Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine July 2019 | Page 202

St. Eustatius.
An Island of Cliffhangers.
by Walter Hellebrand
Walter Hellebrand is St. Eustatius’ Monuments Director. He was
born and raised on St. Eustatius, attended secondary education
on Curaçao (also Dutch Caribbean) and studied history at the
University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
He pursued a career in international public relations and became
Head of Communications for Europe, Middle East, India, Africa and
Asia for BBC Worldwide in London.
When he decided to return to the field of his first choice, history,
his work included working on TV documentaries, museum
exhibitions, research projects, and regularly publishing articles
about his island’s history.
Discovery Channel even made a
documentary about him as the
expert on Dutch overseas forts.
But what he is most proud of, is
being the designer of his island’s
coat-of-arms.
Photo Credits: Walter Hellebrand
Like the wines preferred
on the island in its 18th
century heydays, small
St. Eustatius (Dutch
Caribbean) was amply
fortified. An agent of a
Dutch trading company
living on the island in 1792
wrote that “Madeira was
drunk like water.” However,
unlike the fortification
of this Portuguese wine,
the strengthening of the
island’s defenses proved
less effective. St. Eustatius
changed hands more than
twenty times, with Great
Britain, the Netherlands
and France chasing each
other off the island one
after the other, despite the
existence at some point
of nineteen fortifications.
With a surface of only 21
km 2 , that is almost one
fortification per km 2 ! The
remains of sixteen of these
are still visible – if you are
an adventurous visitor
who likes hiking.