Seyss-Inquart and Clingendael

In 1943 most government departments moved from The Hague to places inland, like Hilversum and Utrecht. Seyss-Inquart remained in the city, as a symbol of unflinching German authority. To protect his headquarters, a second high-security militarised zone (Stützpunktgruppe Clingendael) was created, defended by its own anti-tank ditches and bunkers. The command bunker that Seyss-Inquart built near his home on the Clingendael estate was disguised as a farmhouse. The metres-thick concrete roof was camouflaged with ordinary roof tiles and the ‘chimneys’ were actually anti-aircraft positions.

After the war, the Dutch army used part of the bunker for liaison with Dutch troops overseas and during the Cold War it was equipped to serve as a national crisis centre for the Dutch government. These days, Clingendael is the home of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations.