Deelen/Zeven Provinciën

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

Description

TERRAIN with LAYOUT. The soil of Zeven Provinciën and surroundings consists of sand and forms part of a relatively flat area in the southern Veluwe pushed up by glacial ice. The camp Zeven Provinciën lies north of the Koningsweg, a straight road running roughly east-west along the south side of the Kemperberg, roughly to the northeast of the farmstead Wildhoeve. The Koningsweg would date in rudimentary form from the last quarter of the 17th century - the time when stadholder Willem III was king of England. The Koningsweg is still present as an important connection and as a spatially structuring element, also because it functioned as a development and settlement base. East of the Kemperberg, from the mid-19th century onwards, on either side of the Koningsweg, particularly on extensive lands of the local nobility and/or large landholders, (development) estates were established with (leasehold) farmsteads on them. In practice, farming on the poor Veluwe soils proved difficult and as a result forestry soon became dominant and hunting wild game was also carried out on a large scale. Particularly north of the Koningsweg, moreover, some arable farming and livestock farming were practised, usually on plots surrounded by planted lanes. Various of those open plots were still easily recognizable as such in the first half of the 20th century. The camp Zeven Provinciën was laid out on the sandy soils to the northeast of the development farmstead Wildhoeve. The area was intersected around 1940 by a network of (forest) lanes running almost exclusively at right angles to each other, with scattered meadows and/or fields interwoven here and there. For Zeven Provinciën, an explicit choice was made for an arrangement of the seven buildings around an existing open, agricultural plot with a rectangular ground plan. The plot was surrounded by an equally rectangular perimeter road, also already existing, which - by analogy with other camps - was presumably paved with bricks at the same time as the construction of the buildings. The buildings were placed in two short rows, of respectively four (north) and three (south) on the south side of east-west-running parts of the lanes, whereby they were somewhat hidden from view by the vegetation. Although there is indeed a matter of 'Regelbau' and the buildings of Zeven Provinciën are arranged in linear relationship, the building lines and the ridge lines of the roofs were not aligned in the same direction, while entrances and windows were also placed on differently oriented facades. The seven were predominantly covered by gabled roofs and were executed as simple - albeit spacious - dwellings of a non-historicizing but rather contemporary type. Through decorative additions to these apparently ad hoc built, single-storey quarters, the occupier attempted to suggest a thin rural hamlet by a small arable or meadow plot surrounded by vegetation. This arrangement was reinforced, among other things, by the laying out of gardens, garden walls, external cellar stairs, ornamental ironwork, painted shutters, etc. Paths of 30 x 30 cm concrete tiles were also laid around and towards the buildings. The central open plot was levelled, but it is unclear when this occurred. Remarkable in this regard are the steep edges, which point to the removal of sand. Around the plot a wire fence was erected, supported by concrete posts.

Zeven Provinciën is the only camp within Vliegveld Deelen that was executed as a relatively open facility with an unprotected character to air reconnaissance. The five remaining buildings and their spatial context thus form an exceptional stage in the development of the airfield. Of the seven buildings, five have been preserved, while the layout of the plot remained substantially intact, including remains of garden landscaping. The condition of the buildings is highly variable, but some have been in use or are still in use until relatively recently. Buildings 2 and 7 have been demolished and replaced by new structures, which fit reasonably well with the existing appearance in terms of scale applied. On the northeast side, at right angles to the existing axes, a larger-scale barrack building has been added. The perimeter road has been provided with an asphalt wearing course and has been connected via a long-established route to the access road of Koningsweg-Noord. The fence posts have been largely retained, although adjustments have been made to the security of the plot. Various artefacts created on the camp for functional purposes and/or as part of camouflage are still recognizable in the plot or are present more or less unscathed. These include, of course, first and foremost the five barrack buildings, but also the many relics of garden landscaping and tile paths, the rectangular green central zone (exercise ground?), the rectangular road system and the fencing form still striking aspects of the layout of Zeven Provinciën dating from 1941-1942.

Valuation

TERRAIN with LAYOUT of Zeven Provinciën, of general importance as a fairly intact component of a large military airfield dating from the Second World War and set up by the German occupier, on account of: architectural-historical, urban-planning, historical-geographical military and cultural-historical and complex and ensemble values, which may be evidenced inter alia by the predominantly sober and above all functional form language based on prevailing building practice of the single-storey buildings covered by gabled roofs, by the components and details characteristic of the construction period, by the elements incorporated in the concept, partly already present in the landscape and partly inspired by it, by the maintained and accentuated course and likewise execution of roads and paths, by the building structure set up on two short axes on account of camouflage considerations, and by the coherence of and with the total military airfield concept and the spatial main lines and components of the camp.