De Boerenleenbank Overasselt: een verkenning van het verleden voor verrijking van het heden

Buurderij De Lage Hof functions as a meeting place, care centre and museum for the local community of Overasselt, the Netherlands. The museum part of the Buurderij aims to preserve and exhibit the region’s farming heritage. The museum consists of three parts: the living area with period rooms, exhibition rooms with local agricultural collections, and an outdoor museum with demonstration rooms. Regular workshops, demonstrations and open days are organised to showcase farming life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Research request The museum wants to attract a wider audience by reducing the collection and repositioning itself as a story museum. One important story is that of the local ‘Boerenleenbank’ [Rural Cooperative Ban], predecessor of the Rabobank. The board of the Buurderij, of which the museum is part, approached the Wageningen Science Shop to investigate this story. Structure and implementation of the study The Wageningen Science Shop accepted and funded the project, with coordination by Zoë van Eldik and Jurrian Nannes of Wageningen Research. The research was largely carried out by Wageningen University students and focused on the history of Boerenleenbank Overasselt, the activities within Boerenleenbank Overasselt and the impact on the local community. During the research process, the students were supported by a guidance committee. Results The research shows that the Boerenleenbank emerged in response to a major, European agricultural crisis (1878-1885) and functioned as a Catholic cooperative banking system. The Boerenleenbank Overasselt (1907-1978), had a strong reciprocal relationship with the community during its operation, with profits being partly invested in local non-profit initiatives. Over the years, the bank changed along with agricultural intensification and globalisation, leading to a greater distance between bank and community. The Boerenleenbank played an important role in local agricultural development, such as the shift from open crops to mushroom cultivation and intensive livestock farming. Conclusions and Recommendations The report highlights the historical connection between the Boerenleenbank and the community and their changes over time. It calls for further analysis of the effects of increasing remoteness between bank, community, and food production, especially in the context of current challenges such as biodiversity loss. The report concludes with recommendations to enrich the exhibition at the museum by deepening the story of the Boerenleenbank and connecting it to current themes.