De Hooge Boezem pumping station
The De Hooge Boezem pumping station behind Haastrecht was built 150 years ago in 1872 to keep living and working below sea level. Because of this anniversary year, the pumping station is in blue light in the evening. The peat meadow area of the western Netherlands is an upside-down world in terms of water management: most houses there are lower than the rivers. This has not always been the case.
A thousand years ago, all land was still above the draining streams. How did that area sink so far? What problems did that cause for water management? What ingenious solutions have people come up with over the centuries to control the water? And what is needed to keep our feet dry in the future?
Models, films, maps and original machinery in Gemaal De Hooge...
The De Hooge Boezem pumping station behind Haastrecht was built 150 years ago in 1872 to keep living and working below sea level. Because of this anniversary year, the pumping station is in blue light in the evening. The peat meadow area of the western Netherlands is an upside-down world in terms of water management: most houses there are lower than the rivers. This has not always been the case.
A thousand years ago, all land was still above the draining streams. How did that area sink so far? What problems did that cause for water management? What ingenious solutions have people come up with over the centuries to control the water? And what is needed to keep our feet dry in the future?
Models, films, maps and original machinery in Gemaal De Hooge Boezem provide vivid answers to all these questions. Groups are welcome - by appointment - all year round. The pumping station's regular openinghours are from 1 April to 31 October from Wednesday to Sunday from 1 pm to 4 pm. Click here for our brochure. Visitors to the pumping station will find all kinds of documentation.
For more information, visit the website of Gemaal de Hooge Boezem.