Proverb route - Wijkse Poort

Helping someoneout
So in the Middle Ages, Heusden was surrounded by a city wall. Through one of the four city gates you could enter the city. Two of those gates remain: this Wijkse Poort and the Veerpoort (stop 16). The original gates were demolished, but with the major renovation of Heusden after World War II, they were recreated from old drawings.

A kink in the gate
Stand in front of the gate. Do you see that there is a kink (= bend) in it? That too has to do with defending the city: the enemy was not allowed to see inside. By building a kink in the gate, the enemy could not peep in and shoot. Very clever!

A blunder
When the gate was reconstructed around 1984, they made a blunder by rebuilding the kink in the gate. In fact, it created a big problem! There were no cars in the Middle Ages, but there were in the 20th century. And also trucks and.... fire trucks! When there was a fire in Heusden, the fire truck could not make the turn in the new gate: the truck got stuck!

Helping the fire department out of a fire
When you help someone out of a fire, you help someone who is in trouble. In Heusden, they had to help the fire department out of trouble! That's why they made an extra road along the gate.

Continue route
Walk into the Wijksestraat and follow the bend to the left. Look for house number 38.