The destruction of Castle De Nijenbeek

The castle 'De Nijenbeke', a defensive fortress on the IJssel River, was inhabited by various families for centuries. In 1940, Jan Minnema van Haersma de With inherited the castle from his parents, Jacqueline Pauline van Weede and Jan Hendrik van Haersma de With. On April 11, 1945, a Canadian infantry division moved from the Achterhoek region towards the IJssel to break through the German front. Operation Cannonshot commenced. Two regiments with amphibious vehicles were to cross the IJssel near Gorssel. Allied bombings were carried out to prepare for this large-scale operation in areas suspected of harboring Germans.

It was also suspected that Germans were present in Castle De Nijenbeek. The Canadians heavily bombarded its walls. During the shelling, the tower lost its nineteenth-century pyramid roof, and the sixteenth-century annexed part was completely destroyed. After the liberation, an attempt was made to restore the ruins. A temporary roof was installed awaiting the castle's restoration. However, due to decay, this roof collapsed long ago, allowing weather damage for decades. The castle changed owners several times after the war.

The current owner of De Nijenbeek is Baroness Antoinette van Lynden, who inherited the De Poll estate, including the ruin, from Jonkheer F.J.C. Schimmelpenninck in 1991. Now, only the square tower remains in the destroyed state of 1945. The castle is currently about two hundred meters away from the IJssel. De Nijenbeek was consolidated between 2015 and 2016. This means that the ruin was not restored but preserved in its original state, including all traces from World War II, such as bullet holes. Several Canadian signatures were also found on the walls of the ruin, left there in 1945.