Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck (4 September 1605 – 24 November 1661) was a Dutch businessman and coloniser. In 1643, he lost most of his money when ''De Oevelgunne'' stranded on the Boschplaat with expensive

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

. In 1647, he founded the Muntendammer Company to exploit a

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...

colony. As part of the colony, the villages of

Wildervank Wildervank is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Veendam, about 3 km south of the centre of Veendam itself. It was founded in 1647 by Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck as a peat colony in the Wilderv ...

(1647) and

Veendam Veendam () is a town and municipality with a population of 27,752 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Veendam was established in 1648 as a peat colony by Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck. A Holland America Line cruise ship ...

(1648) were established.

Biography

Adriaan Geerts was born on 4 September 1605 in Groningen, Netherlands. He had been active in Groningen as an accountant, and tenant of the council and winery of Groningen. In 1643, the ship ''De Oevelgunne'' was on route from England to Hamburg with expensive

, but stranded on the Boschplaat in the Wadden Sea. The salvagers wanted their customary 1/3 share of the merchandise, however Geerts refused, because the ship had not been abandoned. A lengthy trial followed which attracted the attention of both the British government and the States General of the Netherlands. In 1645, Geerts lost on appeal, and was ordered to pay the salvagers and a large fine. Geerts moved to

Oude Pekela Oude Pekela ( Gronings: ''Olle Pekel''; ) is a town in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Pekela, about 5 km southwest of Winschoten. It was established to exploit the peat in the area. During the 19th ce ...

to study the exploitation of

by the

city of Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. The Wildervankster bog was a

raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation (ombrot ...

which was still untouched. On 6 June 1647, he established the Muntendammer Company to exploit the bog. The exploration was very costly, and Geerts needed to take out a mortgage of ƒ250,000 from an Amsterdam merchant. In 1647, the village of

was founded, and Geerts would start to use the surname Wildervanck. In 1648, the village of

was established. The Muntendammer Company was a moderately successful company. About twelve years later, Wildervanck tried to expand his operation into neighbouring Drenthe, but was taken prisoner by angry peasants and briefly imprisoned in the tower of

Rolde Rolde () is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Drenthe. Located in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Aa en Hunze, it lies about 6 km (3.7 mi) east of Assen. In 2021, Rolde had a ...

. The heavy mortgage payments forced Wildervanck to sell large parts of the colony. In 1659, construction started of a church in Wildervank which was named Margaretha Hardenberg Church after his wife. Wildervanck died on 24 November 1661 in Wildervank, at the age of 56, and was buried in the Margaretha Hardenberg Church.

Legacy

In 1897, a monument dedicated to Wildervanck was revealed in

in front of the town hall as the founder of the village. In 1965, the canal between Wildervank and Zuidbroek was named . In 1997, a bust by Bert Kiewiet was revealed in Wildervank.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wildervanck, Adriaan Geerts 1605 births 1661 deaths People from Groningen (city) Dutch accountants 17th-century Dutch businesspeople