Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: gemeente Midden-Drenthe

The Stefanuskerk (Church of St. Stephen) is a Gothic church, which was built at the beginning of the 15th century as a Catholic church. The church was dedicated to the martyr Stephen, just like the mother church in Beilen. After the transfer of the church to the Protestant community around 1600, the name was somewhat forgotten. Since 2007, the church has officially been called Stefanuskerk again. The tower of the Stefanuslerk was built earlier. The lower part of the tower is dating back to the 13th century. Later, in 1778, the upper part of the tower was built. The tower has three bells, one of an anonymus bellfounder from early 14th century. The village church of Westerbork has existed for over 800 years. In an old document from 1206, the "capella te Burcht" was already mentioned. It was probably a small wooden chapel, covered with straw. This historical fact was the reason for the Westerbork community to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the village in 2006. Around 1360 the wooden chapel was replaced by a stone church, which was then somewhat smaller than the current church.

The village of Orvelte probably originated between the 11th and 13th century. In a charter from 1362 the village is referred to as “Oervelde”. This oldest notation indicates the origin of the place name: the village Over het veld (Across the field). The village with its cobbled streets is made up of a collection of thatched Saxon farmhouses and other heritage buildings. The oldest farm in Central Drenthe - built between 1560 and 1650 - is also located in Orvelte after a relocation. The car-free village still exudes the atmosphere of a 19th century village in Drenthe. In 1967 Orvelte received the status of protected village-scape. Nowadays Orvelte presents itself as a monument village. In addition to the normal daily activity and residential function, many of the farms are equipped to display old crafts and are used by shops, which mainly sell nostalgic and/or vintage items. There are also several small museums; one shows the period rooms of the family who lived there in the 19th century.

Mantingerveld consists of four small nature reserves, which are reduced to one large continuous area through activities of Natuurmonumenten (a Dutch society for nature conservation). The original landscape of the province of Drenthe with heathland, raised moors and fens must be restored over time. Mantingerzand - one of the four reserves - lies somewhat higher and that made it uneconomical to cultivate the area in the past centuries. On maps from the beginning of the 17th century, the area is already clearly distinguishable; it has hardly changed since then. Mantingerzand is an area with shifting sand hills with countless juniper bushes on it. The reserve with juniper berries was acquired by Natuurmonumenten in 1920; one of the first purchases of the organisation in the province of Drenthe. On the edge of the reserve are numerous old crooked oaks, which held the drifting sand. The oldest tree in the Mantingerzand is a pine, which has probably been here since 1840.