Schokland

Schokland
Photo by Els Slots.

Schokland and Surroundings comprise a former island, including its prehistorical archeological sites, that has been reclaimed from the sea.

The earliest settlement on Schokland goes back to prehistory when it was a peninsula. Due to rising sea levels, it became an island that was eventually too dangerous to live on in 1859. However, as part of the impoldering program of the Noordoostpolder in the 1940s, it became part of the mainland again and now four mounds (terps) rise from the surrounding flat agricultural lands. The site protects both the prehistoric remains and the later structures on the terps such as the church, former harbour and dykes.

Community Perspective: The Museum Schokland on the terp of Middelbuurt is the logical first stop of a visit (be aware that it opens only at 11 am). Beyond that only hiking in the polders remains. David did a comprehensive review that also includes the other terps beyond Middelbuurt. Tsunami has the most recent public transport update.

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Tsunami

Japan / USA / Europe - 03-Oct-19 -

Schokland by Tsunami

The Netherlands was hit by a non-hazardous Tsunami in mid-September 2019. 

I based myself in Lelystad to visit 2 WHSs in northern Netherlands, as Amsterdam (or even Emmeloord) was too expensive to stay over weekends. 

From Lelystad on a Saturday I took a bus with a regional bus company ("OV Regio IJsselmond") to Emmeloord and took another bus to Ens to get closer to Schokland in the afternoon. You can buy an all-day bus ticket for 11.5 Euros. 

(From Emmeloord I had taken yet another bus with a different bus company ("Arriva, a DB company") to visit Ir. D. F. Woudagemaal WHS in Lemmer in the morning.  So this bus ride was not included in the all-day bus ticket.)

But from Ens I had to walk about 4 km to get to the Schokland museum. In the Netherlands it is often illegal to walk on roads for car, and you are supposed to walk on paths for bicycle laid parallel to but a bit away from roads.  As such, it is difficult to hitch cars in the Netherlands. 

I'm not sure if the "small" museum previous reviewers refer to is the same museum I visited, but this museum, part of a whole outdoor museum, seemed rather new. 

After getting a grasp of Schokland at the museum, I rented a bicycle at the museum shop for one hour for a few Euros to cycle around Schokland, which to me was the quintessential Dutch experience. 

 

Read more from Tsunami here.


Michael Turtle

Australia - 29-Dec-15 -

Schokland by Michael Turtle

If you've got a car, it's easy enough to get here, but it's a little out of the way by public transport and took me a far while to arrive - including working for at least 40 minutes from the bus stop.

Aside from that, this is an interesting site but there isn't a lot to see of value. There are a few ruins and evidence of the land structures here, but the main reason for listing - the use by humans over so many years - you have to get from the information boards.

Still, there's a good museum and it's a pretty place for a walk. It can take quite a while to go around the whole site by foot (up to 2 hours) so leave plenty of time if that's what you're hoping to do

Read more from Michael Turtle here.


Clyde

Malta - 20-Apr-13 -

Schokland by Clyde

I visited this WHS in April 2013. The small museum at Mittelburt does not offer a great deal of information but the video helps to get an idea of the importance of Schokland. The surrounding 'terps' that can be reached by walking in the polders are quite rewarding on a Spring sunny day not least for the Flevoland birdlife.


John booth

New Zealand - 07-May-10 -

To reach Schokland by bus involves walking from the nearest bus stop in the village of Ens. Buses arrive in Ens from Zwolle via Kampen, a picturesque riverside town with a railway station. Buses continue from Ens to Emmeloord (the new one) where I changed for Lemmer and the DF Woudegemaal.


David Berlanda

Italy / Czech Republic - 10-Sep-08 -

Schokland by David Berlanda

I hadn’t expected too much from Schokland (or rather I had expected that it would be a shock), but in reality when we visited it during our tour of the Netherlands we found it to be quite a pleasant place. We arrived there at 10.30 a.m. from the road that passes in the middle of the former island, parked at the museum parking and realised that the Middelburt village is opened only from 11 a.m. (a typically too short Dutch opening time - it closes at 5 p.m.). Even if great part of this village is visible from outside (in particular from the southern side, where the imposing stone and wooden dykes built against the sea are located), as it is really incredibly small, we decided to visit it later in the morning to better appreciate the history of Schokland. So we decided to have a stroll around the island to see the other terps.

It is really a pleasant walk, even if in the space that separates the terps there is really nothing to see - just fields and fields wherever you look. The first interesting feature one notes is the difference of level (about one meter I think) between the island and the surrounding landscape, that once was the sea bottom and that was subsequently drained as part of the Noordoostpolder in 1942, when Schokland ceased to be an island and became in this infinite flat agricultural territory a sort of hill, that is however situated three metres below the normal sea level. Then you realise that the path on which you are walking is covered by thousands of shells, as if you were on a sea beach. Finally we arrived to the terp Zuidert, that, as Middelburt, appears from the distance just as a hill, “a hill on the hill”. On the top of this there is nothing else remaining from the village than a water well and a small wooden building (it is not clear if it is original or reconstructed, as it is not for many other structures on Schokland).

