The marker stones in Drenthe must be restored. Where the historical boundary stones have disappeared, they must return. That is what Egbert Meijers of the Markestenen Drenthe Committee says in the RTV Drenthe radio program Cassata.
“It is rural history and an important monument in our cultural history,” says Meijers. “The stone marked the boundary of the Boermarke, which was the area around the village that was owned by the farmers in the village.”
There are still 88 boermarken in Drenthe. Some of the stones disappeared during the reclamation of the heath, the land consolidation and the construction of forests by Staatsbosbeheer. “But the locations are still known and we want to mark them again by adding a thick stone,” says Meijers.
A lot of those stones are gone, he says, “but in some places, for example at Grolloo, there is still a pile of marker stones that can be used again.”
The place where the borders of the Boermark used to be are known. So the stones can be put back in the right place. “The Boermark has a history of a thousand years, it is one of the oldest forms of the cultural history of Drenthe. The boundaries of the municipalities and the province have arisen from it,” says Meijers.
Next Friday there will be a symposium about the marker stones in De Zwerfkei in Gees.
Watch the whole interview in Cassata with Egbert Meijers about the marker stones below