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Groningen
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The Netherlands
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Prehistoric
The prehistoric age. In the period between 8000 and 7000 BC the
peat district
started to become covered with vast pine forests. Gradually the climate became
more damp, and as a result of that more deciduous trees started to grow. In the
low areas, in between the ridges of sand, water could hardly get away. From
water-plants and reed, which grew in this damp climate, marsh moor began to
grow. Then the pools started eat growth and peat pioneers. The peat moors began
to develop from about 5000 BC onward. The peat only grew a few millimetres a
year. The forests began to die off due to the surplus of water. Remains of trees
were found as fossilized wood by people working there. The peat villages arose
as long ribbons of construction along the canal. The canal first served as a
drainage channel for the peat district and later for the transport of the peat
that had been cut.
This marsh forest was the beginning of the growth of
peat moor. The damp peat
moor landscape was unattractive for people to live in. Human beings rarely
entered the area. For centuries the growth of peat went on, almost without
human interference. The Groninger monasteries, being landowners in this area,
were the first to dig the peat, on a small scale. The city of Groningen quickly
developed into a real center of peat trading. By land and by ways of the river Hunze, peat (which was used for fuel) was transported.
In 1594, as a result of the protestant upheaval, the (catholic) monasteries lost
much of their peat lands to the city of Groningen. The city let large parts of
its land to companies that dug the peat. From 1600 onwards turf-diggers and
canal-diggers drained and dug the peat more. Well-built canals were
indispensable for the now much larger peat outlet. Levying of taxes on the > brown
gold= made the city of Groningen rich. The former peat marshes thus turned into
a peat-district. This was not without consequence. Between the years 1600 and
1900 peat-digging caused the ground level of the east-Groninger peat-district to
drop by 5-10 meters (15-30 feet). After the peat had been dug, the peat-moor
district turned into an agricultural area.
Late 16th, 17th century
 The
actual technique of peat-digging never changed much, but in the late sixteenth,
early seventeenth century the digging started to be carried out on a much,
larger scale in the Bourtanger Moor. Different companies, but mostly the city of
Groningen, turned the peat-digging into a systematic undertaking. Draining,
digging away of land and digging of canals have given the peat-district its
specific look. Objects and photos in the exhibition gives an impression of the
labor-intensive job that has been performed.
Transport of peat, 18 and 19th century
Peat transport via canals and other waterways developed into seagoing
shipping. From 1770 onward, an increasing number of skippers had Bremen and
Hamburg as their destination and seagoing navigation began to flourish. This
shipping gave rise to trade with the Baltic countries. Via the Kattegat, an
increasing number of ships berthed in harbours such as Riga, Saint Petersburg,
and Koningsbergen. Some skippers set up regular transport services to cities in
France and England. Coal and coke, potash, hops, wine, grain, and genever were
important cargo. Decorative tiles from Friesland as well as bricks were taken to
the Baltic as ballast. In around 1860, seagoing shipping from the peat district
enjoyed a second major period of prosperity. More than 60% of the Dutch fleet
came from the Groningen peat district. At first the transport of peat by water was done by small, open sailing
ships, called 'snabbeschuiten'. After that, larger sailing ships, like 'tjalken'
and 'bolschepen', took over this job.
'Tjalken', large, typical Dutch sailors, transported peat to cities in North
Germany and Holland. Apart from this a type of tramp shipping developed; this
evolved into sea-men who did not stick to a specific sailing route.  The
sea traders sailed to Russia and the Baltic states, to Great-Britain an the
Mediterranean. Others went even further, as far as New Foundland, Cuba and South
America.
Navigation, which had been very important to the peat-district during the 19th
century, disappeared. Inland navigation on the other hand, remained and
flourished at the beginning of the 20th century. As a result of this, there was
a lot of activity near the locks. Shopkeepers and craftsmen (such as
shipbuilders) built there businesses here.
Strawboard industry, 20th century
After the peat cutting, the shipping industry and then shipbuilding itself
began to play an increasingly important role. From 1870 onward, strawboard
factories began to settle in the region in increasing numbers. The idea came
from Germany. There were already a few strawboard factories in the Reiderland
around Weener at the middle of the 19th century. Straw from the clay district
around the Dollard estuary was used for cardboard. In the Netherlands, people
began to process the straw from the Oldambt region that borders on the
Reiderland. Peat for the steam machines came from the peat district. Oude
Pekela, situated on the transition between the peat and clay regions, developed
into the centre of the strawboard industry. Up to the 1970s straw was the most widely use raw material in the
strawboard
industry. East-Groningen and the neighboring region, Oldambt, had developed into
agricultural areas and straw was plentiful. Apart from straw the production of
straw-board also demanded energy (peat) and clean water. Straw needed to be
transported to the factories and straw-board to the ports, from which it was
exported. Because of the shift from peat-shipping to navigation the towns of
Hoogezand, Oude Pekela and Veendam had grown into regional centers with a good
infrastructure, which made this transportation possible. This made it attractive
for businesses to settle here. Labour and capital were also present, and the
demand for straw-board as a packing material had grown as a result of
industrialization. The town of Oude Pekela in particular became the center of
straw-board manufacturing, with, at the height of its development, nine
straw-board factories.
The self-made industrial Willem Albert Scholten (1819-1892) founded his first
potato starch mill in the town of Foxhol. Later on 'Scholtens' factories
were built in several towns in the peat-district. Local entrepreneurs also
started to become interested in the opportunities offered by the potato
industry. Willem Albert and after that his son Evert Jan (1849-1918) became
captains of industry with interests in many enterprises in several different
countries.
Potato-starch factories
After 1840 the potato-starch factories in the peat-district were founded by
private citizens. The potato-starch industry flourished during the second half
of the nineteenth century. There was at least one potato starch factory in every
village. In 1898 the first cooperative factory was set up.These factories began
to make price deals with one another, much to the anger of the farmers. As a
result, the farmers decided to set up their own co-operative factories. The
first of these was founded in Borgercompagnie in 1898 and many others followed.
The end product, starch, was sold by AVB (later called AVEBE). Initially, AVB
did not act as a producer but only as a sales outlet. Later, it also turned to
producing starch. Nowadays, their largest starch factory is located in Ter
Apelkanaal.
After a while these 'farmers' factories controlled the greater part of
potato-starch production. Private citizens applied themselves to the production
of derivatives (products made from potato-starch). At the moment both the
production of potato-starch and that of derivatives is carried out by AVEBE in
Veendam, an international firm into which all these factories have merged.
At the turn of the century the Groninger peat-district was ready for change:
building projects, new school buildings, modern clothing and furniture,
electricity, railway, a theatre and cinema.
 
Pekela is situated in the south-east of the province of
Groningen. The village originated at the end of the 16th century as a result of
the exploitation of the extended peat moors. To facilitate the transport of peat
the river Pekela was straightening out and was called henceforth Pekelder
Hoofddiep. The population of the village existed mainly of peat-cutters,
bargemen, artisans, merchants and farmers. At the start of the 18th century the
protracted village was split in two villages: Oude (Old) and Nieuwe (New)
Pekela.
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