Jos Gemmekepad by Ruygeborg

The hiking trail through the Ruygeborg nature reserve is named after Jos Gemmeke (3 June 1922 - 20 December 2010), a resistance fighter in the Second World War. On 10 March 1945 Jos Gemmeke was parachuted over this area. She ended up in a ditch, and was brought to safety by Nieuwkoop resistance fighters. For her courageous performance, she was the only lady besides Queen Wilhelmina to receive the Military William Order. This is the oldest and highest award of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Ruygeborg is a nature reserve where birds such as the spoonbill, bluethroat and purple heron look for food. The area is young and will develop considerably in the coming years into a small-scale, varied, wet nature reserve with an open appearance. The Ruygeborg forms the connection from the Nieuwkoopse Plassen, to the Groene Jonker and further to the Vinkeveense Plassen. And this connection turns out to be very important: spoonbills are regularly seen there!

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