Hier Sta Je (78) - Veenhuizen NL
Posted by: 
dreamhummie
N 53° 02.454 E 006° 23.292
32U E 324903 N 5880010
"Hier Sta Je" marker on bicycle map located at T-junction Oude Gracht - Haulerweg in Veenhuizen, The Netherlands.
Waymark Code: WMRQN6
Location: Drenthe, Netherlands
Date Posted: 07/25/2016
Views: 1
"When you are in Veenhuizen, you immediately see that something special has happened here. It looks different from any place in Drenthe or the Netherlands. Stately avenues and beautiful Colony Houses with inscriptions such as Order and Discipline and Work and Pray. Everywhere you can find the unique history of this village.
Veenhuizen was one of the seven Colonies of Benevolence and the largest unfree colony. Families, orphans, beggars and vagrants stayed here under 24-hour guard. They were sent by the many local departments of the Maatschappij van Weldadigheid from dozens of larger towns in the Netherlands.
After the modern welfare state came along, with unemployment benefits and health care for all, poverty reduction with the system of agricultural colonies was no longer necessary. After 1953, no new colonists were sent to Veenhuizen. And the institutions were gradually put to use as prisons."
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