Nederland - Oudemirdum, Elfbergen

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Elfbergen is with 175 hectares the largest forest in Gaasterland. It is one of the forests that Esq Van Swinderen has laid out in the 19th century. The forest has coniferous and broad-leaved types of wood of all ages. In 1925 it came into possession of the municipality of Gaasterland, who sold it in 1976 to Staatsbosbeheer (a Dutch government organisation for forestry and the management of nature reserves).

During the crisis years of the 20th century, a labour camp for young unemployed people called Werkkamp Elfbergen was established on this site. The large pond in Elfbergen with a wooden bridge was one of the works these young people carried out between 1935 and 1937. It took a total of 9,000 man-days to excavate the pond. The pond is 110 meters long and 45 meters wide, with a narrowing in the middle over which a bridge has been built.