Wilhelminaoord

If you are in Wilhelminaoord, you can still feel and see much of the thinking of Johannes van den Bosch. The Colonies of Meritoriousness anticipated later state initiatives by focusing on education and care. Here stands the first primary school where compulsory education applied, and you can see the first retirement homes in the Netherlands. Colonists who were unable to perform heavy agricultural labor were required to be offered other work, for example in the Basket Maker's Workshop. The impressive building is one of the national monuments still visible here. A visit to Colony II certainly should not be missed.

In Wilhelminaoord, alongside the straight avenue structure, you can see numerous monuments such as the Colony Church, the places of rest, and the Basket Maker's Workshop. Artist André Pielage has created a contemporary variant of the former drawbridge over the Westerbeeksloot with the artwork ‘Retrieved Memory’. Old notes from the colony are scratched into the bridge pillars, and a quote referring to the contemporary social welfare state is nailed to the announcement board. The artist connects the past with the present.

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