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Haulerwijk (The Netherlands)

Ooststellingwerf municipality, Fryslân province

image by Jarig Bakker, 14 Sep 2003
Design: P. Bultsma

Haulerwijk village
Haulerwijk coat of arms

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Haulerwijk village

Haulerwijk (Frisian: Haulerwyk) is a village in Ooststellingwerf municipality. Fryslân province. It is an old peat-colony on the border with Opsterland municipality, with (1958) 2510 inhabitants; (1974) 2726. It used to be two settlements - Beneden-Haulerwijk and Boven-Haulerwijk (Dolni Haulerwijk and Horni Haulerwijk). Dolni Haulerwijk is now named Waskemeer. This is a Frisian enclave in the Saxon speaking world of the Stellingwerfs.
Nickname: "Brúntsjes" (brownies, the color of peat and of the Haulerwykster hands and faces; "bobbekoppen", special sheep only occurring in Haulerwijk and in Onstwedde (Groningen province)
Haulerwijk coat of arms: in red a main fess of silver, charged with a black "snik" (small ship) and in base two yellow peat-implements in saltire.
The exploitation of the peat-fields near the village of Haule was started from Drachten. In 1642 there was a contract between Passchier Hendriks Bolleman e.a. and the inhabitants of northern- and southern-Drachten to dig the Drachter canal. This project started several others, like "de Lange Wijk" which ended in Ooststellingwerf.
On the maps of Schotanus of 1718 this "wijk" reached just south of Opsterland in Ooststellingwerf. Later a canal crossing this "wijk" was dug, which was the origin of Haulerwijk. In the coat of arms the white bar in red symbolizes the colors of heather and peat. The "snik" was a well known type of ship and is often seen on old prints of Haulerwijk. It was also an important link with bigger settlements like Assen and Drachten.
Flag: three equally wide horizontal stripes of yellow and red, with a green hoist-triangle, which reaches flag half, charged with a yellow "snik". For the flag the colors have been derived from the coat of arms. The green hoist triangle tells us that the canal in the heart of the village has been filled up, and the "snik" has been more or less placed on dry land.
Design: P. Bultsma
Source: Genealogysk Jierboekje 1986.
Encyclopedie van Friesland, 1958.
Encyclopedie van het Hedendaagse Friesland, c. 1978.
Groot Schimpnamenboek van Nederland, by Dirk van der Heide, 1998.
Jarig Bakker, 14 Sep 2003

Haulerwijk coat of arms

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