Holler Colonies and the Altes Land: A Vivid Example of the Importance of European Intangible and Tangible Heritage

Abstract

The Holler colonies are settlements in European marsh and dyke landscapes created starting in the High Middle Ages through land reclamation by Dutch water engineers who had been hired by local leaders. Some Holler colonies were later abandoned; others remained. Surviving colonies, some of which remain and are largely intact, was often changed by later land reclamation processes (Renes and Piastra 2011: 24). Today, the remainders of these landscapes are visible proof of the intangible and tangible heritage of European economic and social history. These created landscapes—Holler landscapes—are easily recognized by their linear landscape structure and small parceling. Other characteristic features are hydraulic engineering structures, such as dykes, drainage systems, receiving waters, and the pumping stations used to clear the marshes of water and strip parceling, linear settlements, and infrastructure, houses and farms in a row, dykes, roads and byways, ditches, and channels. Holler colonies are a European landscape typology in several respects. First, they were the consequence of Dutch water engineers’ large-scale knowledge transfer within Europe, are always built at the invitation of local leaders, and always encompass the diffusion of Dutch laws, traditions, production, and models of society. Second, they may be considered a European landscape type that defined European wetland areas along large rivers from the Middle Ages onwards. Their uniqueness is based on the techniques applied, the social processes involved, and their long duration.