🏛️ Colonies of Benevolence

The Society of Humanitarianism was a Dutch private organization set up in 1818 by general Johannes van den Bosch to help poor families, mostly from the big cities, improve their lot in the aftermath of the Napoleonic French occupation by granting them farming land. He petitioned William I of the Netherlands for its formation and bought uncultivated land in Drenthe for the poor to exploit. The Estate 'Westerbeeksloot' in what is now Frederiksoord was the society's administrative center. The estate at Frederiksoord and the colonies built by the Society at Wilhelminaoord, Wortel and Veenhuizen were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021 for their testimony to a unique 19th century philosophical movement and their outstanding urban planning.