Coevorden (; nds-nl, Koevern) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. During the 1998 municipal reorganisation in the province, Coevorden merged with

Dalen Dalen (Dutch Low Saxon: ''Daoln'') is a village and a former municipality in the northeastern Netherlands, in the province of Drenthe. Since 1998, Dalen has been part of the municipality of Coevorden. The village was first mentioned in the 12t ...

Sleen Sleen is a village in Drenthe, Netherlands of about 2,500 people. Sleen has been inhabited for centuries. Much ancient history can be found in the area, particularly in the forests (which are planted, though). At birth and during the Republiek de ...

Oosterhesselen Oosterhesselen is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is located in the municipality of Coevorden, about 9 km north of the city. Oosterhesselen was a separate municipality between 1819 and 1998, when it was merged with Coevorden. ...

and

Zweeloo Zweeloo is a village in the municipality of Coevorden, located in the province of Drenthe, The Netherlands. Zweeloo was a separate municipality from 1819 to 1998, when it was merged with Coevorden.Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, "Repertorium ...

, retaining its name. In August 2017, it had a population of 35,267.

Etymology

The name ''Coevorden'' means "cow ford(s)" or "cow crossing", similar to ''

Bosporus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern T ...

'' or ''

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

''.

History

Coevorden received

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1408. It is the oldest city in the province of

. The city was captured from the Spanish in 1592 by a Dutch and English force under the command of

Maurice, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince o ...

. The following year it was besieged by a Spanish force but the city held out until its relief in May 1594. Coevorden was then reconstructed in the early seventeenth century to an ''ideal city'' design, similar to

Palmanova Palmanova ( fur, Palme) is a town and comune in northeast Italy. The town is an example of a star fort of the late Renaissance, built up by the Venetian Republic in 1593. The fortifications were included in UNESCO's World Heritage Site list as ...

. The streets were laid out in a radial pattern within polygonal fortifications and extensive outer earthworks. The city of Coevorden indirectly gave its name to the city of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, which is named after the 18th-century British explorer

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...

. The explorer's ancestors (and family name) originally came to England "from Coevorden" ( van Coevern in

Dutch Low Saxon Dutch Low Saxon ( or ''Nederlaands Nedersaksies''; nl, Nederlands Nedersaksisch) are the Low Saxon dialects of the Low German language that are spoken in the northeastern Netherlands and are written there with local, unstandardised orthographi ...

). There is also a family of nobility with the surname van Coeverden, sometimes spelled with a K (as with Canadian kayaker Adam van Koeverden).

Geography

Coervorden is located at in the south of the province of

in the east of the

. The population centres in the municipality are: *

Aalden Aalden is a village in the Netherlands and it is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. History Aalden developed in the Middle Ages on higher sand ground. The oldest part developed around a triangular village green without a church. It ...

Achterste Erm Achterste Erm is a hamlet in the Netherlands, it is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. Achterste Erm is a statistical entity, but the postal authorities have placed it under Erm, Netherlands, Erm. It was first mentioned in 1936 as Ach ...

Ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...

* Benneveld * Coevorden *

* Dalerpeel * Dalerveen * De Kiel * De Mars * Den Hool *

Diphoorn Diphoorn is a hamlet in the Netherlands and it is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland ...

* Eldijk * Erm *

Gees Gees is a village in the Netherlands and it is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. Gees is an ''esdorp __NOTOC__ An ''Angerdorf'' (plural: ''Angerdörfer'') is a type of village that is characterised by the houses and farmsteads b ...

* Geesbrug *

Grevenberg Grevenberg is a hamlet in the Netherlands and is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. North of Grevenberg lies Oosterhesselen and south lies Wachtum. Grevenberg is not a statistical entity, and the postal authorities have placed it unde ...

* 't Haantje *

Holsloot Holsloot is a village in the Netherlands and is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. Holsloot was first mentioned in 1846, and means "hollow ditch". The village developed after the Verlengde Hoogeveensche Vaart was dug, and is a linear ...

Hoogehaar Hoogehaar is a hamlet in the Netherlands and is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to ...

* Kibbelveen * Klooster * Langerak *

Meppen Meppen (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Möppen'') is a town in and the seat of the Emsland district of Lower Saxony, Germany, at the confluence of the Ems (river), Ems, Hase, and Nordradde rivers and the Dortmund–Ems Canal (DEK). The name stems from t ...

Nieuwe Krim Nieuwe Krim is a hamlet in the Netherlands and is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. Nieuwe Krim is a statistical entity, but the postal authorities have placed it under Coevorden. It was first mentioned in 1913 as Dalerveld or Nieu ...

Nieuwlande Nieuwlande (Dutch Low Saxon: ''Neilaande'') is a Dutch village located in the north-eastern province of Drenthe situated in the municipality of Hoogeveen. The population, as of 2018 is 965. Nieuwlande is one of only two villages in the world that ...

