2017-07-09 Schleswig-Holstein by Olaf Kosinsky-21

A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling

mound A mound is a wikt:heaped, heaped pile of soil, earth, gravel, sand, rock (geology), rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded ...

found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

s, high tides and sea or river

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing. The various terms used reflect the regional dialects of the North European region. These mounds occur in the coastal parts of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

(in the provinces of

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

and

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

), in southern parts of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and in the north-western parts of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

where, before dykes were made, floodwater interfered with daily life. These can be found especially in the region Ostfriesland and Kreis

Nordfriesland Nordfriesland (; ; Low German: Noordfreesland), also known as North Frisia, is the northernmost Districts of Germany, district of Germany, part of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia (with the e ...

in Germany. In Kreis Nordfriesland on the

Halligen The ''Halligen'' (German, singular ''Hallig'', ) or the ''halliger'' (Danish, singular ''hallig'') are small islands without protective levee, dikes. They are variously pluralized in English as the Halligen, Halligs, Hallig islands, or Halligen i ...

, people still live on terps unprotected by dykes. Terps also occur in the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

and Meuse river plains in the central part of the Netherlands. Furthermore, terps can be found more to the south in the province

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

, like Avendorp near the town of Schagen, and in the towns of Bredene en Leffinge near Oostende in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Other terps can be found at the mouth of the river IJssel like the one at the hamlet Kampereiland, the province

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

and on the former Island of Schokland in the former Zuiderzee, today the reclaimed land Noordoostpolder. Even underneath the town of Den Helder in the north of the province North Holland lies an old terp, named Het Torp.

''Terpen'' in the province of Friesland

In the Dutch province of Friesland, an artificial dwelling hill is called ''terp'' (plural ''terpen''). ''Terp'' means "village" in

Old Frisian Old Frisian was a West Germanic language spoken between the late 13th century and the end of 16th century. It is the common ancestor of all the modern Frisian languages except for the North Frisian language#Insular North Frisian, Insular North ...

and is

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

with English thorp, Danish ''torp'', German ''Dorf'', modern West Frisian ''doarp'' and Dutch ''dorp''. ''Terpen'' were built to "curb natural influences" such as floods by being a part of a network of ''terpen'' that rerouted large-scale flooding. Historical Frisian settlements were built on artificial ''terpen'' up to high to be safe from floods in periods of rising sea levels. The first ''terp''-building period dates to 500 BC, the second from 200 BC to 50 BC. In the mid-3rd century, the rise of

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

was so dramatic that the clay district was deserted, and settlers returned only around AD 400. A third ''terp''-building period dates from AD 700 (

times). This ended with the coming of the dike somewhere around 1200. During the 18th and 19th centuries, many ''terps'' were destroyed to use the fertile soil they contained to fertilize farm fields. ''Terpen'' were usually well fertilized by the decay of the rubbish and personal waste deposited by their inhabitants over centuries.

''Wierden'' in the province of Groningen

In the Dutch province of Groningen an artificial dwelling mound is called a ''wierde'' (plural ''wierden''). As in Friesland, the first ''wierde'' was built around 500 BC or maybe earlier.

List of artificial dwelling mounds

Place names in the Frisian coastal region ending in ''-werd'', ''-ward'', ''-uert'' etc. refer to the fact that the village was built on an artificial dwelling mound (''wierde''). The greater part of the ''terp'' villages, though, have names ending in ''-um'', from ''-heem'' or ''-hiem'', meaning (farm)yard, grounds. There are a few village names in Friesland ending with ''-terp'' (e.g. Ureterp), referring not to a dwelling mound but merely to the Old Frisian word for village. The first element of the toponyms is quite often a person's name or is simply describing the environmental features of the settlement (e.g. Rasquert (prov. Groningen) Riazuurđ: ''wierde'' with reed, where reed grows). Some 1,200 ''terpen'' are recorded in Groningen and Friesland alone. They range from abandoned settlements to mounds with only one or a few farmhouses, to larger villages and old towns. A few of them are listed below.

Friesland

* Aalsum () * Bolsward (''Boalsert'') * Britsum * Cornwerd (''Koarnwert'') * Dokkum * Ee * Ferwert * Ginnum * Hegebeintum * Hitzum * Jannum * Jouswier * Leeuwarden (''Ljouwert'') * Metslawier * Wijnaldum

Groningen

* Adorp * Bedum * Bierum * Ezinge * Feerwerd * Garnwerd * Godlinze * Holwierde * Leens * Middelstum * Niehove * Rottum * Saaksum * Spijk * Stitswerd * Ulrum * Usquert * Wirdum

Northern Germany

* Loquard (

East Frisia East Frisia () or East Friesland (; ; ; ) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisia (peninsula), East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the ...

) * Rysum (East Frisia) *Eckwarden (

Butjadingen Butjadingen () is a peninsula and municipality in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Butjadingen is situated on the German North Sea coast. It is bordered on the west and southwest by the Jade River and the east by the ...

) *Itzwärden ( Land Wursten)

Literature

* * Moritz Heyne (1899): ''Das deutsche Wohnungswesen. Von den ältesten geschichtlichen Zeiten bis zum 16. Jahrhundert'', Bremen 2012.

References

External links

{{Wiktionary
Warften/Wurten
(page of the Society for Schleswig-Holstein History)

(private site)
Historical site of Wüppel in the Wangerland

(private site)
Manual making a Terp in 12 Steps (post of the Frisia Coast Trail)Vereniging voor terpenonderzoek
(Foundation for terp research, the Netherlands) * Artificial landforms Indigenous architecture Coastal construction Artificial hills + Hills