Much more interesting is the terp Zuidpunt: here you can see only one structure, but this quite impressed me as it is strange to see such a big and old building in comparison with the others, that date mainly to the 18th and19th centuries, on Schokland. It is a big Gothic church (with tower) of the 14th century, of which only the imposing foundations remain. It is interesting to note that there is a sort of “church in church”, the foundations of an earlier building situated inside its perimeter. Near the church, below the terp, on the southernmost point on the island, you can see the interesting foundations of a lighthouse, which is just a small circle. Instead of all that walking you can also arrive by car to this place on a road running outside the island and park there but in this way you won’t be able to see Zuidert.

Then we returned in a freezing wind to Middelburt and entered the village. This consist only of some small lovely coloured wooden houses disposed in a semicircle around a relatively big brick reformed church with a nice sober interior situated on the top of the hill and some foundations of what seem to be cisterns. In the houses is situated the Schokland Museum, that quite enlightened me about the history of the island. It contains archaeological and paleontological finds from the island and the dried bottom of the sea, photos, models and reconstructions of the former appearance of the island. In particular I understood why also the surroundings of Schokland are inscribed on the WHL. This area was once part of the island, that was much bigger and in the Middle Ages was even a peninsula linked to the mainland, but it was eroded by the sea so much that finally in 1859 the inhabitants were evacuated; on the former medieval dry land were found many dykes and foundations of terps, as well as prehistoric settlements, that however are invisible for the common visitor.

Finally we decided to arrive by car to the last terp, Oud Emmeloord, on a road that flanks externally the island and crosses it in its northern part. It is certainly the biggest and most important terp and the hill appears even from a great distance. Here, protected by wooden dykes, stands the lighthouse with its brick keeper’s house and an another wooden buildings. Impressive is the former port, quite big and well protected by dykes, with wooden pillars at its entrance. There is still some water here that recreates the original appearance of the port, which is typically Dutch, but much more desolated than the today’s lively mainland ports.

Our visit was far from being disappointing, however I think that it was exaggerated to include Schokland on the WHL. It is a symbol of the Dutch struggle against the sea but here it is the sea to have dominated the situation, with the men just building villages to be protected against it. There are much better symbols of the struggle against the sea on the List, such as the Woudagemaal and the mills of Kinderdijk, which are great technical achievements where the action of man is much more noteworthy and where it is the man who controls the water. It should be noted that it couldn’t be inscribed preferably as a good example of a landscape of terps because there are much more important and preserved terps in the northern Netherlands and Germany.


Els Slots

The Netherlands - 29-Mar-07 -

Schokland by Els Slots

Amidst the endless potato fields of Flevoland, the former island of Schokland stands out. The village of Middelbuurt is a "terp": a mound in the flat landscape.

On Middelbuurt, what used to be the main village of Schokland, a few houses and a charming church are left. Nobody lives here anymore though.

I visited the Schokland Museum on Middelbuurt. A good place to dive into the history of this place. There are also short walks in the area, that let you come up close to the somewhat desolate landscape.

During my second visit, I was blessed to be in the company of a knowledgeable guide, which really helps to get a feeling for the place. This time we also visited the remains of the former village of Emmeloord, which was located on the other side of the island from where the museum is. Both sites are now divided by a road and some contemporary agricultural landscape.


Ian Cade

UK - 28-Jul-06 -

Schokland by Ian Cade

The terp is one of the few features in the landscape, from a distance it just looks like a clump of trees. I wasn’t really expecting a large site but the size still surprised me it is very small. We turned up at about 9.20 am and the village/museum does not open until 11 am. The kind lady that was sweeping up let us have a look in the gift shop (the UNESCO plaque and certificate is here) and a quick peek through at the museum.

After that we had a walk around the terp and in the surrounding fields, from the back you can see it sitting up from the landscape a little more. From behind you could look into the museum a little more and it is very small there are only about 7 or 8 buildings of which the church is the most prominent. After about 20 minutes we were back at the car, feeding a goat that had its head stuck in a fence, as we had a full schedule for the day we didn’t wait for the museum to open.

There are very few (none?) public transport links here, but it is well sign posted from the A6 motorway, it is about an hour drive from Amsterdam and about 25 minutes to the Ir D.F. Wouda Steam Pumping Station.

All in all this has to be the most underwhelming visit I have had to a World Heritage site, admittedly I didn’t get to see the museum which may have added to the experience, but the prospect of a small folk museum won’t be enough to drag me back here anytime soon.


Joyce van Soest

The Netherlands - 23-Feb-06 -

Schokland by Joyce

Driving by Schokland you don't see a significant thing, but when you stop and take some time to look around, it actually is quite an interesting place.

We visited the small museum which had some good information about the island of Schokland through the years: the first people who lived there, the problems with water which eventually led to evacuation of the island and the poldering of the land around the island. The small church on the island is still intact and there's a photo exhibit inside, which can be quite funny if you look at them up close (geez, those people on the island were not supermodels!).

A walk around the former island is nice too, you can still see where the edge of the island is and there are still some remainders of buildings.


