Open-Air Museum De Spitkeet - Harkema

On the poor heathland around Harkema – where people once cut peat and life was tough and basic – the first spitketen arose: huts made from sods, wood and sand. No luxury, hardly any comfort – but shelter, however minimal. At the open-air museum De Spitkeet, you can see how people lived, worked and slowly made progress.

A spitkeet was often the only home for large families, until the Housing Act of 1901 changed that. Sod huts and shacks were declared unhealthy, and the local councils built simple “chicken coop houses” to rehouse the residents. In the museum, you walk through that entire development: from spitkeet to forest house, from dugout dwelling to brick worker’s house.

The name ‘Spitkeet’ remained, just like many of the stories. At the entrance, there’s an old cooking hut. It used to be where food was cooked for the pigs and laundry was done. Now it’s where you buy your ticket.

Between the old homes, the paupers’ graveyard and the small kitchen gardens, you get a sense of what everyday life must have been like. All over the grounds you'll find dozens of fruit trees – just like families used to have – for their own use, to store, or to preserve.