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Landsfort Herle was a fortification with moat. It was probably built by the counts van Ahr-Hochstaden (also referd to as Here van Are). The name Landsfort (‘fort of the land’) comes from the fact that the fortification come under the responsibility of the land. In the 13th century Heerlen, and thus also Landsfort Herle, come in to the possession of the Dukes of Brabant, the Landsfort was (re)built by the Dukes of Brabant in 1244.
The wall is believed to be one of the oldest still recognisable in the Netherlands, part is now being excavated. A marquette of the fort was constructed from a map form 1787 found while the Pancratiuskerk was heavily reconstructed in the 1960s. The fort had three gates and had two towers (the bell tower of the church and the Schelmentoren, both with 2 metre thick walls).
In the roof of the church were little rooms for the inhabitants of Heerlen to take shelter in case of hostilities, unfortunately these rooms were destroyed when a, supposedly German, bomb hit the church at New Year's Eve 1944/1945.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.