[3] The Bourtange moor, a large raised bog, formed the border between the Netherlands and Germany.

[4] The shepherds from both Ober- and Niederlangen in Germany and Noord- and Zuidbarge in the Netherlands used the heath for their sheep.

In the 1824 Treaty of Meppen, the border was set, however the compascuum remained in effect until 1866 when permanent settlement was allowed in the moorland.

Between 1878 and 1880, the city of Groningen dug the Stads-Compascuumkanaal from Ter Apel, and the village of Emmer-Compascuum was founded in 1879 at the meeting point of the canal and the Runde River.

[8] Other factories like NPBI [nl], a producer of sterile fluid for the pharmaceutical industry, followed.