What were the Drenthe landscapes like in 1843 and what do you see of them today? Those questions were the main motivation for Peter Geerdink from Dalen for his series Journey through literary heritage to write. It became five booklets full of walking and cycling routes with which people can follow in the footsteps of the podagrists.
Geerdink became intrigued by the books Drenthe sketched in quick and loose outlines by Drie Podagristen. Perhaps the first literature of Drenthe. “And I especially like the landscapes they describe as they encountered them,” says the former teacher.
The podagrists were three Coevorden residents; publisher Dubbeld Hemsing van der Scheer, journalist Harm Boom pastor Alexander Lodewijk Lesturgeon. From 1843 he wrote books about their walking tour from the German Bad Bentheim to Assen. Peter Geerdink: “They had foot gout and went to the spa town of Bad Bentheim. Then you had to go into the healing springs and you were cured. As proof of this, it is said, they made a hike through Germany and Drenthe.”
Geerdink dived into those books. “There are several editions from 1843 to 1847. And eight years later, Harm Boom wrote another book about the last stage in Assen. The book is written in old Dutch, but it is easy to read. But it is very extensive, with digressions and descriptions of all kinds of activities along the way, such as weddings and funerals.” But it was mainly the described landscapes that interested Peter Geerdink: “If you cycle or walk through Drenthe, you should know the landscapes better in order to enjoy them. That is why I started writing my own books.”
The writer translated the journey of the podagristen to the road network of 2022 and completed the route himself. Not like the podagristen on foot, but Geerdink got on his bike. “I started in Coevorden and ended in Assen. During the routes I focused on the different landscapes you encounter: the peat landscape, the esdorpen, the sand landscape and the stream valley landscape. I am a geographer, so landscape development is a wonderful subject for me to write about.”
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