Flevoland is the result of the largest land reclamation project ever undertaken: the Zuiderzee Project. In the last century, thousands of men moved to the reclaimed seabed to work on making the new polders habitable. This raises interesting questions, such as: What did the landscape look like? When did animals and plants arrive on this new land? And what was it like to farm on this former seabed? In 2013, Landschapsbeheer (Landscape Management) set up an Oral History project in collaboration with the Nieuw Land Erfgoedcentrum (New Land Heritage Center), now Batavialand, to interview the first pioneers and inhabitants of the Noordoostpolder. Seventy men and women from the early days were interviewed by special volunteers and recalled memories that had never been written down before. The best stories have been compiled by historian Lenie Hanse-Bolle in the book “Zover je keek was er niks: Ooggetuigen over de geschiedenis van het Flevolandse landschap” (As far as you could see, there was nothing: Eyewitnesses on the history of the Flevoland landscape). Storymap: The vision of the pioneers and first inhabitants on the landscape and nature of our unique province continues to fascinate. This prompted Landschapsbeheer Flevoland to turn their stories into a StoryMap, which can be viewed digitally by everyone. By clicking on an intelligent map, the reader is stimulated with text, photos, multimedia, and interactive features. It is an ideal way to experience at home the pioneers who made Flevoland what it is today.
Interviews conducted as part of the Oral History Research Project (Project 37) by the Social History Center for Flevoland in 1995.
The collection is housed at Batavialand Heritage Park.
Interviewers / producers:
André Geurts
Willy van der Most
Jeoffrey van Woensel
Dirk-Jan Wolffram