Begraafplaats, Eikenlaan tegenover 10

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Component 1

Description

The LAYOUT of the cemetery consists of a rectangular ground plan with a cross-shaped path system, the central path planted with yew and the transverse path with monumental beeches. A second transverse path laid out later (planted with young yew) divides the front two grave fields into four, bringing the current number of (main) grave fields to six. The fields consist partly of (mossy) sand, partly they are grass-covered. The sand paths are unpaved. The entrance to the cemetery is on the north side (Eikenlaan). It is marked by a wooden gate which, due to insufficient monumental value, does not enjoy national monument protection. To the left and right of this gate runs a beech hedge. Behind it stretches the main path, which is planted with yew on both sides. It is crossed by two transverse paths, the first of which dates from or shortly after 1875 and the second from 1831. Along this latter path, which is planted with monumental beeches on both sides, lies the second half 19th-century or later brick mortuary (see description of complex component 2).

Grave Fields

On either side of the central path lie (viewed from the entrance) three fields - with or without grave monuments and some solitary trees or shrubs. Striking is the alternation between the different grave fields, both in appearance (from empty to very full) and in terms of type of grave monuments (from uniform whitewashed concrete crosses to a great variety in design and use of materials).

The first two grave fields on the right, where among others Dutch Reformed and Roman Catholic patients, orphans and members of military and workers' families are buried, bear no grave monuments anymore and are covered with grass; in both fields stands a monumental weeping beech. The section after the centre path planted with beeches is subdivided into different smaller fields. Here, among others, Dutch Reformed military personnel and their family members, Roman Catholic officials and patients, Roman Catholic detainees in consecrated and unconsecrated ground and Belgian refugees are buried. Each field has its own type of grave monument. Thus there are, among others, two early 20th-century grave monuments of gravel concrete with glass plate (1912 and 1923; made by J. Götz and Zn at Assen), various graves with iron grave railings and wreath drum, some wooden grave monuments as well as a number of fairly recent graves. Notable are the uniform whitewashed concrete crosses on the regulation of Belgian refugees from the Second World War and the whitewashed concrete crosses of Catholic detainees buried in unconsecrated ground. The rows are marked by concrete posts with the row number and the letters RK, which were made after 1945 at the 'concrete works' of Veenhuizen. Between the crosses stands a large whitewashed cross on a concrete base.

Grave fields on the left. The first field on the left offers the most varied appearance. Here lie, partly overshadowed by a large rhododendron and some oak trees, in mossy sand the graves of mainly Dutch Reformed officials and their families. This grave field offers the greatest variation in age of the graves, use of materials, symbolism and paraphernalia (see below under Characteristic of the grave monuments). The grass-covered field behind it provides space for several rows of whitewashed concrete crosses for Dutch Reformed patients and detainees and, near the centre path, some rows of more recent graves. On the field (grass) on the other side of the transverse path stand whitewashed concrete crosses also for Dutch Reformed patients and detainees; in front of the rows concrete posts with the letters NH and the row number. The rear grave field (grass) is empty, with the exception of a whitewashed concrete cross and a standing granite grave monument (1910).

Characteristic of the Grave Monuments.

The funerary appearance of the cemetery is to a large extent determined by the variety of types of grave monuments, design and materials used. This variety is found in particular on the grave field to the left of the entrance. Here stand (highly perishable) simple wooden stelae of the type that is common in the north of the Netherlands, sober unpolished granite stones such as those still found in churches, but also the more richly worked monuments that are so typical of the early 19th-century burial grounds and characteristic first half 20th-century graves of brick and gravel concrete. There are also some cast-iron stones, fabricated in the colony itself but also at the Asser Ironworks, with striking symbolism such as inverted and crossed torches, crossed scythes, a skull, a winged hourglass, a crowned owl and a tail-biting snake. Other occurring funerary symbols are the weeping willow, the butterfly, the rising sun and a stylised rainbow. Also striking are the many wrought-iron railings around the often simple graves. Particularly noteworthy is that zinc wreath boxes still stand on various graves - although these are in varying states of conservation. In a number of cases the grave marking consists of little more than an iron nameplate on a post. On some graves there is still an iron number plate.

The picture presented by the remaining grave monuments is on the one hand 19th-century eclectic (the first field to the left of the entrance) where mainly Dutch Reformed officials and their families are buried, on the other hand very sober, in particular the fields with concrete crosses. Especially these fields give a good impression of the anonymous death of the detainees who stayed in Veenhuizen and died there. Since burials continue to take place, the cemetery provides an image of grave culture from the early 19th century to the present day. The grave monuments are collectively a component that strongly supports the value of the layout. By their age, diversity in use of materials and design, they determine to a large extent the character of the cemetery. It is of the utmost importance that this diversity is preserved as much as possible.

Valuation

The LAYOUT of the cemetery with path system, grave fields and grave monuments is of general cultural-historical, social-historical and funerary-historical importance:

- because of the age of the various components;

- because of the origin and use history of the site;

- because of its significance for the penitentiary history of the Netherlands;

- because of the special relationship with the other institutions of the Society of Beneficence, a 19th-century socio-economic experiment with far-reaching consequences;

- because of the collective significance of the grave monuments as a reminder of a social system in which denomination and role in that society determined where someone was buried and what grave marker was placed;

- because of its cultural-historical, social-historical, genealogical and funerary-historical value;

- because of the presence of grave monuments and paraphernalia with corresponding symbolism that are characteristic of certain groups of the deceased;

- because of the reasonable to high degree of completeness and recognisability;

- because of its importance for the historical colony structure of Veenhuizen;

- because of the natural embedding in the main structure of the protected townscape of Veenhuizen.