Round trip Kampen Overijssel Weerribben - Wieden

After the start, this route (by Jos van Ree) goes through the city center of Kampen over the Burgwal and IJsselkade to the Stadsbrug over the IJssel, to drive past IJsselmuiden and through Genemuiden into the polder landscape of Overijssel. Shortly after Genemuiden, the route goes along the Wieden nature reserve to the Weerribben. Partly along the border with the Flevopolder, over dike roads, up to the village of Kuinre. Then over the Lindedijk to follow the river Lende (Frisian: the Linde). The Lende forms the natural border between Overijssel and Friesland. The route continues to follow the Lindedijk, which turns into the Kloosterdijk, until the National Park de Weerribben. Along and through the Weerribben to Willemsoord and Fredriksoord. Two villages with a remarkable colonial history. Then a stretch through Drenthe, in the direction of Havelte, along the Havelterberg with, among other things, the largest Dolmens in the Netherlands. After the town of Nijeveen, with its special mill “De Sterrenberg”, the route continues in Overijssel. There, the Belterwijde is crossed in the De Wieden nature reserve. Together with the Beulakerwijde, the Belterwijde forms an enormous Veenplas. The route then goes through the ribbon development of the villages Staphorst and Rouveen. These villages are also characterized by a special history and tradition. After Rouveen, the Zwarte Water comes into view again. This is followed by the crossing and along the Zwarte Water in the direction of Zwolle. Zwolle is passed to the north, after which the route goes through a very beautiful landscape to the IJsselbrug. After the IJsselbrug, the route follows the twists and turns of the IJssel over the Zalkerdijk to the town of De Zande. After De Zande via Kamperveen back to Kampen with one more crossing of the Reevediep over the Nieuwendijk Bridge.

The most important details of this route in order.

City of Kampen
Kampen is an old Hanseatic city, located on the lower reaches of the IJssel, near the mouth of the IJsselmeer and the Keteldiep. The city is largely located on a river island and can only be reached via (civil) works of art. The history of Kampen goes back to around 1150. At that time there were already wooden buildings on the site where the current Kampen is located, but the name Kampen is only mentioned in history in 1227. However, there is still a charter in the municipal archive of Kampen. present in which Abel, the king of Danes and Slavs and duke of Jutland, grants a privilege to the Ommelandvaarders, dated September 24, 1251. Kampen was already an important and powerful city at that time ("the Rotterdam of the Middle Ages") and had a large fleet of cog ships. The Ommelandvaart was made with these cog ships: the sea voyage around Denmark to the Baltic Sea.

City of Genemuiden
In 1275 Genemuiden received city rights from Jan van Nassau. At that time the place was called 'Genemuden', later the spelling 'Gelemuiden' also occurs. Bishop Jan van Arkel gave the city the right to ferry across the Zwarte Water against an annual supply of sixty pounds of wax for candle making. In 1382 they acquired the right to hold three annual fairs. The place became rich and built a town hall. Genemuiden became known for the rush cultivation and the craft of the chair-matters.

the weeding
A lake and wetland area Natura 2000, with the De Belterwijde and Beulakerwijde (also called Belterwiede and Beulakerwiede) are two large peat lakes that are part of this nature reserve.

The Lende (Frisian: the Linde)
Between the lake Het Wijde and the village of Slijkenburg, it forms the natural border between Overijssel and Friesland. The source of the Linde is near Tronde

The weather ribs
Weerribben-Wieden, one of the most special areas in the Netherlands and the largest peat bog area in northwestern Europe. Thanks to the human hands of peat cutters and reed cutters, a unique landscape was created full of lakes, canals, reed beds, swamp forests and quaking fens. A past full of peat, peat and reeds produces a beautiful present. Breathtaking nature and endless water features.

The Tjasker Mill
A tjasker has no cog wheels in contrast to 'normal' windmills. On the shaft through which the blades protrude, there is a barrel mill at the back. This is a small type of mortar with a paneling around it. It is stated by windmill experts that the only similarity between the tjasker and all other windmill types is the possession of a sail cross. The sails cross can be old Dutch or square rigged. There are two types of tjaskers: the paaltjasker and the boktjasker. With the paaltjasker the mill shaft is supported by a pole and with a boktjasker the front of the mill lies on a wooden trestle. The paaltjasker grinds the inland water via the auger bowl to the outer ring ditch or from the outer ring ditch to the inland water. The boktjasker grinds the water from the inland water via the auger bowl to the outer ring ditch, which opens onto the outside water. Only the boktjasker has a crawl track for the cross of the sails on the wind. The stilt coater is pulled onto the wind by means of a chain.

