Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck

[a][3] In 1643, the ship De Oevelgunne was on route from England to Hamburg with expensive lace,[1] but stranded on the Boschplaat in the Wadden Sea.

[1] Geerts moved to Oude Pekela to study the exploitation of peat by the city of Groningen.

About twelve years later, Wildervanck tried to expand his operation into neighbouring Drenthe, but was taken prisoner by angry peasants and briefly imprisoned in the tower of Rolde.

[5] Wildervanck died on 24 November 1661 in Wildervank, at the age of 56, and was buried in the Margaretha Hardenberg Church.

[4] In 1897, a monument dedicated to Wildervanck was revealed in Wildervank in front of the town hall as the founder of the village.