Colonies of Weldadigheid, UNESCO world heritage site in Drenthe

It is over 200 years since a unique social experiment started on the wastelands of Drenthe. At that time, poverty in the cities among the common people was abject. One Johannes van Den Bosch had the utopian idea of eradicating poverty. He offered poor families from the big cities a chance to become farmers.

Thus, a piece of rough and unattractive land was brought under cultivation, the produce of the land was for their own use and for sale. This would be an excellent method to fight poverty. Profit on three fronts, was the thought. Things eventually turned out differently.

The Colonies - Unesco

Seven colonies were founded in Drenthe, Overijssel and in Belgium. At first, people lived and worked there voluntarily. Later, some colonies were mainly used as coercive colonies, where cities could send their vagrants, thieves and other criminals, and the colony authorities were paid for it.

Internationally, the experiment was watched with great interest. Its significance, for later social policy, as well as by legacy, has been enormous. At one point, there were over 11,000 colony residents. About 1 million Dutch people have one or more ancestors who lived and worked as colonists at the time.

In 2021, the complex of four colonies in the Netherlands, and one in Belgium, acquired UNESCO World Heritage status. You can find all the information on the UNESCO site, and on the site of the Gevangenismuseum Veenhuizen.

Visiting Colony in Veenhuizen

The colony in Veenhuizen, with its huge prison complex and foundation buildings, hospital, brewery, colony houses, and much more appeal enormously to the imagination.

Immediately upon entering the area, the entire layout and architecture offers you a special experience. This is so different from anything you have seen so far in Drenthe and the wider area. The complex in Veenhuizen alone has 124 listed buildings.

You want to know more about this!

That is why LocalGroningen has chosen the colony complex in Veenhuizen as the final part of the route 'The Backyard of Groningen'.

This route starts south of the city of Groningen in the Onlanden, then through a piece of ancient Drenthe, to end in the most wonderful part of Drenthe - in the Kolonie in Veenhuizen.

This route can be booked separately, and also in combination with a complete package. See below.