Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck

Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck (4 September 1605 – 24 November 1661) was a Dutch businessman and coloniser. In 1643, he lost most of his money when De Oevelgunne stranded on the Boschplaat with expensive lace. In 1647, he founded the Muntendammer Company to exploit a peat colony. As part of the colony, the villages of Wildervank and Veendam (1648) were established.

Biography Adriaan Geerts was born on 4 September 1605 in Groningen, Netherlands. He had been active in Groningen as an accountant, and tenant of the council and winery of Groningen. The salvagers wanted their customary 1/3 share of the merchandise, however Geerts refused, because the ship had not been abandoned. A lengthy trial followed which attracted the attention of both the British government and the States General of the Netherlands. In 1645, Geerts lost on appeal, and was ordered to pay the salvagers and a large fine. In 1647, the village of Wildervank was founded, and Geerts would start to use the surname Wildervanck. In 1648, the village of Veendam was established.

The Muntendammer Company was a moderately successful company. About twelve years later, Wildervanck tried to expand his operation into neighbouring Drenthe, but was taken prisoner by angry peasants and briefly imprisoned in the tower of Rolde. The heavy mortgage payments forced Wildervanck to sell large parts of the colony.

In 1965, the canal between Wildervank and Zuidbroek was named .

In 1997, a bust by Bert Kiewiet was revealed in Wildervank.