2023-05-03 07:44:06
The Region Flevoland
Neuland at the bottom of the sea: Flevoland, the youngest province of the Netherlands, was founded in 1986 from polders – land newly created by dykes and drainage by people. In 1942 the Noordoostpolder was wrested from the IJsselmeer, the lake that was previously the North Sea bay of the Zuiderzee. The eastern and southern Flevopolders were created in 1957 and 1968, all three together forming Flevoland.
The new province near Amsterdam, which is almost five meters below sea level, is characterized by large fields and modern planning. It offers young cities, modern museums, but also beaches, water sports and large nature areas such as the Horsterwold, where holidaymakers meet wild horses or nude hikers and sleep in huts on stilts.
Even the flair of old times can be felt. Because not all of Flevoland is new territory. Urk was an island before the Poldering, already mentioned in 966. Now the old fishing village on the coast of the Noordoostpolder enchants with small streets, excursions on old fishing boats and bars with fresh fish.
Source: Infographic WORLD
Schokland, the second earlier island, was inhabited more than 10,000 years ago. As a symbol of the Dutch people’s eternal struggle against the water, Schokland and its surroundings became the country’s first Unesco World Heritage Site. A museum on a preserved settlement hill shows archaeological finds and details on the history of the region.
The largest tulip area in the Netherlands
The Noordoostpolder is the largest tulip area in the Netherlands. There are more than 2000 hectares of tulip fields, together flowers from almost a billion flower bulbs sprout here every spring, a total of over 500 types of tulips. During flowering, the huge areas shine in all the colors of the rainbow.
There are over 2000 hectares of tulip fields in the Noordoostpolder
Quelle: picture alliance/Zoonar/Fokke Baarssen
The Tulip Festival Profytodsd is organized for visitors every year at the end of April/beginning of May – with signposted routes for hikers and circuits for cyclists (36 km) and motorists (99 km) along the flower fields. They may not be entered, with the exception of three fields for shooting selfies.
Sightseeing flights by helicopter or balloon can also be booked on certain days. In East and South Flevoland there is another tulip route for bike and car tourists, it runs through the towns of Dronten, Lelystad and Zeewolde.
Landscape of giant works of art
He crouches on the ground and yet towers 26 meters into the sky – a man made of 1800 steel rods. “Exposure” weighs 60,000 kilos, an example of Land Art in Flevoland. Inspired by the region, the English artist Antony Gormley created it in 2010, in Lelystad it now stands on the Houtribdijk dike between water and land. Its shape is only clearly discernible from a distance.
Artist Antony Gormley’s sculpture “Exposure” stands on the Houtribdijk dike in Lelystad
Quelle: Photo Bram Schilling, courtesy Land Art Flevoland
Flevoland is rich in landscape art, and more is constantly being added – nowhere else in the world is there so much land art so close together as here, the region advertises. In fact, the flat, wide land is an ideal exhibition space.
On guided tours or on their own, guests can discover Piet Slegers’ “Aardzee”, the largest work of art in the Netherlands, Daniel Libeskind’s “Polderland Garden of Love and Fire” or Robert Morris’ “Observatory”, which is reminiscent of prehistoric sites such as Stonehenge.
From water to wine
Vines are now growing where fish used to swim: Bianca and Roland van der Veeken have been making sustainable wine from Flevoland grapes since 2004. Their vineyard, Wijngaard Maronesse, is located in the village of Marknesse on the Noordoostpolder, in an area that was once seabed.
During guided tours, the winegrowers explain the grape varieties and the production of the red and white polder wines, which guests can taste on site. In the farm shop with adjoining wine and coffee bar there are other home-made and regional products.
The largest man-made natural park in the world
The Nieuw Land National Park offers 29,000 hectares of nature. The world’s largest man-made nature park was only created when Flevoland was drained. Wild Konik horses, heck cattle and red deer graze in the Oostvaardersplassen wetland. The rich bird life includes the white-tailed eagle, which was previously extinct across the country.
Many animals thrive in the Oostvaardersplassen wetland, including wild Konik horses
Source: pa/blickwinkel/AGAMI/J. van der Neu/J. van der Neut
The Leppelaarplassen area is also ideal for outdoor and bird fans, as is the Markermeer, a lake where the Marker Wadden archipelago was created, the newest part of the Netherlands. There are observation towers, a visitor center, boat, hiking and biking tours.
The quote
“We think we understand a little bit about water management”
This sentence from Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands, is an understatement. And Flevoland, “the greatest dike project of all time”, as it proudly calls itself, is probably the best example of the Dutch art of conquering new land.
The entire province is the impressive result of the Zuiderzee Works, a gigantic system of dykes and other land reclamation works in the former North Sea bay of the Zuiderzee. The American Society of Civil Engineers named the Zuiderzee Works, along with the Delta Works (also in the Netherlands), one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
Bizarre, record-breaking, typical: You can find more parts of our regional geography series here.
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