De recente historie van Wieringermeer verspreidt zich wereldwijd. Onderstaand
bericht over de controverse rond het pioniersmonument was te lezen in "the
Windmill Post" (een krant voor geëmigreerde Nederlanders) van 23 maart 2005.
(üSft CftNAbft, A/srgfu/ê) i1
March 23, 2005 the Windmill Post B3
Made by sculptor of Ottawa monument
Controversy surrounds proposed Wieringen pioneer monument
SI.OOTDORl'. <he Nellierlands - The design for
n monument t<> honourthc pinneers who reclaimed
(he Wieringernieerpoider in the Netherlands 75
years ago lias met with public resistance. Henk
Visch pmposcs ii niulti-faceted monument, hut ils
symbolist» requires extensive explanations.
Visch is the sculptor of the Cunadian Netherlands
Liberation Monument 'The Man with the Two Hals,"
which was unveiled in 2000 in the Duteh city of
Apeldoorn by Princess Margriet. Two years later, she
also unveiled a replica of the monument in Ottawa.
The Dulch princess was boni to Princess Juliana in
Ottawa in 1943. The hospital's delivery room tem-
porarily was designated Dutch territory.
Because Visch' Wieringermeer monument requires
more explanation than commonly is the case, many
area residents are reluctant to ernbrace it. The large
piece of art, contains a human t'igure balancing on a
long construction bcant with a number of small fig-
ures at tbc end. The main t'igure represents the pjo-
ncers, the beam a timeframe, and tbc small figures the
people of the future, which in 2005 is now, according
ui Visch.
First Zuiderzee reckimation
Wieringermeer is part of the northwestern-most
corner of Noord-Holland, b is named after the island
Wielingen, which was linked to the mainland in 1926
by the first section of what became known as the
Afsluitdijk (tbc Barrier Dam). The dam eventually was
extended across the Zuiderzee to Friesland, closing
most of the inlet off to the tides. Four years later the
dikes were completed, shaped vvith a bend halfway
north from the coastal town of Medemblik. The result-
ing polder was the first major reclamation in the
inland sea now known as IJsselmeer, later followed by
the Noordoostpolder and the two Flevopolders.
in a landscape rnarked by straiglit lines and endless
vistas.
There are a handful of villages on the 8,500 acres
former island of Wieringen, of' which Den Oever (at
the hcad of the Afsluitdijk) perhaps is best known. The
communities are Hippolytushoef, Oosteriand, Stroe,
Wcsterland, De flaukes, Westerklief and Oosterklief.
In the polder, the communities are named Kreileroord,
Middcnmeer, Wieringerwerf and Slootdorp.
l'lw fint Wieringermeer anno 2004.
In 1937, Wieringermeer farms were well under
way with cuttivation.
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