| Fort Batenstein | |
|---|---|
| Part ofDutch Gold Coast | |
 Fort Batenstein | |
| Location | |
  Fort Batenstein | |
| Coordinates | 4°49′37″N1°55′17″W / 4.826944°N 1.921389°W /4.826944; -1.921389 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1656 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | Netherlands (1656–1872) United Kingdom (1875–1957) Ghana (1957–Present) |
| Location | Butre,Western Region,Ghana |
| Part of | Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions |
| Criteria | Cultural: (vi) |
| Reference | 34-006 |
| Inscription | 1979 (3rdSession) |
Fort Batenstein was a fort andtrading post established by the Dutch on theGold Coast in 1656. It was situated nearButre (old spelling:Boutry). The fort was ceded with the entire Dutch Gold Coast to Britain in 1872.
At this fort, theTreaty of Butre was signed on 27 August 1656 between the Dutch and theAhanta.
In 1979, the fort was designated aWorld Heritage Site (along with severalother castles and forts in Ghana) because of its historical importance in European trade and exploitation in West Africa.[1]
Batenstein literally translates to "profit fort," which historianAlbert van Dantzig sees as evidence of a cynical sense of humour on the part of the directors of theDutch West India Company: the fort atKomenda, which was the site of the fierceKomenda Wars with the British, was namedVredenburgh (literally "peace borough"), the commercially unsuccessful fort atSenya Beraku was namedGoede Hoop ("Good Hope"), and the fort atApam, which took five years to build due to local resistance, was namedLijdzaamheid ("Patience").[2]
Fort Batenstein was built by the Dutch West India Company, not because of promising trade opportunities in the area, but to crush the attempts of theSwedish Africa Company to establish trading posts on the Gold Coast.Hendrik Carloff, who had previously worked for the Dutch West India Company, founded a trading lodge atButre in 1650, which was attacked on the instigation of the Dutch by the people of Encasser in 1652. To make sure the Swedes would not return, the Dutch started building a fort on top of the hill overlooking Butre bay, which was completed by 1656.[3] On this occasion, the Dutch signeda treaty with the local population in which the people of UpperAhanta and Butre subject themselves to the authority of the Dutch West India Company. The formulation of the treaty stands in stark contrast to the earlierTreaty of Axim, which governed the relationship between the Dutch and the peoples aroundFort Saint Anthony, and which phrased the relationship in terms of mutual obligations and jurisdictions.
In the 18th century, asawmill was constructed at Fort Batenstein, which provided the forts and ships in need of repair with wood.[4]
Fort Batenstein was not an important fort until 1837, when theDutch–Ahanta War made it the focal point of Dutch military effort on the Coast. After the war, the Dutch made Ahanta a protectorate of which the commandant of Fort Batenstein was made the vice governor, thereby citing the provisions of the Treaty of Butre of 1656. In the years that followed, the Dutch attempted to establish a gold mine near Butre, which failed to produce any gold, however.[5][6]
After the Dutchsold their possessions on the Gold Coast to the United Kingdom in 1872, the people of Butre protested the change of ownership and in 1873 went to the streets waving Dutch flags and firing guns. In October 1873, Butre was shelled by the British in retaliation for an attack ofDixcove, which had always been a British trading post.[7]
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