Bike Tour to Wortel Colony in Belgium | Gilde De Baronie

The border with Belgium is crossed no fewer than four times. The name of the route refers to the Colony in the Belgian Wortel, where land vagabonds were placed by the Belgian government from 1822 until the 1990s. This was because vagrancy was punishable by law.

The Colony was also once intended to offer impoverished people a new life on a voluntary basis as land reclamers and gardeners. Along with the nearby Colony in Merksplas, this colony has a rich, if not lively and remarkable, history. The colonies were established during the Dutch period, when Belgium briefly formed a kingdom together with the Netherlands (from 1815 to 1830, under William I). Similar colonies had already been founded in Northern Netherlands (Veenhuizen), both voluntary and involuntary.