Hierden: History and landscape

During a stay in Hierden, you can consider cultural history and landscape as distinct themes. When planning a hotel stay, you can ask yourself whether historic buildings and local history or nature observation and landscape routes are more important for your trip. Castle De Essenburgh and the Dorpskerk Hierden represent architectural history; the Hierdense Beek, meadows and routes turn your attention to the surrounding area.

Castle and church history

Castle De Essenburgh dates from 1652 and was built by Johan Coolwagen. The main building of De Essenburgh houses a restaurant. If you would like to include it in your plans, check before your trip whether a visit is possible on your chosen date.

The Dorpskerk Hierden grew out of a school founded in 1659 that also served as a place for evangelical services. In 1741, the building was elevated to the status of a church; the present building replaced the previous one in 1851. The clock mechanism in the tower comes from the old town hall in Harderwijk. The church thus tells a multi-stage story of use as a school, conversion into a church and architectural renewal. By contrast, the focus at Castle De Essenburgh is on its construction date and Johan Coolwagen as its builder.

Hierdense Beek and routes through the landscape

The Hierdense Beek flows from Uddelermeer and Bleeke Meer near Uddel for about 25 km to Veluwemeer near Hierden. It forms an ecological corridor between the open area along the edge of the Randmeren lakes and the Veluwe. Kingfishers are among the birds observed around the stream. Kingfisher sightings refer to the area around the stream; the ecological corridor also places the stream within a larger landscape.

The Veluwemeerkust-Hulshorst walk follows village streets and small paths between meadows. From Hierden, it passes through grasslands rich in flowers in spring to the forest near Hulshorst and back. The Doortraproute Harderwijk passes through rural Hierden and the Veluwemeerkust nature area. The routes have different focal points: the walk links meadows, spring flowers and the forest near Hulshorst; the Doortraproute passes through rural Hierden and Veluwemeerkust. In Hierden, you can also follow the orange-marked Beweegroute. Another difference to note is the route: the walk goes from Hierden to the forest near Hulshorst and back, while the Doortraproute passes through rural Hierden and the Veluwemeerkust nature area.

Information boards about history

Two information boards about Schietkamp Hierden are located on Ooster Mheenweg, next to the Barakken and Boerenstrandje. They highlight the history of the shooting range. Unveiled in 2024, the boards at the former German shooting range in Hierden present, among other things, the stories of pilots Tony Bethell and Ludwig Becker.

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