World Heritage Photos

Colonies of Benevolence:  In 1811, the French under Napoleon occupied the Netherlands. After they left the Netherlands in 1815, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was founded. The French had left the Netherlands in a ruinous state, poverty was a problem in the beginning of the 19th century. The Society of Humanitarianism and Colonies of Benevolence were founded by Genaral Johannes van de Bosch in 1818, the vision of Johannes van de Bosch was to create a better world and eliminate poverty. Seven Colonies of Benevolence were built between 1818 and 1825, five in the Netherlands and two in Belgium, at that time part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Poor families, orphans, prostitutes, beggars, disabled, vagrants, but also military personnal was housed in the colonies. By providing work for these people, educating and guiding them, the people could escape from the often structural poverty. There were two basic kind of colonies, the free colonies for poor people and the compulsory colonies, the penal colonies or the unfree colonies. Frederiksoord, Wilhelminaoord and Willemsoord were free colonies. Ommerschans and Veenhuizen were unfree colonies. In Belgium, Wortel was a free colony and Merksplas was a compulsor colony. The Dutch Colonies of Benevolence are located in the southwest of Drenthe, a province in the northeastern part of the Netherlands. The Visitor Centre and Museum De Proefkolonie is located in Frederiksoord. The Colonies of Benevolence were declared a UNESCO World Heritage in 2021.

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   Colonies of Benevolence: The Forestry School was established in 1884 by Gerard Adriaan van Swieten. The school is situated in the free colony of Frederiksoord. The former school is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Colonies of Benevolence.

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   Colonies of Benevolence: Museum De Koloniehof in the former Free Colony Frederiksoord. The museum is dedicated to the work of the Society of Humanitarianism.

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   Colonies of Benevolence: The former house of a civil servant in Frederiksoord. From 1820-1820, the house was inhabited by the mother-in-law of Johannes van den Bosch. 

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   Colonies of Benevolence: Johannes van den Bosch, the founder of the Colonies of Benevolence, and his familie lived in Westerbeek House. Later, the mansion became the head office building of the Society of Humanitarianism in 1818. Westerbeek House was built in the 18th century.

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   Colonies of Benevolence: A row of small colony houses in Frederiksoord, the oldest Colony of Benevolence. Each house was surrounded by a plot of land to allow the colonists to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

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   Colonies of Benevolence: The food kitchen at Frederiksoord.

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   Colonies of Benevolence: One of the colony houses at Frederiksoord. The goal of the Society of Benevolence was to offer the poor a better life, to reform them by education and labour and to help them become better citizens, the hope was that colonists would return to their hometown after spending a number of years in the colony.

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   Colonies of Benevolence: The Jewish Cemetery.

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   Colonies of Benevolence: The Beech Avenue of Westerbeek House.

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    Colonies of Benevolence: A colony house in Frederiksoord.

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    Colonies of Benevolence: The bakery in Frederiksoord

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    Colonies of Benevolence: Hotel Frederiksoord was built in 1770, long before the guests of the Colonies of Benevolence used it as an overnight stay.

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    Colonies of Benevolence: The farmhouse of a free farmer and his family, the farmhouse is located in Frederiksoord. Frederiksoord was the first Colony of Benevolence, founded in 1818 as an experimental colony. The Free Colonies of Benevolence are now normal villages.

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    Colonies of Benevolence: The Colony Church of Wilhelminaoord was built in 1851, it is called a Waterstaatskerk (Water Management Church), so named because it was built with the financial support of the Ministry of Water Management of the Netherlands and designed and built under the supervision of the engineers of the Dutch Water Management. There are numerous Water Management Churches in the Netherlands.

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    Colonies of Benevolence: The former rectory of Wilhelminaoord is situated next to the Colony Church. The Free Colony of Wilhelminaoord was founded in 1821. To teach the colonists moral values, church attendance was mandatory in the Colonies of Benevolence. Today, the rectory is privately owned. The former rectory and the Colony Church are Dutch National Monuments.