Denekamp

Easter stake drag

On Easter Sunday you can witness a special tradition, the Easter stake dragging. A procession heads towards the Singraven estate singing hymns to ask for an Easter stake (straight tree trunk). This is cut down and then dragged towards the village by hundreds of human hands. Then they go to the Easter meadow, where the spectacle of selling the tree and the rings of the teerton begins. This is done in unadulterated Twents dialect. The apotheosis is the big Easter fire that is lit in the evening on Easter Sunday. Sounds like a magical fairy tale, doesn't it? So Denekampers are real Tukkers: they do what they like, are a bit stubborn, but also have another traditional characteristic: they are hospitable.

Singraven

Besides being busy with traditions, they also have time for other things in Denekamp. Like keeping the mills running. At the beautiful Singraven estate there is a historic water mill. There are also two more mills in this village in the east of Twente: the Borgelinkmolen and the Nieuwe Molen or Saint Nicholas Mill.

Natura Docet Wonderryck

You've probably already figured out that Denekampers are wonderful people. We'll add to that: they also have a wondrous museum. Natura Docet Wonderryck Twente is the oldest natural history museum in the Netherlands. Here you'll marvel at nature, animals and fossils.

Dinkel

'Real' nature is at your feet, by the way. In winter you can even cross-country ski in the rolling Denekamp landscape through which the Dinkel also meanders. This river is quite important to Twente, as evidenced by the first line of Twente's national anthem: There is a land between Dinkel and Regge: our clean and industrious Twente. Talk about traditions!