| Appelscha | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Village — | |||
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| Country | Netherlands | ||
| Province | Friesland | ||
| Population | |||
| • Total | c. 5,000 | ||
Appelscha (West Frisian: Appelskea) is a village in the municipality of Ooststellingwerf in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It has just under 5000 inhabitants.
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Appelscha was first named in written documents in 1247. It consisted from a few farms surrounding the Boerestreek (what was called high-Appelscha) for centuries,the hamlets Aakinga, Terwisscha and De Bult close by. Appelscha remained a small village, tucked away between sand dunes and wet peat.
Around 1450 dikes were constructed to ensure the acid leakwater from the peat returned to the fields. The old Appelscha suffered much of drifting sand from the dunes. In 1881 people therefore started with the construction of the forest.
After 1827 the village extends with the advent of thousands Frisian workers for peat extraction, and the modern village was created. The Social conditions were however, very poor. By the time peat yielded much less than coal, a huge strike broke out (1888). Because of this large immigration of Frisian workers, Appelscha became a Frisian-speaking village,in a municipality where otherwise Stellingwarfs was spoken, a dialect of Dutch.
In 1922, the Friesch Volkssanatorium from Joure transferred to Appelscha. Many thousands of patients spent years in the huge forest to try to cure their tuberculosis. Today only the X-ray department of the Sanatorium is left. This is the only tuberculosis museum in the world.
The in 1888 landscaped forest and the sand dunes attracted many tourists to Appelscha, and became famous in the Netherlands for its natural beauty. Alongside the Boerestreek you'll find restaurants, regular markets during weekends and summer. Many other attractions at the Boerestreek appealed to tourists as well, like an amusement park. The amusement park moved to the edge of the village in 1997.