Ter Apel (;

Gronings Gronings (; gos, Grunnegs or Grönnegs), is a collective name for some Friso-Saxon dialects spoken in the province of Groningen and around the Groningen border in Drenthe and Friesland. Gronings and the strongly related varieties in East ...

: ''Troapel'') is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

with a population of 8,866 residents in the municipality Westerwolde in the northern

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 ...

, in the province

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 ...

in the region Westerwolde. The town lies on the stream Ruiten Aa, which has the valley that together with the Ter Apeler forest belongs to the national network of nature reserves, the '' Ecologische Hoofdstructuur''. An accommodation centre for refugees is located at Ter Apel, functioning as a "departure centre" for rejected refugees and a registration point, operated by the '' Centraal Orgaan opvang Asielzoekers''. Ter Apel lies on the roads N366, N976 and N391. It forms the southern point of the border between Groningen and

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 ...

, the ''

Semslinie The Semslinie is a part of the border between the Dutch provinces of Groningen and Drenthe that runs right through the former Bourtanger Moor. The almost straight line runs from Wolfsbarge to the Huis ter Haar at Musselkanaal. The border is ...

''.

History

The town was founded at a monastery, which from the thirteenth century was a chief work of the ''

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

s'' and from 1465 an institution of the

Order of the Holy Cross The Order of the Holy Cross is an international Anglican monastic order that follows the Rule of St. Benedict. History The order was founded in 1884 by the Rev. James Huntington, an Episcopal priest, in New York City. The order moved to Mar ...

. It was closed in 1594 due to the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. In 1619 ownership of Westerwolde passed to the city of

, with the monastery and its grounds included. Over time the city planted forests on these grounds. In 1931-1933 the remaining parts of the monastery were restored. In 1976 ownership of the monastery and the forests passed to the state forest managers, ''

Staatsbosbeheer Staatsbosbeheer, founded in 1899, is a Dutch government organization for forestry and the management of nature reserves. Staatsbosbeheer currently oversees over 250,000 hectares of land in the Netherlands. Usually this land is open to the public ...

''. The agricultural land was also purchased after 1976. Since the 19th century, built-up strips have also formed due to

Peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

production from bogs along the ''Stads-Ter Apel''

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

in the direction of

Stadskanaal Stadskanaal () is a town and municipality with a population of 32,715 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. It was named after the canal Stadskanaal. From 1800 until 1900 this area was ideal for its peat mining, and so ...

, the ''Weerdingermond'' in the direction of

Nieuw-Weerdinge Nieuw-Weerdinge is a village in the Netherlands and is part of the Emmen municipality in Drenthe. History Nieuw-Weerdinge started as a peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organi ...

, and in the direction of

Emmer-Compascuum Emmer-Compascuum is a village in the Netherlands and is part of the Emmen municipality in Drenthe. Emmer-Compascuum is located in the Bourtange moor between Germany and the Netherlands. It was originally a '' compascuum'' (common pasture). In 18 ...

. In 1916 the Ruiten Aa canal was completed, which as of 2004 is again navigable for recreational boating. In the first half of the 20th century it was a hub for the rail and tram routes operated by the '' Eerste Drentsche Stoomtramweg Maatschappij'' (EDS), the '' Eerste Groninger Tramway-Maatschappij'' (EGTM), the '' Dedemsvaartsche Stoomtramweg-Maatschappij'' (DSM), the '' Stoomtramweg-Maatschappij Oostelijk Groningen'' (OG), and the '' Groningsch-Drentsche Spoorweg Maatschappij'' (Stadskanaal - Ter_Apel - national border) (STAR). Of these rail lines, in 2005 the '' aardenbaan'' in the forests at Ter Apel is still recognisable. Image:Klooster Ter Apel(4).jpg,

Ter Apel Monastery Ter Apel Monastery ( nl, Klooster Ter Apel) is a former monastery in the village of Ter Apel in the northeastern Dutch province of Groningen. It is the only monastery in the larger area of Friesland and Groningen that survived the Reformation in ...

Image:Klooster Ter Apel(3).jpg, Ter Apel Monastery Image:Ter Apel Joods Monument 01.JPG, Jewish monument

References

External links

Ter Apel digital
{{Authority control Populated places in Groningen (province) Westerwolde (municipality)