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In the Northern part of Groningen you find an area which is called "Het Hogeland" meaning High Land. Here, in the old district Fivelingo at 53° 19' N 6° 49' E and some 10 km from the wetlands which we call the Wadden, you will find a small village called Oosterwijtwerd, consisting of 80 houses and farms and inhabited by approximately 233 people.
The district Fivelingo gets its name from the river the Fivel, which sprang from a field in the north of Kolham and meandered through peat, bog and clay to end in the Fivel estuary at Eenum. Oosterwijtwerd was situated - just as Eenum was - outside the estuary and is one of the oldest villages. In 500 BC people lived here and were dependent on the ocean for their living. Next to fishing and trade they lived from the land. They threw up mounds to keep people and animals safe from high tides. In Holland such a mound is called "Wierde" (in Groningen) or "Terp" (In Friesland)
In the eleventh century the Fivel-estuary started to close with silt. Around this period the residents of this part of the country constructed the first dikes, they constructed these dikes between the higher situated places in the landscape. These dikes were also used as roads and even now they are still in use and can still be recognized by their meandering course. One of the most distinct examples of such an old dike is the old road between Oosterwijtwerd and Holwierde.
Standing on this road you can see the village of Oosterwijtwerd in the background. (Picture of the right)
More recent roads run straight and parallel to each
other. In the twelfth and thirteenth century most of the Fivel-estuary
was reclaimed from the sea and the landscape which emerged is distinctly
different from the older landscape.
The name Oosterwijtwerd is derived
from the words Widu and Weerd. Widu means wood, shrubbery, but the word
"wijt" may also be derived from the old word for Willow (Groninger
encyclopedia 2001). "Weerd" refers to a high place in watery
landscape. Ooster was just added much later and was needed to avoid confusing
this village with the cloister Wijtwerd en the village Westerwijtwerd,
both situated in the district Hunsingo. Consequently Oosterwijtwerd
actually means willow-mound
The Saxon name was Oosterwiewerd
The village is mainly situated on a mound. Rubbish
and manure deposited by inhabitants through the centuries made the soil
of these mounds very fertile and around 1900 this mound was partly dug
off and sold as fertilizer. The leveled part of the mound is called
lege wier , which
means "empty mount" .
This is the Maria Chapel, situated at the highest part of the mound. It is one of the oldest brick Roman churches in Groningen. The church is focused East- West, according to mediaeval tradition with a slight deviation to the North (8 N)
The Dorpstraat en de houses alongside this road are situated on the " hoge Wierde " ,which means " high mound " In the curve of the road, on one of the pictures on this page you can see the almshouse. This asylum was granted to the village by the Lady of the Manor and was restored and renovated in the eighties.
The Manor is the stronghold Ripperda unfortunately demolished after 1745. The grounds of the stronghold can still be seen on the east-side of the village, behind the house called "de Wijtwerder Heerd". In recent years the moat has been restored.
In the battle between the Town-city and the surrounding country about 1500 the village played a strategic role in the battle of Appingedam. The "Manor of Oosterwijtwerd", shown here on a later drawing from the record office was occupied by the Town-city shortly after new year 1500.
They fortified the manor and encamped an
army of 60 men at the grounds
This map dates back to about 1825, when the land registry office began an inventory. By clicking on this map you will reach a page with several maps of Oosterwijtwerd in the last two centuries.
During the Second World War there was substantial fighting around Oosterwijtwerd. A dozen dwellings were destroyed or severely damaged.
After the war the houses were rebuild or restored and on the south side
of the village new housing has been established along the Ripperdaweg. 
The aspect of the Dorpstraat (which is the main street of Oosterwijtwerd) has changed dramatically in the 20th century. Most of the houses on this street used to be shops except for number 7, at present a building contractor. There used to be a smithy at no. 9, a bakery at no. 11, a school at no. 15, a tailor at no. 10, a seamstress at no. 12, a cooper/cartwright at no. 28, a shoemaker at no. 30, and a grocery at no 32.