Martin

Netherlands -

Fantastisch mooi Nederland. Een plek waar oud en nieuw elkaar ontmoeten, desolaat leven moet het hier geweest zijn. Je merkt bij een wandeling van noord naar zuid goed hoe het moet zijn geweest, hoe hopeloos het vechten voor het bestaan was op dit kleine eiland. Een eiland dat nu omringd is door de NO-polder, drooggelegd met tecnieken die alleen op grote schaal , en niet voor iets nietigs als Schokland, toegepast kunnen worden. Industriele revolutie pur sang


Jos Boerdijk

The Netherlands -

I was born on Schokland and lived there for many years.It is a beautiful and still quiet part of the Netherlands.You can still good see how the former island has formed. You can make nice walkings and bicycle tour round the former island.In the museum the history is exposed.Have a look !!


Site Info

Full Name
Schokland and Surroundings
Unesco ID
739
Country
Netherlands
Inscribed
1995
Type
Cultural
Criteria
3 5
Categories
Structure - Civic and Public Works
Link
By ID

Site History

1995 Inscribed

Locations

The site has 1 locations

Schokland

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A. Mehmet Haksever Airpunk Aj.daamen Alberto Peterle Alessandro Votta Alexander Barabanov Alexander Lehmann Alfons and Riki Verstraeten Ali Zingstra Allnamesused Andrew Wembridge Anthonynice Argo Arno.Smit Ask Gudmundsen Astraftis Atila Ege Bas Bazikoln Bin Boj Bram de Bruin Brendan Carroll Brigitte Huber Bspooner Buffy Carstenhansen Caspar Dechmann Cezar Grozavu Chen Taotao Christer Sundberg Christoph Christravelblog Claire Bradshaw ClaireWhiteley Clem C Cluckily Coppi Craig Harder Cristina Erba CyBeRr Daniel C-Hazard Daniela Hohmann David Berlanda DavidS Davied Dirk-pieter Dolemite92 Donald M Parrish Jr Dorejd Duesi73 Dutchbirder Dutchnick Dwight Zehuan Xiao Echwel Einziger Els Slots Enrique Clemente Erik Jelinek Errol Neo Esther Westerveld Eva Kisgyorgy FS Fan Yibo Feanster Feldhase Femke Roos Flexiear Frederik Dawson Gary Arndt Geert Luiken Geo George Evangelou George Gdanski GeorgeIng61 Ghostbear Grimloch Hadrianus Hammeel Harry Mitsidis Howe Siang Tan Hubert Iain Jackson Ian Cade Ilya Burlak Ingrid Itahue Ivan Rucek J. Stevens Jacob Otten Jakob Frenzel Jan Zimmermann Jan-Willem Jarek Pokrzywnicki Jasam Jduffhue Jens Jesse S 2010 Jessica Rademacher Jezza JoStof Jochem Taanman Joel on the Road JoeriNortier John booth Jon Eshuijs Jonas Kremer Jonathanfr Jos Schmitz Jose Antonio Collar Joshuakirbens Joyce van Soest Jsalda Judith Tanner Juropa KarenBMoore Kasia M. Kbecq Kelly Henry Kjlauer Knut Krijn Lara Adler Leontine Helleman Lidiane Lois Dekker Longdutch Lorenzo Mejino Ludvan Luisfreire Lukasz Palczewski MH MaYumin Maciej Gowin Mahuhe Marcel staron Marie Morlon Markassonne Markus Martina Rúčková MaxHeAnouBen Mcclaud71 Meredith Carter Mibive Michael Mett Michael Novins Michael Turtle Michal Kozok Michal Marciniak Michiel Dekker Mikko Monika and Rini Nan Nasebaer Nick Kuzmyak Nihal Ege NonDuality PJ Pascal Cauliez Patphilly Patrik Paul Schofield Peter Alleblas Peter Lööv PeterH Peterhorst6974 Petteri Philipp Leu Philipp Peterer Preiki Q Ralf Regele Randi Thomsen Reisedachs Reza Richardleesa Robin Frank Rodinia Roel Sterken Roger Ourset Roman Bruehwiler Roman Koeln Roman Raab Ronald Lange Rudegirl Sabrina Liebehentschel Sascha Grabow Sazanami Schnitzel Sebasfhb Sergio Arjona Shandos Cleaver SirLoydd Skalec Sncjob SoeKoh Solivagant Stanislaw Warwas Stefan A. Michelfeit Stefan and Mia Stephanv Stephanvermeulen Stijn Svein Elias Szucs Tamas Tamara Ratz Tarquinio_Superbo Tatiana Nikulnikova Ted Coombs The Salmons Thibault Magnien Thijs van den Berg Thomas Harold Watson Thomas van der Walt Thorben Tony0001 Tram2net Triath Tsunami Usagi1974 Valentina Van Hung Vanessa Buechler Virp WILLIAM RICH WalGra Walter Walter H. Wang Qin Weggeworfeneleiter Werner Huber Willem van Altena Wojciech Fedoruk Wtrentfox Xangadib YaroMir Yevhen Ivanovych Zach Zhenjun Liu Zoë Sheng