Bant, Ossenzijl, Kuinre

De Weerribben is a protected nature reserve that largely originated from two human activities: peat cutting and reed cutting. Since 1992, it has been a national park managed by the Forestry Commission. In 2009, it became 'National Park Weerribben-Wieden' together with the nature reserve De Wieden to the south.

The history of this area goes back to the Middle Ages, when the village of Calumburg was founded in 1313, now called Kalenberg. The inhabitants of this village started extracting peat in the swampy peat bog. Peat, basically dried peat mud, was used as fuel for heating and food preparation. To extract peat, trenches were dug in which water collected (so-called 'draught holes'). Along the trenches, the land was raised so that the extracted peat could be laid out to dry there. These drying fields were also called 'ribs'. Peat was still extracted in this way until the late 1940s, but to an increasingly lesser extent.

Draining more and more swamps also created larger and larger areas of water, so the area that could be excavated became smaller and smaller. Therefore, the inhabitants increasingly turned to other economic activities, especially fishing and reed cutting. The reeds grew along the sides of the ditches and were mainly used for constructing thatched roofs on houses. For decades, most residents of the area were both peat cutters, fishermen and cane cutters.

Much changed from the moment a pumping station was built in the early 20th century to drain more area. The pumped water was discharged into the Zuiderzee. From 1918, plans were developed to also reclaim parts of that Zuiderzee itself, and in 1942 the current area of the Noordoostpolder was completely drained. The Weerribben nevertheless remained a marshy area, its main feature being the rectilinear draughts with raised ribs along them. Cutting peat was no longer profitable with the advent of coal and fuel oil, but growing and processing reeds remained so. The reed from the Weerribben, the 'Kalenberger reed', was and still is known for its good quality as roofing material.

Even since the Weerribben became a protected nature reserve, reed is still grown and cut by some family farms. The families lease area from the Forestry Commission and are also partly subsidised, because reed cultivation prevents the area from growing completely dense with trees and bushes. This is important from a nature management point of view, as many plants, birds and mammals benefit from a somewhat open marshland. Living in the Weerribben include purple herons, black terns, warblers, reed warblers and (since they were released in 2022) otters. The rare great fire butterfly and the dark damselfly (a dragonfly) are also found here.


Photo peat cutters: National Archives

This Premium cycle route was compiled by our editor: Frans Glissenaar.