Veendam () is a town and municipality with a population of 27,752 in the 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 ...

in the northeast of the Netherlands. Veendam was established in 1648 as a peat colony by

Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck (4 September 1605 – 24 November 1661) was a Dutch businessman and coloniser. In 1643, he lost most of his money when ''De Oevelgunne'' stranded on the Boschplaat with expensive lace. In 1647, he founded the Muntendamm ...

. A Holland America Line cruise ship, the MS ''Veendam'', is named after the city. The municipality includes

Westerdiepsterdallen Westerdiepsterdallen is a hamlet, near Groningen. For a long time, it only had 1 inhabitant, when one of the houses was empty. By only having 1 inhabitant, it made it to the 1984 Guinness Book of Records. The hamlet has grown to 5 people. Hist ...

, the smallest town in the Netherlands.

Geography

The population centres in the municipality are: * Bareveld *

Borgercompagnie Borgercompagnie is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Groningen (province), Groningen. It consists of a single street with farms and houses on both sides. The village is about 7 km long. The north end lies close to Sappemeer in t ...

* Kibbelgaarn * Korte Akkers * Numero Dertien * Ommelanderwijk * Tripscompagnie * Veendam *

Wildervank Wildervank is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Veendam, about 3 km south of the centre of Veendam itself. It was founded in 1647 by Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck as a peat colony in the Wilderv ...

* Wildervanksterdallen * Zuidwending

International relations

Veendam has two sister cities:

Sports

Cycling

Veendam was the start place of stage 4b at the

2012 Energiewacht Tour The 2012 Energiewacht Tour was the second edition of the Energiewacht Tour women's cycling stage race. It was rated by the UCI as category 2.2, and was held between 4 and 8 April 2012 in the Netherlands. The tour was won by Ina-Yoko Teutenberg ah ...

and the finish place of stage 2 at the

2013 Energiewacht Tour The 2013 Energiewacht Tour is the third edition of the Energiewacht Tour women's cycling stage race. It is rated by the UCI as category 2.2, and is held between 3 and 7 April 2013 in the Netherlands. Twenty-four teams of 6 riders take part. There ...

Sport clubs

* SC Veendam, former soccer club * Flash Veendam, volleyball club * NNZC Veendam, gliding clubNNZC Veendam - Gliding club
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Notable residents

* Hendrik de Cock (1801–1842) a Dutch minister responsible for the

1834 Dutch Reformed Church split The 1834 Dutch Reformed Church split, or the Secession of 1834 ( nl, Afscheiding van 1834), known simply as ''Afscheiding'' ("separation, secession, split"), refers to a split that occurred within the Dutch Reformed Church in 1834. The federation ...

* Anthony Winkler Prins (1817 in Voorst – 1908) a Dutch writer, chief editor of the '' Winkler Prins'' encyclopedia. *

Herman Mees Hermanus Ellen (Herman) Mees (18 September 1880 in Veendam – 28 November 1964 in Zuidlaren) was a Dutch artist, active as painter, watercolorist, draftsman, pastelist, lithographer, and academy lecturer.

(1880–1964) was a Dutch artist, portrait painter, watercolorist and academic * Herman Johannes Lam (1892–1977) a Dutch botanist * Addeke Hendrik Boerma (1912–1992) the first Executive Director of the World Food Programme 1962-1967 *

Gerda Geertens Gerda Geertens (born 11 August 1955) is a Dutch composer. She was born in Wildervank, and studied music and philosophy in Groningen. In 1981 she began the study of composition with Klaas de Vries at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Her compositions ...

(born 1955 in Wildervank) a Dutch composer

Sport

Bert Romp Berend "Bert" Romp (4 November 1958 – 4 October 2018) was a Dutch equestrian and Olympic champion in the sport. He won a gold medal in show jumping with the Dutch team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a cit ...

(1958–2018) a Dutch equestrian, gold medallist at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Janette Bouman Janette Bouman (born 17 June 1964 in Veendam, Netherlands) is a Dutch-born Kazakhstani dressage rider. She represented Kazakhstan at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy where she finished 52nd in the individual dressage with her horse ...

(born 1964) a Dutch-born Kazakhstani dressage rider *

Rick Slor Rick Slor (born 16 August 1971) is a retired professional footballer from the Netherlands, who played for clubs like FC Groningen, FC Emmen FC Emmen is a Dutch football club based in Emmen, Drenthe. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier o ...

(born 1971) a retired professional footballer with 509 club caps * Anneke Venema (born 1971) a retired rower, silver medallist at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Linda Moes Linda Moes (born September 24, 1971 in Veendam, Groningen) is a former breaststroke swimmer from The Netherlands, who competed for her native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There she finished in seventeenth (1:11.87) an ...

(born 1971) a former breaststroke swimmer, competed at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Peter Windt Pieter "Peter" Windt (born 3 May 1973 in Veendam) is a former Dutch field hockey player, who played 69 international matches for the Netherlands, in which he didn't score a single goal. The defender and midfielder made his debut for the ...

(born 1973) a Dutch former field hockey player *

Renate Groenewold Renate Titzia Groenewold (born 8 October 1976) is a Dutch former long track speed skater and road bicycle racer. Groenewold has won several Dutch Championships. In 1999, 2002 and 2003 she won the Dutch allround championship. At the European ...

(born 1976) a Dutch former long track speed skater, silver medallist at both the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

Henk Grol Hindrik Harmannus Arnoldus "Henk" Grol (born 14 April 1985 in Veendam) is a retired Dutch judoka. Judo career Grol competed in the 2007 European Judo Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in the men's under 90 kg, as a replacement for Mark Hui ...

(born 1985 in Winschoten) a Dutch judoka, bronze medallist at both the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Jeroen Zoet Jeroen Zoet (; born 6 January 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Spezia. Having started his career at PSV Eindhoven, Zoet previously played two seasons on loan for RKC Waalwijk before returning ...

(born 1991) a Dutch professional football goalkeeper with over 250 club caps

Topography

References

External links

* Municipalities of Groningen (province) Populated places in Groningen (province) 1648 establishments in the Dutch Republic {{Groningen-geo-stub