On the road with Piccardt

As lord of the Fraeylemaborg and of the disappeared borg Klein Martijn and De Ruthen, Henric Piccardt is omnipresent in the Slochteren area. In the route'On the road with Piccardt\\\' you cycle past locations where you can still see his footprints today.
Fraeylemaborg : Piccardt was the lord of the Fraeylemaborg in Slochteren from 1690 until his death in 1712. He was married to Anna Elisabeth Rengers. Their portraits hang in the borg.
Via the Slochterdiep you cycle past the windmills on the Groenedijk. Osebrand Rengers, Piccardt's father-in-law, ordered the digging of the Slochterdiep for the drainage of peat in 1659. This was previously called the Rengersdiep. At the time, the Fraeylema mill was part of the property of the Fraeylemaborg.
At Molen de Ruiten, turn into Kooilaan in the direction of Woudbloem. Here was the borg's duck decoy, where wild ducks were caught for meals. Henric must have enjoyed it together with good friend Willem III. The Fraeylemaborg was used by Piccardt as a reception area for guests and as a hunting lodge. According to tradition, Stadtholder William III regularly visited the borg.
Church of Harkstede: between 1692 and 1700, Piccardt had this new church built from his own resources, with its own crypt: this way he and his beloved Anna could be buried here. It became a high church 'for the greater glory of God', but not least also in honor of Henric and Anna themselves. Above the entrance you see Piccardt's coat of arms on the left (the eagle's paw) and on the right that of Rengers (three roses and a crossbar). They could not enjoy their church for long: Anna died in 1704, and Piccardt himself died in 1712. He was buried next to his wife in the crypt of the church of Harkstede.
Klein Martijn : in Harkstede there is a street named after the former borg Klein Martijn, of which Piccardt was lord from 1680. This was the residence of Henric and Anna. The deposit, written in ancient times Clijn Martijn, is said to be derived from'inclinis sancto Martino\\\', or'dedicated to Saint Martinus\\\'. A little further on you will see Piccardtstraat.
De Ruthen: from Harkstede you cycle back to Slochteren via Froombosch. Piccardt also appears to own the deposit De Ruthen (also called Ruten or Ruiten), which he had inherited from his brother-in-law. Both Rengers and Piccardt called themselves 'lord of the Ruthen'. The borg itself no longer exists, but the adjacent farm at Ruitenweg 43 in Froombosch still does: the Ruitenborg . Remnants of the thick walls of the castle have been found in the farm.
Church of Slochteren : after their death, Henric and Anna's mourning boards were hung in the church of Slochteren. These can still be seen here today. The church of Slochteren is also the place where Piccardt's friend Osebrand Rengers married Anna's mother.