Ländliche Neusiedlung in den Niederlanden vom Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts bis zur Gegenwart

Abstract

In this article we review cultivation and reclamation activities over about the last 100 years. At the end of the 19th century cultivation activities increased in the higher sand and peat areas in the north- and south-eastern parts of the Netherlands. This was caused by modernisations in agriculture and the introduction of new techniques and fertilizers. In this matter the foundation of the Dutch Heide maatschappij (1888) was also very important. Till 1918 this has all been carried out mainly by private enterprise. The role of the state before the First World War was very restricted. After 1918 the state's influences increased. This was caused by problems in food supply, flood disasters and unemployment. In the Thirties large areas were cultivated and colonized with governmental support. By 1930 the first Zuider Zee polder (Wieringermeer) had been reclaimed. The three other polders followed in 1942, 1957 and 1968. After the Second World War the state's influence in creased because of the setting up of a national planning scheme, in which the new land and cultivated areas were included. The Zuider Zee polders are a very good example, in which we can see how settlement patterns were changed. The cultivation of wasteland stopped in 1970 due to a new natural, ecological, environmental, and cultural evaluation.