Especially in nature reserves, these types of mills are used to prevent desiccation.

Willemsoord and Frederiksoord (and also Wilhelminaoord)
Willemsoord (1820), Frederiksoord (1818) and Wilhelminaoord (1821) originally three free colonies, founded by the Society of Benevolence, to offer underprivileged families from the West of our country the opportunity to build a new life. The settlers were given a house with one hectare of land, their maintenance was provided, there was medical help, as well as religious and school education. Thanks to the contribution of a large number of reasonably wealthy Dutchmen, the living conditions of those lower classes could be considerably improved. The House of Orange was very interested in the plans. The Crown Prince of Orange, later King Willem II, gave Willemsoord its name. Willem paid for the construction of the school and teacher's house out of his own pocket: just 1,400 guilders for the realization of both buildings.

Beltwide
Called Belter for short. The Belter- and Beulakerwijde were created by storm surges in 1775, 1776 and 1825, which swept away large tracts of land. These peat lakes are now part of the Weerribben-Wieden National Park.

Havelteberg
The Havelterberg is a hill covered with heather near Havelte. Scattered on the mountain you will find a surprising number of remains of prehistoric habitation: burial mounds, urn fields and of course the famous dolmens. The Havelterberg dolmens are huge. They are about 200 meters apart. The largest is about 18 meters long and is located directly along a sandy path and walking route. The dolmens date from the New Stone Age (3400 - 2580 years ago). They are graves of the 'Funnel Beaker Culture'.

Flour mill the Sterrenberg
It is a thatched, octagonal scaffolding mill dating from 1786, originally from Weener in East Friesland in Germany and owned by the Sterrenberg family. Transferred to its current location on the mayor of Weimalaan in the 1970s and restored there. This mill is the only mill in the Netherlands with a compass rose on the hood for automatic turning. The blades have a flight of 23 meters and self-swing.

Staphorst and Rouveen
On the main road, the old Rijksweg/Gemeenteweg, from Staphorst and Rouveen, more than a thousand farms are located close to each other. Traditionally, every farm had an elongated plot in the landscape behind it. According to the local inheritance law, until 1970, the sons received an equal share of the property, so that the plots became narrower and farms were sometimes even built directly behind each other. It was therefore often a tradition for the children to build a farm behind the parents' farm. Many of the current buildings were built in the period after the devastating flood disaster of 1825. The ribbon development with no fewer than 300 nationally listed farms is now considered a protected village view.

Striking about Staphorst and Rouveen are the (bright) green shutters in combination with (bright) blue window sills, doors with a so-called tree of life above the front door and the traditional costume that was worn by men and women from young to old. Children who wear traditional costumes permanently or only in winter are already a rarity. You don't see grown men in it anymore, except for a few elderly men. There are still quite a lot of adult women in traditional costume.

Since 1937 it has been laid down in the General Local Regulations that it is prohibited "to photograph someone on or near the road without their permission".

The night-free hatch
Until the 1940s, the so-called night-free hatch was used. This allowed a boy to gain access to a girl's house and bed to get to know each other better. This tradition was widespread in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century, but was subsequently increasingly opposed as sinful and indecent. Staphorst and Rouveen are the last places where night sex still occurred in the early twentieth century.

In 1971 Staphorst was world news because of an outbreak of polio (infantile paralysis). Several residents did not want their children to be vaccinated against this virus for religious reasons. They found inoculation contrary to divine providence. As a result, 39 people (most of them were children) were infected with this disease. Five of them died, a number of others became disabled. Today the situation is different and most Staphorsters have been vaccinated. However, because about twenty percent has still not been vaccinated and because it concerns a group living together in one municipality, this place, as well as comparable other places in the Netherlands, are considered - the only European - risk areas for the World Health Organization.

Black Water
Het Zwarte Water is a 19 km river in Overijssel. The river flows from Zwolle to the Zwarte Meer at the Noordoostpolder. The name has nothing to do with the color black, but with sweat, which means border. The Zwarte Water was of great importance for the development of the Hanseatic city of Zwolle. It connected the city with the sea and the other Hanseatic cities.