Historic sites along the former Zuiderzee
Elburg, Nunspeet
What connects the Veluwe farming village of Nunspeet with the also Veluwe historic fishing town of Elburg? Two Veluwe towns that are very different and have very different histories. That is the Oude Zeeweg along the Veluwemeer, which, both physically and symbolically, plays a connecting role between the two places and was once part of the dykes that had to protect the area from the Zuiderzee. The Zuiderzee was a large inland sea in the north of the Netherlands, which regularly caused floods. Especially during storm tides, the sea posed a major threat to surrounding coastal towns, such as Elburg. Over the centuries, quite a few of these storm surges took place. The Sint-Luciaflood of 1287, the Sint-Elisabethflood of 1421, the Stormflood of 1825 and the Stormflood of 1916 all had a devastating impact on Elburg. Dykes broke, houses were destroyed and the town, infrastructure and farmland were flooded time and again. People had to evacuate and livestock further inland regularly drowned. Higher Nunspeet did not experience these problems, but opened doors of churches, barns and farms to accommodate evacuees. The young engineer Cornelis Lely (1854-1929) was a member of the Zuiderzeevereeniging that was founded in 1886 to draw up plans to close off and reclaim the Zuiderzee. The Hague engineer did a lot of research and produced no fewer than eight reports detailing his plans. In 1891, he presented his plans: a closing dike was to make the Zuiderzee safer and its reclamation was to provide agricultural land to solve long-term food shortages. Yet Lely's plans met with much opposition, even during the periods when he was a minister himself. Engineer Lely served as minister in three cabinets, from 1891 to 1894, from 1897 to 1901 and from 1913 to 1918. Only during his third term as minister and after the 1916 storm surge and the 1918 famine, was he able to convince parliament to pass his Zuiderzee Act. It was not until January 1927 that construction of the afsluitdijk actually started. Only in 1932 was the afsluitdijk completed and the Zuiderzee no longer existed as such. From then on, the inland part of the dike was called the IJsselmeer. Cornelis Lely did not live to see it himself; he died in 1929 in The Hague, aged 74, while making plans for the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. Simultaneously with the construction of the afsluitdijk, the reclamation of the Wieringermeer in North Holland was started. When this pilot project succeeded, the Noordoostpolder and Flevopolders were also reclaimed, which incidentally also met with opposition. The afsluitdijk and the reclamation had major consequences for life in the former Zuiderzee. Herring, porpoises and seals disappeared there forever and fishermen revolted. As a result, it was eventually decided not to impolder the Markermeer. With the impoldering of the Eastern Flevopolder in 1957, a narrow strip of water was created between the new polder and the Veluwe mainland; the Veluwemeer was born. Today, you can cycle along the Oude Zeeweg between Nunspeet and Elburg with a view of the Veluwemeer. You will then cycle past the remains of St Ludgerus church, which was damaged in the 1825 storm, and discover what makes both Veluwe towns so unique. The history of fishing in Elburg and the agricultural character of Nunspeet. Pen drawing Elburg: Gelders Archive Photo Ir. Lely: Flevoland Archive This Premium Cycle Route was compiled by our editor: Désirée van Uffelen.
| Directions | Distance | Total distance | |
|
Start: Stationsplein 28, 8071 CH Nunspeet | 41.4 KM | |
|
From
40
to
83
|
1405 M | 1.4 KM | |
| Head west on Stationsplein | 16 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto F.A. Molijnlaan | 30 M | ||
| Turn right onto Stationslaan | 521 M | ||
| Turn left onto Harderwijkerweg | 805 M | ||
| Turn right | 33 M | ||
| You are now at section 83 | 0 M | ||
|
From
83
to
82
|
1917 M | 1.9 KM | |
| Head north | 52 M | ||
| Exit the roundabout onto Waterweg | 375 M | ||
| Turn right onto Hullerweg | 21 M | ||
| Turn left onto Waterweg | 1.5 KM | ||
| You are now at section 82 | 0 M | ||
|
From
82
to
81
|
1528 M | 1.5 KM | |
| Head west on Kolmansweg | 1.2 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Hoge Bijsselse-Pad | 365 M | ||
| You are now at section 81 | 0 M | ||
|
From
81
to
60
|
360 M | 0.4 KM | |
| Head northwest on Hoge Bijsselse-Pad | 253 M | ||
| Turn right | 39 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Hoge Bijsselse-Pad | 68 M | ||
| You are now at section 60 | 0 M | ||
|
From
60
to
32
|
3020 M | 3 KM | |
| Head northeast on Zeepad | 1.4 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Zeepad | 494 M | ||
| Make a slight left to stay on Zeepad | 793 M | ||
