Veenhuizen does not look like a prison town at first. It looks like an orderly village in the flat green countryside of Drenthe, with long avenues of trees, neat brick buildings, canals and fields. But read the inscriptions on the gables, with mottos like "Werken is zalig", work is blessed, and the history starts to show. In 1818, a philanthropic organisation called the Society of Benevolence, founded by General Johannes van den Bosch, began establishing colonies in the poor, empty peatlands of the northern Netherlands, where poor families from the cities could be resettled and taught to farm. Veenhuizen became a colony for orphans, beggars and vagrants, and over time it turned into a state institution, and then into a prison village.
The Colonies of Benevolence, including Veenhuizen, Frederiksoord, Wilhelminaoord and Wortel in Belgium, were inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2021 as an experiment in social reform. Veenhuizen still has working prisons, but much of the village is now open, and the National Prison Museum in one of the old institutional buildings tells the story of the colony and of imprisonment in the Netherlands. Walking the avenues, you see the strict geometry of the planned landscape, with straight roads, canals and rows of houses built for the guards and staff.
The countryside around Veenhuizen is quiet and flat, with farmland, forests and heathland. The roads are straight and narrow, often lined with trees, and surfaces are good. Traffic is light, but cyclists are everywhere, and they have priority on many roads. The forests and heaths around Norg and the Drents-Friese Wold national park, to the west, offer more interesting riding, with winding roads through pine and beech woods and open heath. The landscape is gentle, and the best time to ride is in late summer, when the heather blooms purple.
Veenhuizen has a few places to eat and drink around the old institutional core. For fuel and more services, head for Norg, Haulerwijk or Oosterwolde, which is around nine kilometres away. Drenthe is known for hearty food, such as pea soup, and local cakes. Walk the avenues, read the gable mottos, and visit the museum. It is a strange and fascinating place, where good intentions and harsh discipline went hand in hand.