Nieuwlande: History and Places of Remembrance

Nieuwlande is best understood through its history: the De Duikelaar Museum, a hiding place from the Second World War, a war memorial and traces of the village’s origins each offer a different perspective. If you are looking for a hotel in Nieuwlande, this combination can help you decide whether your stay should focus mainly on cultural history or also include a walking or cycling route.

Museum, Collection and Hiding Place

The De Duikelaar Museum offers a picture of the war and the dilemmas associated with it. Its collection, from the former museum of Jo Schonewille, includes numerous photographs, newspapers, leaflets, posters and books about the history of people in hiding and the practice of hiding in the village of Nieuwlande. The exhibitions also include secret hiding places where you can listen to Radio Oranje. The historical materials and listening sites offer different ways to explore this subject.

A hiding place from the Second World War can also be seen in the woods of Nieuwlande. It was restored in 2014 by the 43rd Mechanised Brigade of the Johannes Post Barracks in Havelte and made more visible to the public. The entrance is on Johannes Poststraat, between house numbers 14 and 16. From the car park, a narrow woodland path leads over a small bridge for about 200 metres to the hiding place.

Settlement History and Remembrance

Nieuwlande’s history began before the memorial sites of the Second World War. The village emerged in the second half of the 19th century, when peat workers settled near the junction of the Oostopgaande and Dwarsgat canals. A few farms dating from the village’s founding period still stand on Johannes Poststraat and Brugstraat. They connect the view of Nieuwlande with this early phase of settlement and complement its later historical points of interest.

Nieuwlande was the home of Johannes Post, who became one of the most important Dutch resistance fighters. Among other places, he stayed at the Onderduikershol in Nieuwlande. The war memorial is a commemorative stone made of black natural stone; it remembers six fellow townspeople who died fighting the occupying forces. In 1985, Nieuwlande received the Yad Vashem award, recognising its residents as “Righteous Among the Nations.” The memorial commemorates individual fellow townspeople, while the award recognises the residents as a group.

On Foot or by Bicycle

The routes through and to Nieuwlande can also be chosen according to your preferred activity. The 6.3-kilometre Cultuurpad Coevorden: Dalerpeel – Nieuwlande ends at the Oostopgaande in Nieuwlande. If you would rather cycle, you can follow the signposted Ten Villages route, which passes through Nieuwlande. This gives you two distinct options for planning your trip: a walking route with a specified length and endpoint, and a cycling route through the village.

Discover more destinations: Hollandscheveld, Fluitenberg, Elim, Hoogeveen, Pesse, Stuifzand, Tiendeveen, Nieuweroord.

Return to the main travel overview: Hoogeveen.