Soldier of Orange: Dutch Resistance Locations

In Soldier of Orange the story opens with Leiden freshmen being initiated, and Guus, the chair, drops a bowl of soup on Erik's head. The scene is set in Leiden, but it was filmed at the Phoenix society of the Delft Student Corps, which stands at Phoenixstraat 30. That is a film location, not a Leiden one. Phoenix is a student society, so expect a street view. The same blow starts the friendship between Erik and Guus that drives the whole film.

After the soup accident Guus offers Erik a room, and the students Erik, Guus, Jacques, Jan and Alex drink to their friendship. For the shared student house, the film used the Leiden building that now houses Café Barrera. Today the building is a working café in Leiden, so you can sit where the friends once toasted.

Visitor guidance: Café Barrera is a public café in Leiden; check opening hours before going.

In the film Erik is locked up in the Oranjehotel in Scheveningen, where Jan is also held. The name was a nickname: the Germans confiscated the prison and renamed it Polizeigefängnis, but it was colloquially known as Oranjehotel. More than 25,000 people passed through, the vast majority Jews, resistance fighters and political prisoners. The original buildings were decommissioned in 2009 and made a national monument in 2010, and cell 601 was kept in its historic condition.

Visitor guidance: The Oranjehotel is part of a memorial site in Scheveningen; check opening times before visiting.

Jan, who resists interrogation, is executed on the Waalsdorpervlakte dunes in the film. The clearing in the Meijendel dunes is real: between 250 and 280 members of the Dutch resistance were killed there by the Germans. It is also one of the main places of the yearly remembrance on 4 May. The film's scene is a fictional version, so this pin marks the memorial area, not the exact spot where it was shot.

Location precision: The film names the dunes, but the pin marks the memorial area, not a verified shooting spot.

Visitor guidance: A memorial clearing in the dunes near The Hague; visit quietly, especially around 4 May.

In London, Erik tries to kill Van der Zanden, but he is no traitor: he heads the Dutch Central Intelligence Service and is private secretary to Queen Wilhelmina. The film's London was partly The Hague. Wilhelmina's residence in London was filmed in the garden of the former Red Cross headquarters on Prinsessegracht. The story then turns to Erik and Guus's mission to bring resistance leaders out of the Netherlands.

Location precision: The source names the street, not the exact building; the pin marks Prinsessegracht in The Hague.

The film ends its mission on the Scheveningen shore: Erik ducks into a beach mansion party for cover, dances a tango with Alex, then meets the others on the beach. The real Hazelhoff Roelfzema planned to land agents at Scheveningen beach, and knew of a big party every Friday night at the German-occupied Kurhaus. The Kurhaus was saved from demolition in 1975. Both the film's mansion and the beach are not named, so the pin is approximate.

Location precision: The film does not name its mansion or beach; the pin marks the Kurhaus, tied to the real events.

Visitor guidance: The Kurhaus is a public landmark on Scheveningen's seafront.