Madder
Madder was a very profitable crop in Zeeland for centuries. The red dye alizarin was extracted from the roots of the madder plant. It was used for dying wool, cotton, silk and leather. Almost every village had its own stove, where the madder was processed.
The madder plant (rubia tinctorum) was cultivated in Zeeland since the Middle Ages. The first references to it date from the 14th century. The madder flourished particularly well in clay soils, which is why the plant was grown mainly in the polder areas. Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen were the ideal centres for this. Moreover, the madder from Zeeland could easily be exported to the textile industry in England. Particularly in Sint-Annaland, many of the inhabitants were proficient in processing madder. Many of them therefore also worked in this industry in other locations.
The cultivation of madder continued to grow, because it was very lucrative for farmers, until it became possible to produce synthetic alizarin from coal relatively cheaply. This brought a rapid end, after 1870, to the madder industry in Zeeland.
Ode to the madder
Designed by Gust Romijn of Dreischor and unveiled in September 1995. The work of art expresses that the old saying also applies to madder cultivation: “everything is at the Lord’s Blessing”. They are bronze roots of the madder plant under a blue roof, representing the earth with the sun shining above it.