Lauwersmeer
lake in the Netherlands
Lauwersmeer (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌlʌu.ərsˈmeːr]) is a man-made lake in the north of the Netherlands, on the border of the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. The lake was formed on 23 May 1969, when the dike between the bay called Lauwers Sea and the Wadden Sea was closed. It is noted for birdwatching.
On the eastern shores of the Lauwersmeer is the Marnewaard, an exercise area of the Royal Netherlands Army. The central and eastern parts of the lake became Lauwersmeer National Park on 12 November 2003.
History
The Lauwers Sea (in Dutch: Lauwerszee) was formed by a flood in 1280, and named after the river Lauwers, which flows along the border between the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. During the flood the mouth of the river Lauwers disappeared, and its tributaries the Reitdiep, the Dokkumerdiep, and the Ee flowed directly into the new bay. Many plans were made after this disaster to shut it off from the sea but none was ever put into effect. However, parts of it were empoldered piecemeal, slowly reducing it from a large two-forked estuary to the nearly square inlet seen on recent maps.
The first serious plans for draining the Lauwers Sea were from 1849.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Lauwersmeer” as lake in the Netherlands. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as lake in the Netherlands. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q525364. Authority coordinates are 53.377, 6.173. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1969, 2003, 1280 and 1849.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Lauwersmeer”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lauwersmeer primary sources, Lauwersmeer archive and Lauwersmeer research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lauwersmeer”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lauwersmeer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.