Bourtange moor

A remaining stretch on the border between Drenthe and the districts Emsland and Betheim is now a nature reserve, the Internationaler Naturpark Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen.

The Bourtange Swamp had the shape of a V. The western leg covered the valley of the Hunze and ranged towards the city of Groningen.

Near Valthe - Ter Apel and Nieuw-Dordrecht remnants of roads through the bog were found, dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age.

The swamp played an important role during the wars between Groningen and Münster In places with passages through or along the bog, strongholds were built.

During the second half of the Middle Ages the monasteries of Aduard and Essen played an important role in cultivating the bog.

De Semslinie is a straight line between Wolfsbarge (a village near the Zuidlaardermeer) and Ter Apel.

In the second half of the 19th century de another important canal was dug, the Verlengde Hoogeveensche Vaart.

No new canals were dug and products from the bog was being largely transported to factories via narrow gauge railways.

Several bog bodies were found in the bog, including the Weerdinge Men (found near Weerdinge in Drenthe), Aschbroeken Man, also from Drenthe, Roter Franz (Neu Versen in Emsland) and the Kibbelgaarn body (Kibbelgaarn in Groningen)