

Practical

You can park at the beach access points in Hoek van Holland or via Monster towards Westland. The bunkers are spread across the dunes, and a number are accessible via paths managed by PWN or Dunea, the organisations that manage the dune areas here. Some bunkers can be visited from the inside through the Stichting Atlantikwall, which also provides useful historical context. No permit is needed to photograph in the public dune areas, but do not wander onto private land or climb on the bunkers themselves.

Sources and further reading

• Stichting Atlantikwall Nederland
• Dunea – duinbeheer Zuid-Holland
• PWN – duinbeheer Noord-Holland (aangrenzend beheer)
• Wikipedia – Atlantikwall