Ossenzijl (

Dutch Low Saxon Dutch Low Saxon ( or ''Nederlaands Nedersaksies''; nl, Nederlands Nedersaksisch) are the Low Saxon dialects of the Low German language that are spoken in the northeastern Netherlands and are written there with local, unstandardised orthographi ...

: ''Ossenziel'') is a village in the municipality

Steenwijkerland Steenwijkerland (; nds-nl, Stienwiekerlaand or ''Steenwiekerlaand'') is a municipality in the province of Overijssel, in the eastern Netherlands. It was called Steenwijk before 2003. The municipality forms the entire northwesterly corner of the ...

of the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the ...

. It started as a sluice owned by the Osse family. It is an entry point to the

Weerribben-Wieden National Park Weerribben-Wieden National Park (Dutch: ''Nationaal Park Weerribben-Wieden'') is a Dutch national park in the Steenwijkerland and Zwartewaterland municipalities in the Overijssel province. Comprising the largest bog of Northwestern Europe, the p ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1437 as Ossenzyle, and refers to a

sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

which was owned by the Osse family. The original sluice was destroyed in 1570, and rebuilt in 1790. Ossenzijl developed into a harbour village for

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 efficien ...

export. In 1840, it was home to 281 people. In 1930, the sluice was removed. Several small windmills have been built on the edge of the Weerribben, including two ''

tjasker The tjasker (West Frisian: , German: ) is a small type of windmill used solely for drainage purposes. It is distinctive for its simple construction, featuring only a single inclined shaft that carries the sails on one end and an Archimedes' screw o ...

s'', little windmills for drainage. Ossenzijl serves as one of the entry points to the Weerribben, a large bog, and the

Frisian Lakes The Frisian Lakes consists of 24 lakes in central and southwest Friesland, a province of the Netherlands located in the northern part of the country. The lakes There are many large and small lakes in the Frisian Lakes area, plus a number of them t ...

. After World War II, the village became a tourist destination. Many of the houses were rebuilt as a holiday homes, and a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

was added to the village. The Weerribben was declared a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in 1992. In 2009, De Wieden was added forming a nature area.

Notable people

Richard Veenstra Richard Veenstra (born 10 July 1981) is a Dutch professional darts player who currently plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. He is a Dutch Open champion, BDO World Trophy and Finder Darts Masters finalist. Multiple medalist of WDF World ...

(born 1981), darts player

Gallery

File:Ossenzijl2.jpg, Village street File:Tjasker in de Weerribben 2.jpg, Tjasker File:Ossenzijl-vrije zendingsgemeente.jpg, Little Rehoboth church File:Waterput Hanneke Pereboom Ossenzijl.jpg, Well statue by

References

Populated places in Overijssel Steenwijkerland {{Overijssel-geo-stub