Westerwolde

is a region in the Dutch East Groningen around the rivers Windscreen Aa, the Mussel-Aa and Aa Westerwoldse. West and south lie the Westerwolde Groninger peat, Reiderland the north and east the Emsland (Germany).

Aa the Diamonds

The villages Ter Apel, Sellingen , Vlagtwedde, Onstwedde, Wedde, Vriescheloo, Bellingwolde Blijham and belong to the former glory. Over the western boundary of this former glory by the vast bogs down in the 17th century. This was the Semslinie. By setting this limit could begin the exploitation of peatlands and the Canal Zone occur. When we Semslinie still as western border assertion of Westerwolde, hear and also Stadskanaal Musselkanaal in this area. Much of the literature distinguishes between the Canal Zone, however, because the Westerwolde peat character, why should this not geographically Westerwolde. The fortified village Bourtange lies on an ancient road connecting this region and Germany. Westerwolde, together with the Reiderland the easternmost region of the Netherlands. It lies largely east of 7 ° east longitude.

Archaeological finds in Westerwolde

In Westerwolde are many archaeological findings. In the neighboring peat are like Hoetmansmeer objects found from the Middle Stone Age about 6000 years before the beginning of the era. Then began the formation of peat in this area and the people were expelled. Westerwolde is however remained inhabited until about 200 BC. There are many fields urns and the remains of burial mounds discovered.

Urns are best known from the urnfield culture . This dates from the late Bronze Age , from 1300 BC. to about 920 BC. The dead were then cremated and the cremated remains were in an urn, possibly with bijgiften. The urn was placed in a mound buried. A Such a urn was of ceramics and had a typical form.

When other people arrived, was buried more common, and this is in Europe remained so until the second half of the 20th century, when gradually, cremation was possible again. It was also the urn back into use. Today urns urns also a pillar or wall urns interred.

The youngest graves with urns from that time are very well conserved because they presumably shortly after construction by the peat are overgrown. Westerwolde is probably inhabited again hit around 600 to 700 after the beginning of the era. From that time again graves with urns found. There is also the Hasse Berg found a peat bridge from that era. The population probably originated from the east: the Ems region.

Westerwolde is then a long time been very isolated region. It was like a wedge into the largest wetland area in Western Europe: the Bourtangerveen. The area was initially borrowed from the monastery of Corvey (near Höxter) from which the Christianization of the area was established. This monastery had a branch in Meppen, who played a central role. The name Westerwolde is also only be understood from the historical connection to Corvey, and later Münster and Osnabrück. In Groningen, the region in the east, but from a German perspective, it is an area in the west.

The band made sure to Corvey Westerwolde church belonged to the diocese of Osnabrück. However, the administration fell under the Prince Bishopric of Münster. This gave Westerwolde in the second half of the Middle Ages again in fief to the genus Addinga that his country had lost by the advance of the Dollard. These men built the castle of Wedde and waged a harsh regime.

The castle of Wedde

The population of Westerwolde came there in the 15th century revolt against. In 1530 the area came into the hands of the Duke of Guelders, but already in 1536 after a battle at Heiligerlee conquered by the troops of Emperor Charles V's Frisian stadtholder of Toutenburg Schenk. As a reward, gave Charles V Westerwolde as a personal fief of Toutenburg Schenck.

In 1593 William Louis of Nassau captured the area for the States-General. It was sold in 1619 and was owned by the city of Groningen. Formally Westerwolde generality when a country, but was actually controlled by the city. In the mid-seventeenth century the bishop of Munster twice in an attempt to assert his rights again, but after the failed siege of Groningen he had finally put down with the loss. The isolated position disappeared when the Bourtangerveen was mined from the 17th until the twentieth century.

Esdorpenlandschap

The backbone of the landscape of Westerwolde is traditionally a esdorpenlandschap, with the higher sand ridges field complexes that were fertilized with sheep manure. These sheep grazed on the moor and spent the night in the deep litter. The accumulated as sheep manure was mixed with sod and put the ash. Some esdorp developed a kind of daughter villages, called essensweemdorpen. Smeerling that a conservation area, and Ter Maarsch are one example. Along the rivers and streams were the hay and pastures.

In Onstwedde (the Onstwedder Holte) and Sellingen (the Hasse Berg) are from the Drenthe moraines Stage of the second last glaciation, the Saalian. In Sellingen is a forest complex in which a few remains are of former heathland. Also there is a sandpit and there are some along the diamond-Aa river dunes as Ter Wupping. In Smeerling lies Metbroekbos, a Dutch standards very old forest. The rivers and streams and their drainage function lost by the construction of canals as the Mussel-Aa-Aa-channel and the Diamonds channel. Large-scale land consolidation have many characteristics of the esdorpenlandschap disappear. The landscape is therefore more open. Since the nineties makes the area so that the diamond-Aa flows part of the Ecological so much land acquired by conservation organizations such as Forestry and Nature. There is in certain areas of natural construction done.

Dialect

In the Westerwolde Westerwold, a variant of Groningen Low Saxon spoken. Unlike the majority of the province of Groningen has never spoken Frisian and Saxon character has always had. This is expressed in words like "nich" instead of "Nait" for "not" and "Jawol" for "yes". The official Westerwold is very closely related to Low Saxon in the Emsland and East Friesland speak. Today it has adapted itself to the Groningen and disappears gradually Westerwoldse own language. The region has are traditionally a highly Protestant character,, this in contrast to the surrounding areas.

Keuter a farm

Consulted Source: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellingen