De Stadskazerne Tourist Information Kampen, Overijssel Province, The Netherlands

5Robert O 5:00 PM Jul 13, 2021

Efficient helpful visitor center in historic setting
Very friendly and helpful staf provides you with a small map with the main sites of Kampen and detailed information on what is open and what not. They even had info on Kamperveen, a hamlet just outside the city. This visitor center is established in the former van Heutz barracks, now called Stadskazerne (City barracks). A relief they renamed the place, as van Heutz was responsible for massacres in Atjeh (Indonesia) during colonial times. At the time of my visit in June there was a small exhibition on Kampen during WOII and the Kamper boys who were sent to the former Dutch East Indies in the period 1945 - 1950. Their story is told without justifying the colonial war effort. In the past their actions were called 'politionele akties', now described as a (war) conflict between the Netherlands and Indonesia. I missed the stories of the young men who refused to fight and were jailed by the authorities. It would be to the credit of the authorities if they would change the name of the square in front the visitor center "van Heutzplein" to "Teuku Oemarplein".