A borg (;

Gronings Gronings (; gos, Grunnegs or Grönnegs), is a collective name for some Friso-Saxon dialects spoken in the province of Groningen and around the Groningen border in Drenthe and Friesland. Gronings and the strongly related varieties in East ...

: ''börg'') is a former

stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

or villa in the province 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 ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Borgs used to belong to noblemen or prominent citizens. A comparable building in the neighboring province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

is called a

stins A stins (Dutch, pl. ''stinsen''; from West Frisian ''stienhûs'' utch ''steenhuis''"stone house", shortened to ''stins'', pl. ''stinzen'') is a former stronghold or villa in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Many stinsen carry the name ...

History

A borg usually started as a brick building, a 'steenhuis' (literally meaning 'stone house'), built in the 13th or 14th century. A steenhuis was usually 11 meters long and eight meters wide. The walls were thick, often more than one meter in thickness. Most were originally made of wood because stone was expensive, but less flammable. A steenhuis was not used as a house, but offered protection in times of danger. There is one original steenhuis left in Groningen, the Iwema-steenhuis in Niebert. Some steenhuises were enlarged and became more like a castle; this would be considered a borg. A good example of a borg that originated from a steenhuis is the Fraeylemaborg. In the building itself you can still find a wide wall with

embrasure An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out ...

s. Many borgs are surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

. Besides the borgs that originated from a steenhuis, there are also more recently built borgs that originate from ''veenborgen''. A veenborg (''peat borg'') was a mansion built for wealthy people in the Veenkoloniën (''peat colonies''). These buildings were mostly built in the second half of the 17th century. Examples of veenborgs are Welgelegen in

Hoogezand Hoogezand is a town in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, in the province of Groningen in northeast Netherlands. History The name refers to a higher sanded ''(Hooge Sandt)'' place in the peatlands cut through when the Winschoterdiep channe ...

and the Ennemaborg in

Midwolda Midwolda () is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Oldambt, about 7 km northwest of Winschoten. Midwolda was a separate municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Scheemda. History Th ...

Remains

Most borgs were demolished in the 19th century, when maintenance became too expensive. Several surviving borgs are now used as museums.

References

External links

*{{in lang, nl}
Borgen in Groningen
1 Buildings and structures in Groningen (province) Castles in the Netherlands Architecture in the Netherlands

History

Remains

See also

References

External links