Shipwrecks in the Noordoostpolder der

When the Zuiderzee was still raging here, ships regularly foundered in the raging waters. After reclamation, remnants of such ships 'floated to the surface' in several places. Viewed this way, the Noordoostpolder is a ship graveyard on dry land.

Marker posts

Where shipwrecks have been discovered, so-called marker poles have been placed: three-metre-high blue and white poles with a red ship on them. You can find them anywhere in the landscape, along the road, in the forest, in a farmyard. Because yes, when the ships perished here, none of that was there yet. And it was only later, often by chance, that such wrecks were found in the ground. Some of these ships have been excavated, but a large part lies preserved in the landscape, so you usually don't see anything of the wreck itself, hence the marking with such a marker post.

Queen Anne

Most shipwrecks were given the name of the plot on which they were found. For example, they are called NG11 or NP40. One of the shipwrecks discovered and excavated was named the Queen Anne. This is because the ship was most probably a British merchant vessel and two rare Royal Portrait Spoons bearing the image of Queen Anne, the 18th-century queen of Great Britain, were found near this wreck. All that remains of the ship are the frames. These have been preserved and buried in the ground along Schoterweg in Bant as a monument.

Vista panel Shipwreck

At the remains of the Queen Anne, in addition to a marker post, an extensive information panel and a see-through panel have been installed. Such a see-through panel is a corten steel frame with a transparent plate, on which a drawing visualises something that is not (or no longer) visible in the landscape. The see-through panel 'shipwreck' shows what the Queen Anne probably looked like, floating on the water right next to the position where the remains of the shipwreck lie today. Thanks to the vista panel, the watery history of the Noordoostpolder comes to life a bit more. Just such a pole is impressive, especially if you see several along the way, but it says so little in the end.

Read more about the vista panel

Want to know more about the shipwrecks found in the Noordoostpolder der? Then take a look at the MaSS. This is an online database in which the sites and stories of maritime heritage have been mapped and made accessible to a wide audience. On the website mass.cultureelerfgoed.nl, click on the item 'Wrakken in Flevoland' and then you can read what is known about each wreck found and whether it is still there.

There are many more blue and white posts with a red sign on top scattered around the Noordoostpolder. These are not red ships and therefore shipwrecks, but red aircraft and therefore crash poles for aircraft that crashed in today's Noordoostpolder during World War II or made an emergency landing here.