Nederland - Hoog Soeren

Hoog Soeren: quiet village during ( ↑ ) and before ( ↓ ) the corona crisis.

Even before the beginning of our era, Germanic tribes had settlements in the area where the village of Hoog Soeren is situated. The early 20th century excavated urns from burial mounds are reminders of this. Hoog Soeren is one of the oldest settlements in the Veluwe and originated on high dry parts of the Veluwe. The proximity of some fens made an existence here possible.

Early 9th century the village was mentioned as Suornom or Suornum. It had several other names before the village became in the mid 19th century its current name. This may be derived from the Old Saxon “sôr”, which means “arid” or “dry”. Not strange as Hoog Soeren is located on a height of 85 meters, a high and dry part of the Veluwe, the largest nature area in the Netherlands.

Hoog Soeren is surrounded by the woods of the Kroondomein Het Loo (Het Loo Royal Estate) and is a protected village area. It has only three paved roads with a name, all other houses along dirt roads have as address the name of the village with a number.

Until the end of the 19th century, Hoog Soeren was an agricultural community, which developed into a settlement for forest workers, foresters and gamekeepers. In the 1930’s many local people had to sell their farm and land. From that period on, a village with civilian houses gradually came into being and became a popular settlement for wealthy people from the western part of the country. A number of farms were transformed into residential houses, but many new houses were built as well. In the first half of the 19th century the area also became a tourist attraction - with some hotels and guesthouses - and an attractive place to live and stay for wealthy people.

Nowadays Hoog Soeren has about 250 permanent inhabitants, living in 100 houses. It has no school either a shop, but a lovely little village church, which was built in 1904.