Hembrug Site, Zaandam

The deeper story

The Hembrug site in Zaandam now appears as a rough and layered urban landscape. Old sheds stand among trees, workshops and new uses. For more than a century, however, this was not an open area. The site was closed, guarded and organised for the production of weapons and ammunition.

Its position beside the Zaan and the North Sea Canal was carefully chosen. Water, rail and proximity to Amsterdam supported supply and transport, while the factory remained outside the densely built city. For a military production complex, accessibility, space and safety were equally important.

From 1895 the site was developed for the Artillerie-Inrichtingen. The organisation came from Delft, where weapons and ammunition production had a much longer history. In Zaandam, not one factory hall but an entire military-industrial landscape emerged, with workshops, warehouses, offices, waterways, railway connections and separated safety zones.

The site was closely connected with the Defence Line of Amsterdam. That defensive system consisted not only of forts and inundation fields. It also required weapons, parts, ammunition, maintenance and storage. Hembrug formed the less visible production side of Amsterdam’s defence.

Weapons and ammunition were developed, manufactured, tested, maintained and stored on the site. There were metalworking shops, stores for hazardous materials and buildings for assembly and repair. Vehicles and other military equipment were also maintained here. Hembrug functioned as a factory, storage site, testing ground and training environment at the same time.

Danger determined the layout. Buildings stood apart and were separated by earth banks, green strips and water. These elements were intended to prevent an explosion from spreading through the entire complex. What now looks like pleasant greenery originally formed part of a system of risk control.

The buildings also reflect that purpose. Some are simple brick sheds. Others have heavy walls, wide doors or very few windows. Names and numbers referred to a strict internal organisation. Every structure formed part of a production process in which discipline and safety were central.

The site changed continuously. New buildings appeared, while older ones were altered or removed. Mobilisation, wartime threats, technological innovation and changing military demands each left another layer. Hembrug is therefore not a frozen factory from 1895, but a site where more than a century of military industry remains visible.

For the surrounding region, Hembrug was both familiar and secretive. It was a major employer in the Zaan area, yet much remained hidden behind the fences. Generations of workers entered every day, while outsiders knew little about what happened inside.

That closed character belonged to its purpose. Weapons and ammunition production required security, secrecy and strict rules. Daily labour involved metal, machines and transport, but the products were connected with defence, war threats and state power.

After the Second World War, the organisation and production changed. Under names such as Eurometaal, military industry continued, while new technology and larger production methods altered the complex. The buildings remained useful, but the site became increasingly difficult to fit into a changing urban environment.

Weapons and ammunition production ended in 2003. What remained was a large closed site with dozens of buildings, polluted ground, heritage value and an uncertain future. The fences were still present, but their original purpose had disappeared.

The site then began to open gradually. Buildings were investigated, protected and reused. Artists, businesses, cafés and events moved into former workshops and sheds. The atmosphere changed greatly, yet the old structure remained visible in the spacing of the buildings, the earth banks, the closed façades and the quiet side paths.

Hembrug is therefore not a neatly arranged museum site. Restoration, decay, remediation and new use overlap. Some buildings have been repaired, while others still show the marks of abandonment. This unevenness helps keep the site legible.

During a walk, pay attention to the transitions. An open route can suddenly disappear between trees and earth banks. A terrace stands beside a closed shed. A wide doorway or windowless façade reveals an earlier purpose. The site was not designed as a neighbourhood, but as a factory in which production, safety and logistics determined the space.

Its position on the North Sea Canal also remains tangible. The canal connected Hembrug with ports, railways, industry and military infrastructure around Amsterdam. The site was not an isolated factory but a node within a larger technical network.

The name refers to the former Hembrug railway bridge across the North Sea Canal. The bridge has disappeared, but the name remained. This suits a site where many functions vanished while routes, buildings and older names continued to carry meaning.

Today Hembrug is more accessible than ever. Even so, the former factory site still emerges through its scale, emptiness and rational order. A shed name, an earth bank, a wide doorway or a windowless building still reveals something of the world behind the fences.

The Hembrug site is therefore more than industrial heritage with new uses. It preserves the story of labour behind defence and technology in the service of the state. Dutch defence was not only planned here, but physically produced.