Eel-Potterwol, Dundern and Zuudlaoren. Almost all villages in the municipality of Tynaarlo received bilingual place name signs last night. In addition to the Dutch name, the Drenthe version can also be read on it.
The adjustments were made by the Drents op Stee action committee, which has been working on place name signs in Drenthe for years. The municipalities of Noordenveld and Coevorden already preceded Tynaarlo. The promotion is often in March, because that is the regional month.
“Drents op Stee is a secret society, they are all people who have a very high opinion of Drents. I will not name names,” says Harry Popken, spokesperson for Drents op Stee. The intention is that the signs remain: “If it is up to the society, the municipality may replace the signs with steel signs, we will not remove them.”
‘The shorter the name, the older the village’
“Winde is Win, Bunne is Bun and Yde is Y, the shorter the name, the older the village”, Popken says. The action committee sets out in the dark to place the signs. “I didn’t have such a rough night because they appointed me as a spokesperson, but the others have worked their way out,” Popken says.
“We did that this time to support the new city council of Tynaarlo in preserving the regional language and trying to make it more visible”, Popken motivates the action. “The Wiesneus magazine for all schools is nice, but not enough.”
The society is keeping secret whether there will be another action. “With this society you never know when and how they will strike, it is very secretive but if they do something, they do it well,” said Popken.