Oosterbeek in Gelderland

Adjoining Arnhem on the west, Oosterbeek (pronounced Ohst-uhr-bayk) traces its history back to the Roman era, and in the 19th century it was beloved by artists, who built handsome villas here. Stop by the old Catholic church to view Jan Toorop's Fourteen Stations of the Cross. The village was badly damaged during heavy fighting that accompanied the September 1944 Allied airborne offensive to capture the Rhine bridge at Arnhem during World War II, and was rebuilt after the war. In Oosterbeek is the Airborne Cemetery, where 1,748 of the Allied fallen rest. Local schoolchildren lay flowers on the graves for the annual day of remembrance, in a moving echo of the support Dutch civilians gave their liberators during the battle.