Wortel was originally a free agricultural colony. Poor families lived in separate farmhouses with their own tract of land to work. This was not easy for people without experience. The ground was not very fertile and there were strict rules.
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Wortel-Kolonie in Belgium
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Wortel Colony in Belgien
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In 1870, the Belgian state bought Wortel. It became an unfree ‘agricultural Colony of Benevolence’. Male vagrants and beggars were admitted there and worked under surveillance on the land and in workhouses. Urban planner Victor Besme converted the domain for this purpose.
Wortel Colonia en Bélgica
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Wortel Kolonii w Belgii
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Wortel-Kolonie in België
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There are no more vagrants in Wortel. Farmers cultivate the land, and since 1999 the Colony has been designated a protected landscape.
Wortel Colonie in Belgio
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Colônias Wortel na Bélgica
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Wortel Kolonier i Belgien
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Wortel Kolonija u Belgiji
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Colonies Wortel en Belgique
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