Drenthe

Topography of Drenthe

Drenthe ( German Drenthe ) is a Dutch province, located in the northeast of the country. It is bordered on the south by the province of Overijssel, in the west Friesland, Groningen to the north and the east by the German state of Lower Saxony. The province is rural and dominated to the east by marshy areas. It is one of the most sparsely populated provinces of the Netherlands.

The capital city is Assen with 62,000 inhabitants. Other important places are Emmen ( the most populous municipality ), Hoogeveen and Meppel. One speaks in Drenthe traditionally a Lower Saxon dialect.

Geology

Superficially, the province on the shape of an inverted oval dish. The edges are deep and the other parts are located on an elongated plateau, the Drenthe plateau. This consists largely of gravel deposits that are covered almost everywhere from sandy soil. The height of this plateau varies between 10 and 20 m NAP. Incisions are only caused by lakes and rivers. The surveys are mostly obtained from strip dunes and embankments in construction areas.

Between the towns of Emmen in the southeast and Groningen in the north of the Netherlands Hunsrück, the Hondsrug (dogs back), a slight elevation of glacial sands and deposits runs. There is 32 m and the highest natural point in the province. In the village Wijster in the municipality of Midden- Drenthe is the tallest man-made collection of the province, it is the top of a landfill. The lowest points are located in the northern and southwestern below sea level.

In the village in the municipality of Emmen Schoonebeek oil has been promoted since the 1940s. The promotion was abandoned for reasons of profitability in 1996 and recorded again in 2011. Operator is the company NAM. There are also in the province of natural gas reserves, which are also exploited by the company NAM.

History

In the Stone Age people have left places of worship, which consist of successive detected large stones. These megaliths called hunnebed in the Dutch and the German giant's grave. 52 of 53 megalithic sites in the Netherlands are situated in Drenthe, only the 53 is located in the province of Groningen. The plants are usually built as usual from boulders that was deposited the ice age on the Hondsrug or in its vicinity.

The first mention of Drenthe goes back to the year 820. The instrument is a Pago Treanth, which stands for Landscape Drenthe, spoken. 1024 and 1025 the county Drenthe is mentioned in other documents. 1046 this county was founded by Emperor Henry III. the bishop of Utrecht Bernold given. 1528 joined Bishop Henry II of Bavaria, the upper pin Utrecht, to which the territory of today's province of Drenthe belonged to Emperor Charles V from. 1536 Drenthe was a separate dominion within the Habsburg Netherlands. When the Republic of the Seven United Provinces declared their independence, Drenthe became part of the country. However, it was not recognized as a separate province and part of the province of Overijssel. Since the formation of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands ( 1815), Drenthe is an independent province.

In the 19th century Drenthe was still very isolated until Ödnisse and bog areas were addressed by colonization projects. Railways and canals opened up the area, such as the Orange channel ( built 1853-1861 ). In the 20th century after the moors and the heather areas were mined, and new, large farms were settled.

During the German occupation the Westerbork transit camp was set up in 1942; originally it was a Dutch plant for Jewish Refugees. Much of the later murdered Jews from the Netherlands was transported via Westerbork to the east, including 1944 Anne Frank. Later the camp for Dutch collaborators was used, and from 1951 lived here Solden from the former colony of the Dutch East Indies and Moluccans who had worked for the Dutch colonial power. The last families left the camp in 1970. Since 1983, is located near a memorial center.

1975 - Moluccans hijacked a train young people in the village Wijster in ( today's ) community Midden- Drenthe. Two years later, similar happened at De Punt in the north of the province. The Moluccans were disappointed that the Dutch Government could not realize their return to their home islands. In the first case, the kidnappers had already murdered inmates, in the second one threatened to blow up the train. Both times ended the security authorities kidnapping bloody.

Landscape

In the province we can distinguish three types of landscape. The heath in the western part, the marshes in the eastern part and the channel landscapes.

Heath

The center of the province, also known as Old - Drenthe, mainly has sandy soil. This area is dominated by heath areas with pastures and crops, which were interrupted by green strip of land along the rivers and streams. In agriculture, there was once much sheep farming before, the sheep spent the summer on the heath. Through the use of chemical fertilizers in the 19th century, sheep farming became less important and much of the heath were converted into agricultural land. Other parts of the heath were reforested by the State Forestry Administration to meet the increasing demand for wood to cover. The grassland along the rivers was mainly used as grassland, with some floodplains were drained. The appearance of the arable land has also changed through land consolidation.

Thus has remained not much left of the original heathland. Larger areas can only be found in the Drentsche Aa National Park north-east of Assen.

Moorland

The eastern part of the province is characterized by moors. Here was a long time instead of intensive peat cutting. Large parts were crossed by drainage channels to allow degradation. In the areas where the peat deposits were exhausted, agriculture moved on. From the moors only two more have been preserved, the Bargerveen in the extreme southeast of the province and Fochteloërveen in the northwest on the border with Friesland.

Channel landscapes

Since most of the rivers were too small in the province for shipping, many channels have been created. The most important are the Drentsche Hoofdvaart, the Noord- Willems, the Hoogeveense Vaart and the Orange channel. Due to the increasing traffic on the roads, the channels have lost much of its importance.

Economy

In 2006, was the regional gross domestic product per capita, expressed in purchasing power standards, at 101.5 % of the average of the EU27.

Language

The original dialects are down -Saxon origin. So they do not belong to the main stream of those dialects which have contributed to the emergence of the modern Netherlands. Low Saxon is spoken in the neighboring provinces of Groningen and Gelderland.

The dialects of the province called Drents, mainly in the middle. As everywhere in the Netherlands penetrates the standard language found in more and more areas of life.

Policy

The regional parliament, the Provinciale Staten, was the other Provinciale Staten recently elected as 2011. The Partij van de Arbeid was by far the largest party, followed by right-wing liberals and Christian Democrats. Overall, the Provinciale Staten of Drenthe 41 seats.

At the head of the province is the representative of the Queen, the Social Democrat Jacques Tichelaar. Since 1951, all officers Socialists, previously mostly liberals. The college van Gedeputeerde Staten, so the government with Tichelaar, consists of the Social Democrats and right-wing liberals.

In the province of Drenthe are twelve municipalities (population on 1 January 2013). Unlike in many other provinces of the Netherlands took place in Drenthe only once a significant reorganization of municipalities, namely in 1998, when the number of municipalities from 36 to twelve decreased ( List of former municipalities in the province of Drenthe).

Culture and Science

Drenthe is known for its megalithic tombs. With them and the culture of the builders, the barrow center's role in Borger. In Orvelte there is an open air museum in Assen and the Drents Museum.

Another internationally known sporting event is the Dutch TT at Assen race engine. The Occultfest for Hard Rock and Metal music is held annually in Hoogeveen since 2002.

Perhaps the most important newspaper in the province is the Dagblad van het Noorden.

The Westerbork Synthesis Radio Tele Coop makes since 1970 astronomical observations. It also plays a role in Harry Mulischs -selling novel " The Discovery of Heaven ". Near the antenna, there is a Planet.