Hooghalen is a villageBijhouwer J.T.P. (1977). "The Dutch Landscape." Amsterdam: Cosmos. in the municipality

Midden-Drenthe Midden-Drenthe () is a municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. The municipality was created in 1998, in a merger of the former municipalities of Beilen, Smilde, and Westerbork. Between 1998 and 2000, the name of the municipality was Middenve ...

, in the Dutch province

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 ...

. In Drenthe it is also called '' Hoal'n '' or '' Hoalen '', but then people often mean the entire area, with the neighborhoods Laaghalen, Laaghalerveen and Oosthalen. It is located on the flank of sandy soils, above a

salt dome A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered using ...

. The main attraction of Hooghalen is the Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork. Here the history is told of Westerbork Camp and the

Jewish persecution The persecution of Jews has been a major event in Jewish history, prompting shifting waves of refugees and the formation of diaspora communities. As early as 605 BCE, Jews who lived in the Neo-Babylonian Empire were persecuted and deported. ...

in general. The former camp is located on the edge of the southern village

Westerbork Camp Westerbork ( nl, Kamp Westerbork, german: Durchgangslager Westerbork, Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk'' ), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, ...

Facilities

The village of Hooghalen has a

Dutch Reformed The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

and a Reformed Churches liberated church and also has a Reformed municipality. Other facilities in the village are: sports fields, football club HHCombi, a public primary school, a supermarket with postal agency, a bakery and a few other shops and restaurants. Thanks to its location on the Oude Provincialeweg and the A28, Hooghalen can be easily reached by car. There is a motorway connection to the north and south of the village. The railway line Meppel – Groningen runs just east of the village, but there is no longer a station. Hooghalen Station was closed in 1938.

Environment

At the northern edge of the village is a small forest, '' 't Witte Zand ''. To the east of the village lies not only the modest ess, but also a large

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

: the Hoogwaardij Boswachterij. This consists not only of

coniferous forest Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...

, but also of a

peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

area (the Hingstveen) and heathland. The camp site is in the middle of the area, the memorial center on the outskirts. Since the end of the sixties there has been a row of

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency ...

s, the

Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope The Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) is an aperture synthesis interferometer built on the site of the former World War II Nazi detention and transit camp Westerbork, north of the village of Westerbork, Midden-Drenthe, in the northea ...

. To prevent disturbance of the observations, motorized traffic and the use of

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

s in the wider area is not permitted. The Heuvingerzand is also part of the forestry. This does not apply to the Groote Zand, a forest and heath area to the north-east of Hooghalen that is owned by The Drentse Landschap. In addition, there is Hijkerveld between Hooghalen and Hijken, which consists of moorland, fens, peat remains and deciduous forest. There is also a sheep cage, where the shepherd leaves every day at half past nine with his Schoonebekers to the heath, and brings the sheep back to the cage at half past four.

History

Until the 18th century no distinction was made between Hooghalen and Laaghalen. Laaghalen is probably a medieval spin-off from Hooghalen. Both places were part of the boermarke van Haelen. The marke was not split in two until 1864, although the villages were already functioning independently at that time. In 1870, Hooghalen received a station on the newly constructed Meppel-Groningen railway line. In 1938 it was closed due to a lack of customers. Fighting acts at the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

destroyed many old

farms A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

and in the village center. After the Second World War, Hooghalen was expanded on a modest scale with new construction. The village slowly changed from an agricultural village into a commuter village and many farms were given a residential function, a development that took place everywhere in Drenthe. Until 1 January 1998, Hooghalen was part of the municipality

Beilen Beilen is a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe, and lies about 16 km south of Assen. The old Reformed church is the only remaining truly old building; a large fire destroyed a major pa ...

. At present, the village is located in the municipality of Midden-Drenthe through a merger with the municipality of Westerbork and the municipality

Smilde Smilde is a town in the Netherlands' northern province of Drenthe and lies about southwest of the province capital of Assen. Smilde was a separate municipality until 1998, when it became a part of Middenveld. However, that name changed in 2000 a ...

. An Easter fire is also held every year in Hooghalen

Notable Halers

Jasper Iwema Jasper Iwema (born 15 November 1989 in Hooghalen, Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established ...

(1989), motorcycle racer

References

External links