Landscape analysis of the ‘Benevolent’ Colonies

‘The visionary way in which General Johannes van den Bosch tackled the serious problems connected with poverty and crime by establishing agricultural colonies was an important source of inspiration for many enlightened thinkers in the Western world. This ideology and its tangible results are unique.’ (NL UNESCO nomination commission, 2011)

A major social and agricultural experiment was conducted in the seclusion of the sandy landscapes of Drenthe and Antwerp in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Johannes van den Bosch saw the opportunity to found his ‘Benevolent’ Colonies during the first large-scale sales of uncultivated land. One after another, within seven years the colonies were founded: Frederiksoord, Willemsoord, Wilhelminaoord, Boschoord, Oost Vierde Parten, Ommenschans and Veenhuizen in the Netherlands, and Wortel and Merksplas in Flanders. The higher aim was to offer impoverished fellow countrymen a new chance within the shelter of the agricultural colonies to prepare them for a promising return to normal life.

The colonies also had a big influence on the landscape. The soil was tilled, forests were planted, and a unique environment sprang up on land that had been so barren before. These were the first steps towards the cultivation of the large expanses of heathland in the sandy landscape.

In 2011 the cultural and natural heritage of the Society of Humanitarianism was included in the Provisional Heritage List of UNESCO in the Netherlands. In close collaboration with the Kenniscentrum Landschap (University of Groningen) and specialists from Belgium, Strootman Landschapsarchitecten has conducted research on the landscape context in which the ‘Benevolent’ Colonies were located and the transformation of the landscape that has taken place since. This analysis played an important role in preparing the definitive Heritage status, which has been awarded in 2021.