This Sunday, September 11, it’s time to harvest buckwheat again in Finnpark. This day is an annual tribute to the first inhabitants of “Barger-Compasuum”. They were pioneers of German descent who crossed the border from the Kingdom of Hanover.
Hanoverians to Compascuum
Who were these early pioneers at Barger-Compascuum? A piece of history. In 1765, negotiations between the United Republic of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Hanover led to the current Dutch-German border. In 1866, a new treaty was concluded, according to which the entire district, Barger-Compascuum could be released for habitation. At about the same time, the Prussians invaded the Kingdom of Hanover and many Hanoverians fled to Compascuum.
wheelbarrow or old cart
These pioneers arrived by wheelbarrow or an old wagon loaded with household goods and some belongings to the vast uninhabited peat bog. They built meager shelters from the materials they could find on the site. Huts of birch trunks with heather as a roof.
Buckwheat farmers on peat
Buckwheat was the only crop that grew on acidic peat soils. This is how the first inhabitants made a living. During the preparations, but certainly during the buckwheat harvest, the whole farm family participated. To save his outerwear, the farmer took to work in his long blue underwear.
We would like to honor this tradition at Veenpark. No less than three times on the afternoon of Sunday 11 September the planting and harvesting of buckwheat was filmed and explained to visitors by the narrator and our volunteers.
Performances in the field at 13:15, 14:15 and 15:15. Veenpark is open from 10 am to 5 pm
More information can also be found at https://www.veenpark.nl/dag-van-de-boekweitboer
