Holiday apartment in Westervelde: Discover village history and nature trails

The historic centre of Westervelde developed along Hoofdstraat, Schoolstraat and Steeg; the large triangular Brink is also located there. Several attractive farmhouses dating from the 19th century stand along Hoofdweg and Schoolstraat. Westervelde’s local history includes the historic village centre, Kamp De Fledders and Huis Westervelde, as well as the Westervelde-Norg Knapzakroute through the Norgerholt.

Holiday apartment in Westervelde: Village centre, history and trails

Kamp De Fledders and Huis Westervelde

Westervelde is part of the officially designated protected villagescape “Westervelde en Zuidvelde”. A special place of remembrance is the Kamp De Fledders monument. It is located in a meadow between Westervelde, Zuidvelde and Huis ter Heide, along the road from Zuidvelde to the Kolonievaart, at the level of the entrance to the former Jewish forced-labour camp. The monument commemorates the 120 Jewish forced labourers who were housed in this labour camp from July to October 1942.

The design of Kamp De Fledders is also unusually concrete. The monument consists of a glass panel between two curved concrete supports; barbed wire is depicted on the glass panel. The brick-built platform is shaped like a Star of David. In this way, material, form and remembrance are closely connected, without the site losing its clear, restrained design.

Huis Westervelde is also known as Tonckensborg. The block-shaped, single-storey house has a U-shaped hipped roof; a farmhouse is attached at the north-eastern corner. Huis Westervelde was probably built in the second half of the 15th century.

Knapzakroute and landscape

For a more active day, the 17-kilometre Westervelde-Norg Knapzakroute is an excellent option. It can easily be shortened into two separate routes of 9.5 kilometres each, allowing you to choose between two different route lengths. The route passes through the Norgerholt, beneath tall oaks and old holly trees with almost impenetrable undergrowth. It also runs past a hunebed, burial mounds and along a meandering stream. This sequence brings together woodland, archaeological remains and waterways in a varied hiking landscape.

Hunebed D2 is the hunebed of Westervelde and one of two hunebeds in Noordenveld. In the surrounding area, the Norger bosmuur occurs almost nowhere else in the world. A natural cemetery was also established near Westervelde in 2019, where eternal repose is guaranteed. For planning the day, the route can be taken as a complete 17-kilometre loop or divided into two separate sections of 9.5 kilometres each. The complete loop and the two shortened sections therefore give two different route lengths for the same hiking route. If you want to limit the length of your hiking day, you can use the shorter figure as a guide. Westervelde and Norg are mentioned together in the route name.

More places to choose from: Peize, Zuidvelde, Roderesch, Peest, Roden, Norg, Roderwolde and Een-West.

For the overarching travel overview: Noordenveld.