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.
History
Westerdiepsterdallen was an agricultural community.
It used to have three houses, but one burned down in 1956. The fire department had difficulty finding the village, and arrived late. In 1975, one of the farms was
squatted
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
by Bonney Brattinga. After three years, he decided to buy the farm.
The municipality tried to
condemn the village, however Brattinga successfully protested the decision, and remained on his farm even though he had no gas or electricity, and used a water tank.
In 1984, Westerdiepsterdallen made the
Guinness Book of Records.
The population has grown to five people, and nowadays has the same population as
Breezanddijk
Breezanddijk ( fry, Breesândyk) is a small community that lies near the midpoint of the Afsluitdijk, part of the A7 motorway, in the Netherlands. It is located on a former artificial island which was created during the construction of the dam, a ...
.
Westerdiepsterdallen is not a statistical unit, and is considered part of
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 ...
.
Breezanddijk is a statistical unit with its own postal code.
References
Populated places in Groningen (province)
Veendam
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