Hoogeveen


Hoogeveen is a municipality and a town in the northeastern Netherlands.

Population centres

, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout the town. Other villages of the town are Hollandscheveld, Nieuw Moscou, Nieuweroord, Nieuwlande, Pesse, Stuifzand and Tiendeveen.

Hoogeveen

Hoogeveen dates its history to 20 December 1625, when Roelof van Echten bought a large tract of peat land from farmers of the district with the plan to harvest its peat. One old map of the area called it Locus Deserta Atque ob Multos Paludes Invia, a deserted and impenetrable place of many swamps. Hoogeveen itself was established in 1636 by Peter Joostens Warmont and Johan van der Meer.
Its coat of arms, granted 10 November 1819, is white, with a pile of peat covered in straw in the center and beehives on each side, representing the town's first two major industries.
Vincent van Gogh visited the area in the fall of 1883.
In the second half of the 1960s, Hoogeveen was the fastest growing town in the Netherlands. Its rapid growth during that period led its city council to fill in most of the town's canals, canals dug in the area's early days when it was a prime source of peat.
Access to the town is provided by the A28 highway, the N/A37, and the Western Cities - Groningen railway.
The then recognized oldest person in the world, Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, lived in Hoogeveen until her death in August 2005, two months after her 115th birthday.
Hoogeveen also has a small airport that attracts some tourism. Since 1997 the Hoogeveen Chess Tournament has been organized here.

Transport

Railway Station: Hoogeveen

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Hoogeveen is twinned with:

Notable people

  • Leopold Karel, Count of Limburg Stirum a politician, helped take power in 1813 to re-establish the monarchy
  • Herman Bavinck a Dutch Reformed theologian and churchman
  • Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper the oldest person ever from the Netherlands
  • Jan Bols a former Dutch long track speed skater, participated in the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics
  • Geert Booij a Dutch linguist and academic, created construction morphology
  • Jetta Klijnsma Dutch politician
  • Anne van Amstel Dutch writer, psychologist and poet
  • Lea Bouwmeester a Dutch politician
  • Jill de Jong a Dutch model and actress

    Sport

  • Piet Kleine a former speed skater, gold medallist at the 1976 Winter Olympics and silver medallist at the 1980 Winter Olympics
  • Theo ten Caat a former Dutch professional footballer with 412 club caps
  • Erik Dekker a retired Dutch professional road racing cyclist, medallist at the 1992 Summer Olympics
  • Erik Bakker a Dutch professional footballer with 320 club caps
  • Vivianne Miedema footballer

    Gallery

    • Footnotes