Gorredijk () is the largest town in the municipality of Opsterland, in the Dutch province of Friesland. Gorredijk had a population of 7,360 in 2019. The hamlets of Easterein and Kortezwaag are also part of the town. The latter was an independent village until 1962. Gorredijk and Kortezwaag then formed a double village as Gorredijk-Kortezwaag, but after a few years it was decided to shorten this to Gorredijk, so the older Kortezwaag became a neighborhood of Gorredijk in 1969. History The runs through the center of Gorredijk. The town is a so-called vlecke that was created by peat extraction. In the past, Gorredijk was mainly the place where goods were imported, stored and traded. A great amount of peat passed through Gorredijk, especially from the area behind Tijnje. There was dire poverty in the region. Jacob van Lennep says the following about it in 1823: "A little further west than the Heereveen is the Gordijcke, where there still live some half savages or cavemen, whose houses are half underground and who live from robbery and begging. Of the three criminals who are sentenced in Friesland, one is from that place." Gorredijk used to look very different. Extensive peat bogs covered southeast Friesland. This peat was later excavated and this "industry" attracted many people to these then sparsely populated areas. The original inhabitants were farmers. They grew buckwheat, oats, rye, peas, beans, flax and herbs. They also kept sheep and bees. Cattle was kept sparingly. The farmers in the town may have partly obtained their hay from the low countries between Tijnje and Terwispel. They will also have extracted pieces of heather in and near the Gorrevenen, which were located in the direction of present-day Jubbega. These Gorrevenen were excavated by the Heren Compagnon in the seventeenth century. Jonker Dekema in particular had many possessions here. Jonkersland (Jonkerslân) could also have been called Dekema's land. A channel was needed to transport peat. This did not exist in 1622, but is mentioned in writing in 1630. The digging of the Hegedyk around 1631 is considered the "starting point" of the peat colony Gordijk. As there was now a channel to the Gorrevenen, the first house was built at the Hooge wech, soon followed by others. Over the hole in the dike a Hoogholtje bridge was built, underneath which the peat ships could sail with masts lowered. Description Plaatselijk Belang Gorredijk On 22