Kropswolde () is a village in the
Dutch province of
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
. It is located in the municipality of
Midden-Groningen
Midden-Groningen (Gronings dialect, Gronings: ''Midden-Grunnen'') is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality with a population of 60,953 in the province of Groningen (province), Groningen, Netherlands. The municipality was forme ...
, about 3 km southwest of the town of Hoogezand and 5 km northeast of the town of Zuidlaren.
[''ANWB Topografische Atlas Nederland'', Topografische Dienst and ANWB, 2005.]
History
The village used to be a part of the jurisdiction of "Gorecht". The first confirmed mention of the village is in a charter from the year 1249 where it is called "Crepeswalda". Later it is also mentioned as Crepeswolda, Crepiswald, Crep(p)eswolde, Creppeswolde or Crepelliswald.
The name Kropswolde probably relates to the old-Frisian word *krepel ("cripple or limping"). Other explanations point to a family name *Gripo or to the old-Saxion or old-Dutch word ''krop'' or ''croppe'' that can mean curvature in the landscape. It has even been speculated that the name comes from the name of an ancient tribal chief named Cruptorix, with reference to the Annals of Tacitus (Lib.IV.73) that mention a villa named Cruptorigis (= "belonging to Cruptorix") in the woods of Baduhenna that could be found in the North of the Netherlands.
From the 13th til the 15th century, Kropswolde developed into a peat colony, with most of the land owned by different monastic orders. Citizens of the city of
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
also had peat digs there. The peat was transported to the city over the Hunze river. Traffic over the Hunze was controlled by the "Schuitenschuiversgilde" ("boat pushers guild"), founded in 1403 to transport all the peat from the areas surrounding Kropswolde. Apart from them, only inhabitants of Kropswolde, Wolfsbarge and Westerbroek were allowed to transport peat, providing their ships had less capacity than those of the guild.
During the 17th, 18th and early 19th century a number of beautiful country houses and manor farms were built in Kropswolde for high-ranking citizens from Groningen and
Hoogezand. The church, which still exists, was built in 1773. Its tower dates back to 1888.
Until the early 20th century there was enough peat to process. Afterward, the land was mainly used for agriculture.
At the time of the Batavian Republic in 1798, Kropswolde was temporarily combined with and
Kiel-Windeweer.
Gallery
File:20090919 Station Kropswolde Gn NL cropped.jpg, Kropswolde railway station
File:Korenmolen "de Hoop", exterieur - Kropswolde - 20128086 - RCE.jpg, Grist mill De Hoop
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Populated places in Groningen (province)
Midden-Groningen