Kamperveen

Kamperveen is located in the outskirts south of Kampen. Kamperveen, which was an independent municipality until 1937, covers an area of more than 2000 hectares.

The name 'Campervenne' first appears in a document from the year 1092. 't Venne', as the area between Kampen and Elburg was popularly called, used to be a swampy and uninhabitable peatland. Water basins, gullies, currents, sand dunes, swamps, peat, mud and clay deposits characterized the area. The construction of dikes created a somewhat protected polder area (the current 'interior' of Kamperveen). After the reclamation of this area, these constructed dikes were used as a through path or road. Several gullies still bear witness to the earlier dike breaches as a result of extreme flooding or storm surges. Around 1200 it was pioneers from the north of the Netherlands who were the first to settle on the higher sandy places in the 'peat' south of Kampen. They started to mine the peatland and small settlements arose in the vicinity of the Leidijk over time. The area was divided into lots for building or agricultural use. Over time, the land became too wet for agriculture due to peat clumping and more cattle breeding took place in the area.

In the still agricultural area of Kamperveen, the infectious animal disease foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was detected in cattle in the spring of 2001. The area was affected by the FMD culls and on the place name signs the name was temporarily changed to –ampervee-. This epidemic has had a major impact on the agricultural sector.