Emmeloord, Schokland, Wellerwaard

Schokland was once an island in the Zuiderzee, but has not been since the reclamation of the Northeast Polder in 1942. It was once a peninsula, but floods turned it into an island in the 15th century. South of Schokland, the river IJssel flowed into the sea and north into the Vecht.

Incidentally, Schokland did not get its name until 1806, during the time of the French occupation of the Netherlands. The name was probably derived from the swear name given to the inhabitants, 'schokkers'. A 'schokke' was a cane or dried piece of cow dung used as fuel. The people who lived on the island were generally so poor that they could not afford to buy peat. Consequently, large numbers of people never lived on the island because there were few economic opportunities. People tried to make a living from fishing, but this was often difficult.

There were two villages on the island: Emmeloord in the north and Ens in the south. Emmeloord belonged to the county of Holland, the south to the province of Overijssel. During the Eighty Years' War against the Spaniards, which was also partly a religious conflict, the inhabitants of Ens opted for Protestantism while those of Emmeloord remained Catholic. This led to a division that was typical of the Netherlands for centuries: Catholics and Protestants lived strictly separated from each other and, for example, mutual marriages were unthinkable. On Schokland, this division was also very physical: a waterway ran between the two villages, which could only be crossed by a narrow gangway.

Life on the island was tough not only because of poverty, but also because of the constant threat of the sea. With some regularity, the dykes proved not strong enough and there were floods. The island also became narrower and narrower as the beaches and dunes eroded. In 1825, a storm surge even flooded the entire island. In the years that followed, residents had to be evacuated regularly to the mainland. In 1859, it was decided to declare the island permanently uninhabitable. The approximately 650 residents had to leave the island, their houses were demolished and the remains were used to build new houses on the mainland. A small part of the residents went to Volendam, the majority to the town of Vollenhove and the village of Brunnepe, near Kampen.

Schokland thus became an uninhabited island, and from 1942 it was no longer even an island. For decades, it lay more or less anonymously in the new polder and was at best used as farmland. From the 1980s, more attention came to the island's special history, partly due to archaeological discoveries. These showed that people had already lived in the area 10,000 years ago. Remains of old buildings and dykes were also found and partly restored or reconstructed. All this led to Schokland being recognised as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1995 and thus having a protected status ever since.

Old photo/print: National Archives

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