* Noord-Sleen *

* Padhuis * Pikveld * Schimmelarij * Schoonoord *

Steenwijksmoer Steenwijksmoer is a village in the Netherlands and it is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. It was first mentioned in 1845 as Steenwijks-Moer, and means "the moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas i ...

* Stieltjeskanaal *

Valsteeg Valsteeg is a hamlet in the Netherlands and is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to t ...

* Veenhuizen * Vlieghuis * Vossebelt *

Wachtum Wachtum is a village located in the municipality of Coevorden, within the Dutch province of Drenthe. History The village was first mentioned between 1381 and 1383 "to Wachtman". The etymology is unknown. Wachtum is an ''esdorp'' without a churc ...

Weijerswold Weijerswold is a hamlet in the Netherlands and is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland t ...

* Wezup * Wezuperbrug *

* Zwinderen

International relations

Coevorden is twinned with:

Transportation

There are two railway stations in the municipality: *

Coevorden railway station Coevorden is a railway station located in Coevorden, Netherlands. The station was opened on 1 July 1905 and is located on the Zwolle–Emmen railway. The station is operated by Arriva. Coevorden is also the end of a freight railway from Bad Benthe ...

Dalen railway station Dalen is a railway station located in Dalen, Netherlands. The station was opened on 1 November 1905 and is located on the Emmerlijn (Zwolle - Emmen). Train services are operated by Arriva. The station was closed between 2 October 1938 and 10 June ...

Notable people

* Johannes Benedictus van Heutsz (1851-1924). Gouverneur-generaal (1904-09), a Dutch military officer and governor general of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

in 1904 *

Albert Bouwers Albert A. Bouwers (1893–1972) was a Dutch optical engineer.Ian Ridpath, "Bouwers telescope", ''A Dictionary of Astronomy'', 199first sentence of article/ref> He is known for developing and working with X-rays and various optical technologies as ...

(1893 in Dalen – 1972) a Dutch optical engineer, worked with X-Rays *

Relus ter Beek Aurelus Louis "Relus" ter Beek (18 January 1944 – 29 September 2008) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA). He served as a House of Representatives (Netherlands), Member of the House of Representatives ...

(1944 in Coevorden – 2008) a Dutch politician * Tim de Zeeuw (born 1956 in Sleen) a Dutch astronomer specializing in the galaxies *

Thijs Berman Thijs Berman (born 26 September 1957 in Coevorden) is a former journalist. Between 2004 and 2014, he was a Dutch politician and a Member of the European Parliament. Biography Berman was a correspondent in Paris and Moscow for Dutch weekly De ...

(born 1957 in Coevorden) a former journalist, a Dutch politician and a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

Herman von Hebel Herman von Hebel (born 22 November 1961) is a Dutch jurist, he was Registrar of the International Criminal Court between 2013 and 2018. Career Van Hebel was born on 22 November 1961 in Coevorden. From 1981 to 1987 Von Hebel studied international ...

(born 1961 in Coevorden) was a Registrar of the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...

Maxim Februari Maxim Februari, pseudonym of Maximiliaan (Max) Drenth (born 23 February 1963), is a Dutch writer, philosopher and columnist. Life and work Februari studied law, philosophy and history of art at Utrecht University. His first novel (''De zonen ...

(born 1963 in Coevorden) a Dutch writer, philosopher and columnist *

Joël Voordewind Joël Stephanus Voordewind (born 9 July 1965 in Sleen, Drenthe) is a Dutch politician and former development aid worker. As a member of the Christian Union (''ChristenUnie'') he was an MP from 2006 until 2021. He focused on matters of foreign ...

(born 1965 in Sleen) a Dutch politician * Don Pepijn Schipper (born 1980 in Coevorden) stage name

Don Diablo Don Pepijn Schipper (; born 27 February 1980), better known by his stage name Don Diablo, is a Dutch DJ, digital artist, record producer, musician and songwriter of electronic dance music from Coevorden. He is one of the pioneers of the future h ...

is a Dutch DJ, record producer, musician and songwriter of electronic dance music *

Mark-Jan Fledderus Mark-Jan Fledderus (; born 14 December 1982) is a Dutch former professional footballer and current football executive, who worked as technical director of FC Groningen. Under his supervision, FC Groningen was relegated to the Keukenkampioen Divi ...

(born 1982 in Coevorden) a Dutch retired footballer with 321 caps

Gallery

File:Coevorden Wilhelminastraat 2b Sint-Willibrordeuskerk.jpg, Coevorden Wilhelminastraat, Sint-Willibrordeuskerk File:Kasteel coevorden.jpg, Kasteel coevorden File:Gracht bij Van Heutszpark.jpg, Gracht bij Van Heutszpark File:Coevorden, Netherlands - panoramio (15).jpg, Coevorden

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in the Netherlands Municipalities of Drenthe Populated places in Drenthe Star forts