As you may know, UNESCO requires each Geopark to be firmly grounded in science. At Scheldt Delta Geopark, this is safeguarded through our Scientific Advisory Board, currently consisting of 28 members, including three coordinators and a chair. They provide direction and maintain close contact with the Geopark’s core team.
But who are these people, really? We’d love to introduce them to you. Today: Adrie de Kraker.
Adrie, we’re so pleased to give our readers the chance to get to know you! Let’s dive right in with five questions.
You chose to study History and later trained as both a History and Geography teacher. Today, you work as a historical geographer – a profession that seems to sit somewhere between History and Geography, and perhaps even touches on Geoarchaeology. We must admit: we’re not quite sure what it involves. So tell us: what exactly does a historical geographer study? And what led you to this field?
As a young historian, I was deeply inspired by the French Annales School. Their goal was to reconstruct a complete picture of a region in a specific period covering landscape, development, and the human dimension: work, governance, religion, social networks, and so on.
To research from that perspective, you start with the landscape – and that’s where geography comes in. From there, you draw on all available information about the area in that time period, essentially, history in its broadest sense. That’s how historical geography came into being. Even more interesting is to trace how that landscape developed over time. And that’s where the story really comes alive.
You earned your PhD in 1997 with the thesis “Landscape out of Balance: The Vier Ambachten and the Land of Saeftinghe, 1488–1609” at the University of Amsterdam. The Land of Saeftinghe also happens to be one of our Geopark’s official geosites. Could you explain what makes this area so special, and what visitors can still see there today?
In my dissertation, I explored the region of the Vier Ambachten and the Land of Saeftinghe during a particularly turbulent time. Between 1584 and 1586, almost the entire area was deliberately flooded during the war, leaving only a handful of polders.
These included the Brugsepolder, Westpolder, Couveringepolder and Lenisland. The Polder of Namen and the Merlemont polders were under the influence of the Counts of Flanders, while others were owned by institutions in Bruges or by the Abbey of the Dunes.
The Land of Saeftinghe itself was a lordship with its own charter. There were several villages, including Casuwele and Sint-Lauwreins, and a count’s castle. On the eastern side was Ter Venten, a transshipment point for peat.
In 1584, the sea dike was breached, flooding this late medieval cultural landscape. Only traces remain; some still buried in the soil, inside and outside the dikes. Peat layers sometimes preserve remnants.
Over time, the flooded land evolved into a tidal landscape, marked by deep tidal channels and strong surges.
The land had once been the domain of Emperor Charles V, who leased it to tenants and was responsible for dike maintenance. After the 1570 flood, his son Philip II tried to abandon these responsibilities, and in 1576, passed them on to local authorities. This continued until 1584, when the land was finally lost to the sea.
People can find you online at www.historiedekraker.nl, where you also share information about the lectures, courses and excursions you offer. Our Scientific Advisory Board is planning to organise lectures as well, so we’re very glad to have your experience on board! Many people who present in front of an audience – students, guides, museum staff – find it difficult to hold attention. Do you have any tips for giving an effective lecture? And how do you know when yours has been successful?
I approach a lecture as a tightly structured class. I always start with a short introduction and close with a brief conclusion. I use minimal text, lots of images, and add the occasional side note or joke.
It’s also important to leave room for questions and interaction with the audience.
In the past, I’ve taught courses on the landscape of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (ten lessons and three excursions), monastic life (six lessons and three excursions), and the Eighty Years' War, just before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
To me, a lecture is successful if I can deliver exactly what I planned, there’s a good turnout, and people are engaged enough to ask questions.
You live in beautiful Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. You’re proud of your region and love sharing its unique landscape with others. In your book “Landscape and Settlement in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen” (2017), you describe how this area transformed over 14,000 years from a natural to a reclaimed landscape. That’s not your only publication, your list of articles and books is impressive! In an interview with the PZC, you once said that people today live too much in the present. Why do you believe it’s important to look back and share this knowledge?
Reflecting on the past helps us guide our environment into the future with care. Landscapes are always evolving; sometimes slowly, sometimes rapidly,and they contain layers of cultural meaning from different periods.
Each change comes with a loss of something else. That’s why we need to think carefully about what we choose to preserve and what not.
To make informed decisions, we need a solid understanding of the landscape’s past, its development, and its layered character.
Finally, Adrie. Could you share a quote or motto that inspires you in your work and life?
Do what you can today, because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
Between 2016 and 2023, I worked with a group of volunteers to record over 210,000 archival entries about pre-1650 Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, stored in the archives of Lille and Brussels. These records are now publicly accessible at the Zeeuws Archief and the Historical Information Centre in Terneuzen; opening up an incredibly rich source of knowledge about our region’s past and its landscape.