HISTory AND CULTURAL HERITAGE
In 1923 Piet Blijenburg and Carl Hijner established weaving mill De Ploeg
‘My grandfather and grandmother, Joop Oversteegen and Antje Blokker, were part of ‘De Ploeg’ history in Bergeijk. Between 1923 and 1930, they led the agricultural cooperative ‘De Ploeg’ in the town of Best. They were appointed by the Society for Common Ownership of Land, which funded the cooperation. And so they moved from Velsen in North Holland to the province of Brabant. Around 10 adults and their children worked and lived in the cooperative, frequently joined by travelling like-minded individuals. They cultivated the wild heathlands. This early cooperative sparked the idea to establish more ‘Ploegs’, and thus was born ‘De Ploeg’ in Bergeijk.’