Schokland: a polder island

The first mention of what is now known as Schokland date back to Roman times. At that time however it wasn't an island as such but an insular area of peatland between rivers and lakes as the Zuiderzee didn't yet exist. Schokland was the only remaining peat island in the Zuiderzee (Southern Sea) until it was incorporated into the Noordoostpolder (literally North-eastern Polder) in 1942. The name Schokland isn't used until the 17th century - before than the island was seen as two separate entities named Emmeloord in the north and Ens in the south - and is a scoffing term referring to a so-called "schokke" a mix of reed and cow dung used for heating by those to poor to afford the usual peat.

During the middle ages the island was much bigger, but rising sea levels and erosion by storms and floods gradually decreased its size. As the island shrank the people retreated towards the higher areas on the island. Here people lived on artificial mounds in several neighbourhoods (Buurt in Dutch) known as Zuiderbuurt, Middelbuurt and Emmeloord. In 1855 the situating became so critical that the Zuidert (or Zuiderbuurt) was evacuated. Four years later is was ordained that all 650 remaining inhabitant were to be relocated. Nowadays only 8 people live on Schokland in the Middelbuurt which is now a museum. The former island is very recognizable in the flat expanse of polderland as a 1 to 2.5 meter high elevation of irregular circumference.

The Middelbuurt consist of houses in a distinct Southern Sea style, built in wood with fired clay roofing tiles. The planks are used to great effect, are coloured in bluish-green or gray green and often have contrasting trims and rabbets. The only stone building is the church (1834) built to replace the wooden church (1717) that had suffered from the 1825 tidal flood.