The Valtherschans was built in 1621 along the Valtherdijk, the only passable road in the area between Valthe and the Ter Apel monastery. Around the 12 kilometer long dike and along the entire eastern border of Drenthe was the Bourtanger Moor, an inaccessible and treacherous swamp. The former defenses were supposed to keep enemies out during the Eighty Years’ War.
One of those enemies was Christoph Bernhard von Galen, the Bishop of Munster. Popularly known as Bommen Berend. In 1665 he managed to take Ter Apel, but pushing through to Valthe and then Groningen over that narrow peat road was not an option. Von Galen later had more success with a route via Coevorden. The redoubt eventually fell into disuse and completely disappeared from view when the peat bog in Southeast Drenthe gained steam.
