Veenhuizen, Norg, Allardsoog

A thing jurisdiction is a historical legal district and probably dates from the early Middle Ages. The Landschap Drenthe, predecessor of the province of Drenthe, consisted of six thing districts. Noordenveld was the fifth thing district. All the places you cycle through with this route fell into this fifth thing jurisdiction.

But the history of the Noordenveld goes back even further. This region, located on the Drents Plateau, was formed by the penultimate ice age. The first habitation dates back to the Late Stone Age, some 11,000 years BC. Fist axes have been found in the soil of the first hunters and gatherers who settled here. The dolmens are also traces of the prehistoric population. On the route, you can visit Hunebed D2.

You cycle further into the Middle Ages, the period when the district of Noordenveld was formed. This era is mainly characterised by struggles for power. Yet the region remained quite stable and independent all this time. Itinerant and marauding gangs were kept out by a border wall: the Landweer Allardsoog. Discover this defensive work - now a national monument - on the route.

Next, we enter the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648). From Groningen, the Spanish armies made their advance towards Noordenveld, before conquering Friesland. The old road across the Zwartendijksterschans was the only connecting road between Drenthe and Friesland at the time. The inhabitants of Noordenveld thought they could put a stop to it by building an entrenchment on the dyke in 1593, but the Spaniards managed to pass the entrenchment unseen anyway... We won't let you pass the entrenchment unseen today. Dismount at this dismount and learn more about this military stronghold.

You will then cycle into the 18th and 19th centuries, after the birth of the Batavian Republic as part of the French Republic in 1795. In 1806, Napoleon proclaimed the 'United Kingdom of the Netherlands' and put his brother Louis Napoleon in charge. After his fall in 1813, Napoleon left the country in poverty. General Johannes van den Bosch came up with a plan to solve the poverty and sky-high unemployment rates in 1817. The Maatschappij van Weldadigheid was established and seven agricultural colonies were founded, including Veenhuizen. You cycle past the domed church, the prison and the information centre of this Colony of Weldadigheid.

End your historical journey with a tribute to the victims of World War II. Visit the impressive monument on the spot where ten Dutch prisoners were shot and buried by the Germans.

This route takes you on an unforgettable journey through time, full of fascinating stories and historical highlights not to be missed!