After fifty years, the Society of Benevolence once again has access to an old and well-known monument in Frederiksoord. Until recently, the building housed the clock museum, which used to attract buses full of tourists. Yet most will know the building as the first and oldest horticultural school in the Netherlands.
“The building has a very prominent place here in this area,” says Minne Wiersma, director of the Society of Benevolence. The organization now focuses on preserving heritage in the area. “We’re glad we got this back.”
It was Major van Swieten who donated a large amount of money to the Society of Benevolence in 1884 in memory of his deceased son. His goal? Set up a model farm with a place for crafts and where boys could be trained for horticulture and forestry.
That plan succeeded, but instead of a model farm, it became a horticultural school. In 1888, the Society of Benevolence added an extra floor to the building with a boardroom for the commissioners of the Society of Benevolence. Wiersma: “Here, of course, decisions have always been made about families, should they move? What went well and what went less well in society? How could they develop it further? That’s how I imagine it.”
When Major van Swieten’s proposal came, publicity was given to it. The school started small and for nine students, but gradually grew into a full-fledged education.