Pioneers

Unknown pioneers conquer Groninger land

Looking back at the history of the Groninger land can create a growing sense of wonder and curiosity. The existing image of the province is usually formed by well-known protagonists such as Abbot Emo, Geert Reinders and Aletta Jacobs. But unexpected admiration goes to the unknown nameless founders of the story. Of the very first inhabitants of the area, we know no names.

Those first pioneers moved towards the Groninger land against all logic. A piece of land that consisted of little more than a number of higher salt marshes and was exposed to the changing tide. Somehow, they managed to gain a foothold. How they managed to do so is largely an unfinished story. Only fragments of their existence are known thanks to archaeological excavations. Yet those fragments form the basis for all subsequent stories of Groningen history.

Extreme weather conditions

The fog of history lifts somewhat around 600 years before our era. Nature had taken its course for an unprecedented length of time, the Wadden Sea had taken its shape and on land some higher salt marshes had formed. The Hondsrug, a sand ridge running from Emmen past the city of Groningen to Winsum, had also formed. The land was ready for the first daredevils. These arrived from areas around the Ems and the banks of the German rivers Weser and Elbe. The extreme weather conditions there were similar to those on Groningen's salt marshes. The changing tide and possible floods did not deter them and they moved to the Groningen countryside to settle.

Surviving on mounds

Together on the salt marshes, they formed small farming hamlets with stores for their crops. They began to raise the land by building platforms. Over time, the platforms grew against each other, and together formed a large, raised and inhabited piece that we know by the name wierde. The land was very fertile and suitable for farming. The inhabitants managed to grow beans, seeds and fibre. They also kept cattle, sheep and horses. Thanks to the elevation, the wierden formed a safe haven when the sea flooded the rest of the land.

Exotic contacts

The wierde dwellers did not live completely isolated from the rest of the world. They traded with inhabitants of the Drenthe hinterland. From the beginning of our era, they made contact with the Romans. Although the Roman Empire stopped at the Rhine, they traded utensils with the northerners. Numerous Roman objects such as coins, bronze figurines and jewellery have been found in Groningen's mounds. When the power of the Roman Empire waned, many inhabitants from below the Rhine moved away from the area. In response, many mound dwellers left Groningen and moved south. But, thanks to an emigration flow from Ostfriesland to England, Groningen's population increased again in the 4th and 5th centuries AD.

'On the heath remains happiness'

These continued to be turbulent times for the inhabitants of Groningen. In the eighth century, the area was subjected to the Frankish kings. They reorganised and Christianised the area. A hundred years later, in the ninth century, the area valued the threat of invading Normans. How exciting these times were for the inhabitants is hard to say. A small clue provides a runic stick from that time, found in the mound of Westeremden. On the stick is presumably written: 'on the heemstede stays happiness' and on the other side 'through yew will grow up'. It was probably meant as a blessing wish.

Enduring threat

From the ninth and tenth centuries, the mound dwellers moved on, into peat bogs like Bedum. They also started excavating the Damsterdiep and the Winsumerdiep. In the 11th century, they surrounded the inhabited land with a seawall. A few mound dwellers, such as those from Uithuizermeeden, continued to live outside the dike for centuries. In 1717, more than 300 years ago now, when the Christmas flood had raged across the province, a dike was built that could permanently contain the force of the sea.

source:
verhalenvangroningen.nl
Photo: The bovine stick found during the excavation of the Westeremden mound in 1917.
Photo: The mound of Westeremden, partly excavated