Ookflevoland

Rutten

The name Rutten is derived from Ruthne. In the 14th century the town of Ruthne is supposed to have been located north of Urk. Ruthne comes from the Germanic word ‘ruhitha’, which means rough area, shrub. It is possible that this ‘rough area’ refers to weeds that grow on wet soil. The professor and engineer W. Bruin was asked to design the village of Rutten. He chose a ‘crossroads’ design, which means that the shops and businesses, together with the rest of the village of Rutten, are built around a crossing of roads.
This design resulted in a set-up with four quadrants. Three of these have been built up, while the fourth has a recreational function. The recreational park has appropriately been called ‘The green quadrant’. In Rutten there are three works of art: the ‘Vluchtende watervogels’ (Flight of water birds), next to cultural centre ‘De Stiepe’, and the ‘Kraaienpoot’ (Crow’s claw), diagonally across from ‘De Stiepe’. On the Loswal you will find the artwork ‘Het Dorspgevoel’ (A sense of community), which was made in honour of the 50th anniversary of the village. This piece is very special because, after careful debate with a study group, it was decided to have it made entirely by young people. This group wanted to give the village a work of art made by local young people.