Vredenhof-Resting Place for the Drowned on the Dutch Island of Schiermonnikoog

New! Translated edition in English of Vredenhof-Rustplaats voor drenkelingen op Schiermonnikoog, 2025 edition. Translator Aletta Stevens.

According to island legend, a drowned person washed ashore, returned by the sea, is a soul seeking his final resting place. During a walk along the beach, Sake van der Werff, hotelier on the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog, saw a boot sticking out of the sand. Underneath he found the decomposing body of an unknown person. He buried the corpse in a place in the dunes where the sea could no longer touch it. This was the beginning of Vredenhof, the cemetery for the drowned. Apart from seafarers, those washed up on the island in wartime included German sailors, French soldiers drowned in the Channel, as well as British and Canadian airmen, Australians, New Zealanders, Poles and Germans. Most were given a fitting burial at Vredenhof. Thanks to Sake van der Werff’s labour of love, relatives were traced often years later to be informed of the final resting place of their lost husband, son or father.

This book tells the stories of the short lives of young men full of vitality, their gruesome end, the uncertainty and resignation of their loved ones, and the surprise and gratitude of their relatives. Most of all it is the story of one man, who on his own initiative offered a resting place to the dead washed ashore. Thus the island legend became reality. War, love and self-sacrifice are the key elements that make up the unique story of Vredenhof, the final resting place of the drowned on Schiermonnikoog.

Sietse van der Hoek is a journalist and publicist. His books include Leven op het wad, Het platteland and Meneer Aart. Vredenhof is his thirteenth book.