Provincie Drenthe - Province of Drenthe
Not much has changed in Drenthe in the past hundred years. The same landscape that inspired Vincent van Gogh still has the power to enchant and relax.
Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has always been a sparsely populated rural area. Other parts of the Netherlands did not really see this “territory” as a part that belonged to the rest of the Netherlands but more like “wasteland”. This “wasteland”, however, has been populated by people since prehistory, albeit by just a handful. Most tangible evidence of this are the dolmens (hunebedden) built around 3500 BC, 53 of the 54 dolmens in the Netherlands can be found in Drenthe, concentrated in the northeast of the province. Drenthe was first mentioned in a document from the year 820, it was called Pago Treanth (district Drenthe). In archives from "Het Drents Archief" from 1024 to 1025 the "county Drenthe" is mentioned.
Drenthe is an agricultural part of the Dutch mainland, on the East of the country near the German border. Hidden among forests forests, Drenthe has been in the Middle ages a free republic of farmers. Today it also has big and impressive forests. Several of them protected are as Natural Parks.
After long being subject to the bishops of Utrecht, Drenthe came under the control of Charles V in the 16th century. When the Republic of the Seven United Provinces was declared, Drenthe became part of it, although it did not gain provincial status until January 1, 1796.
Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, the Dutch government built a camp near the town of Westerbork to accommodate German (Jewish) refugees. Ironically, during the Second World War, the German occupiers used the camp (which they named KZ Westerbork) as a "Durchgangslager". Many Dutch Jews, Sinti, Roma, resistance combatants and political adversaries were imprisoned before being transferred to other camps in Germany and Poland. Anne Frank was deported on the last train from Westerbork.
The name of this region is said to stem from *thrija-hantja "three lands".
The capital of the province of Drenthe is Assen. Its museum – Drents Museum features interesting archaeological finds from the area, but also in a separate department, uncertain authenticity finds of the amateur archaeologist Tjerk Vermaning (1929-1987).
Early, dark period of the famous Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh’s work depicting farmers and their heavy work, has been partly painted in Drenthe, during his stay there in 1883.
The province of Drenthe is a traditional holiday area for the Dutch people, those who do not like heat and decide not to travel in summer to the South of Europe. Because the province of Drenthe is a erfect area for the walks in the forest, bicycle tourism or horse riding.