| Continue onto Oude Molenweg | 322 M | ||
| You are now at section 32 | 0 M | ||
|
From
32
to
1
|
4032 M | 4 KM | |
| Head northwest on Oude Molenweg | 6 M | ||
| Turn right onto Knibbelweg | 825 M | ||
| Turn left onto Oude Zeeweg | 3.2 KM | ||
| You are now at section 01 | 0 M | ||
|
From
1
to
2
|
1805 M | 1.8 KM | |
| Head northeast on Veldweg | 1.8 KM | ||
| You are now at section 02 | 0 M | ||
|
From
2
to
30
|
344 M | 0.3 KM | |
| Head northwest on Flevoweg | 344 M | ||
| You are now at section 30 | 0 M | ||
|
From
30
to
3
|
1654 M | 1.7 KM | |
| Head east on Bagijnendijkje | 548 M | ||
| Turn left onto Nunspeterweg | 134 M | ||
| Turn right onto De Eiermarkt | 114 M | ||
| Turn left onto Ledige Stede | 158 M | ||
| Continue left onto van Kinsbergenstraat | 99 M | ||
| Turn right onto Beekstraat | 552 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Kamperweg | 49 M | ||
| You are now at section 03 | 0 M | ||
|
From
3
to
4
|
4734 M | 4.7 KM | |
| Head northeast on Mheenwegje | 1.2 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Blaauwsweg | 267 M | ||
| Turn left onto Vrijheid | 339 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Vrijheid | 271 M | ||
| Turn right | 21 M | ||
| Turn left | 15 M | ||
| Turn left onto Vletstraat | 326 M | ||
| Turn left onto De Weeren | 53 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on De Weeren | 426 M | ||
| Turn left onto Oostendorperstraatweg | 440 M | ||
| Turn left onto Hof ter Eekterweg | 536 M | ||
| Turn left onto Winterdijk | 815 M | ||
| You are now at section 04 | 0 M | ||
|
From
4
to
22
|
3084 M | 3.1 KM | |
| Head southeast on Schiksweg | 478 M | ||
| Turn right | 269 M | ||
| Turn right | 61 M | ||
| Continue onto Kibbelwegje | 820 M | ||
| Turn left onto Eekterweg | 101 M | ||
| Turn right onto Kerkpad | 1.2 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Kerkstraat | 82 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Kerkstraat | 64 M | ||
| Turn left onto Zuiderzeestraatweg (N308) | 28 M | ||
| You are now at section 22 | 0 M | ||
|
From
22
to
5
|
1369 M | 1.4 KM | |
| Head southeast on van Asseltsweg | 156 M | ||
| Turn left onto van Sytzamalaan | 158 M | ||
| Turn right onto Stationsweg | 88 M | ||
| Turn left onto van Asch van Wijcklaan | 155 M | ||
| Turn right onto Stouwdamsweg | 8 M | ||
| Turn left | 120 M | ||
| Turn right | 684 M | ||
| You are now at section 05 | 0 M | ||
|
From
5
to
6
|
2422 M | 2.4 KM | |
| Head southwest on Bovenstraatweg | 2.4 KM | ||
| You are now at section 06 | 0 M | ||
|
From
6
to
28
|
3521 M | 3.5 KM | |
| Head southeast on Laanzichtsweg | 393 M | ||
| Turn right onto Bovenheigraaf | 937 M | ||
| Continue onto Bovenweg | 372 M | ||
| Turn right onto Bovenweg | 379 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Bovenweg | 222 M | ||
| Turn right onto Munnikenweg | 20 M | ||
| Turn left onto Bovenweg | 639 M | ||
| Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Verlengde Schietweg | 61 M | ||
| Exit the roundabout onto Verlengde Schietweg | 498 M | ||
| You are now at section 28 | 0 M | ||
|
From
28
to
27
|
4056 M | 4.1 KM | |
| Head south on Verlengde Schietweg | 84 M | ||
| Turn right | 502 M | ||
| Turn right | 617 M | ||
| Turn right onto Verlengde Vaarbekerweg | 103 M | ||
| Turn left | 55 M | ||
| Continue onto Verlengde Haerderweg | 121 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Verlengde Haerderweg | 293 M | ||
| Turn left | 125 M | ||
| Turn left onto Beukenlaan | 7 M | ||
| Turn right | 921 M | ||
| Turn right | 361 M | ||
| Continue onto Berkenweg | 68 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Berkenweg | 19 M | ||
| Turn right | 257 M | ||
| Turn right onto Schootbruggeweg | 211 M | ||
| Turn left onto Bovenweg | 312 M | ||
| You are now at section 27 | 0 M | ||
|
From
27
to
98
|
618 M | 0.6 KM | |
| Head southwest on Bovenweg | 618 M | ||
| You are now at section 98 | 0 M | ||
|
From
98
to
31
|
2857 M | 2.9 KM | |
| Head west on Bovenweg | 672 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Bovenweg | 1 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Rondweg de Kolk | 79 M | ||
| Turn right onto Elburgerweg | 52 M | ||
| Turn right onto Bovenweg | 1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 31 | 0 M | ||
|
From
31
to
40
|
2624 M | 2.6 KM | |
| Head south on Molenweg | 958 M | ||
| Turn left onto Molenweg | 10 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Molenweg | 16 M | ||
| Turn right | 28 M | ||
| Make a slight left | 21 M | ||
| Turn right onto F.A. Molijnlaan | 117 M | ||
| Turn right | 13 M | ||
| Turn right onto Laan | 762 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Spoorlaan | 408 M | ||
| Turn right onto Enkweg | 218 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Stationsplein | 73 M | ||
| You are now at section 40 | 0 M |