... Nice views of a unique and important piece of Dutch history... not really a spectacular site but the story behind it is very interesting... Frederiksoord was where it all began back in 1818, the oldest of all the colonies and an integral part of benevolent colonial history... it has an area of 310 ha... the basic idea behind the Colonies of Benevolence, located in Drenthe, Overijssel and Flanders, was to provide a way for low-income city dwellers to move to remote parts of the country and work the land to reduce poverty... this physical work would, they believed, create a moral, ideal community, with industrious, self-reliant citizens... there is an interesting museum "De Proefkolonie" explaining the philosophy behind the Colonies of Benevolence as well as looking at life in the colony... the pretty houses built for employees and workers still stand in neat rows on a grid pattern of roads... also the church and the post office... many visitors enjoy either walking or cycling along the roads of the colony... you can also board the Kolonie Express and explore the streets, schools, and gardens in an electric vehicle... with great matching UNESCO stamp issued by the museum!đThanks a lot Jarina!! (✿◠‿◠)
Colonies of Benevolence are four villages that were founded by the Society of Benevolence in the beginning of the 19th century as part of a planned effort to reduce urban poverty. It was a unique and highly successful social experiment designed in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. By mid-1800, more than 11,000 people called these landscapes home and were striving to better their lives.
The four colonies in this group are Frederiksoord, Wilhelminaoord and Veenhuizen in the Netherlands and Wortel in Belgium.
In July 2021, five of the colonies were awarded UNESCO World Heritage status.
Stamps:
Provinces of Netherlands: Friesland
(Issued 12-02002)
Provinces of Netherlands: Drenthe
(Issued 26-03-2002)
No comments:
Post a Comment