Coevorden (; nds-nl, Koevern) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

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 Nove ...

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 ...

. During the 1998 municipal reorganisation in the province, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo, retaining its name. In August 2017, it had a population of 35,267.

Etymology

The name ''Coevorden'' means "cow ford(s)" or "cow crossing", similar to ''

Bosporus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

'' or ''

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

''.

History

Coevorden received

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1408. It is the oldest city in the province of

. The city was captured from the Spanish in 1592 by a Dutch and English force under the command of

Maurice, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince o ...

. The following year it was besieged by a Spanish force but the city held out until its relief in May 1594. Coevorden was then reconstructed in the early seventeenth century to an ''ideal city'' design, similar to

Palmanova Palmanova ( fur, Palme) is a town and comune in northeast Italy. The town is an example of a star fort of the late Renaissance, built up by the Venetian Republic in 1593. The fortifications were included in UNESCO's World Heritage Site li ...

. The streets were laid out in a radial pattern within polygonal fortifications and extensive outer earthworks. The city of Coevorden indirectly gave its name to the city of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, which is named after the 18th-century British explorer

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what are ...

. The explorer's ancestors (and family name) originally came to England "from Coevorden" (

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

Coevern in Dutch Low Saxon). There is also a family of nobility with the surname van Coeverden, sometimes spelled with a K (as with Canadian kayaker

Adam van Koeverden Adam Joseph van Koeverden (born January 29, 1982) is a Canadian sprint kayaker and politician. He is an Olympic gold medallist in the K-1 500m category (2004) and a two-time world champion in K-1 500 (2007) and K-1 1000 (2011), winning four O ...

Geography

Coervorden is located at in the south of the province of

in the east of the

. The population centres in the municipality are: *

Aalden Aalden is a village in the Netherlands and it is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. History Aalden developed in the Middle Ages on higher sand ground. The oldest part developed around a triangular village green without a church. It ...

* Achterste Erm * Ballast * Benneveld * Coevorden * Dalen * Dalerpeel * Dalerveen * De Kiel * De Mars * Den Hool * Diphoorn * Eldijk * Erm *

Gees Gees is a village in the Netherlands and it is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. Gees is an ''esdorp __NOTOC__ An ''Angerdorf'' (plural: ''Angerdörfer'') is a type of village that is characterised by the houses and farmsteads be ...

* Geesbrug * Grevenberg * 't Haantje * Holsloot * Hoogehaar * Kibbelveen * Klooster * Langerak * Meppen *

Nieuwe Krim Nieuwe Krim is a hamlet in the Netherlands and is part of the Coevorden municipality in Drenthe. Nieuwe Krim is a statistical entity, but the postal authorities have placed it under Coevorden. It was first mentioned in 1913 as Dalerveld or Nieuw ...

Nieuwlande Nieuwlande (Dutch Low Saxon: ''Neilaande'') is a Dutch village located in the north-eastern province of Drenthe situated in the municipality of Hoogeveen. The population, as of 2018 is 965. Nieuwlande is one of only two villages in the world that ...

* Noord-Sleen * Oosterhesselen * Padhuis * Pikveld * Schimmelarij * Schoonoord * Sleen * Steenwijksmoer * Stieltjeskanaal * Valsteeg * Veenhuizen * Vlieghuis * Vossebelt * Wachtum * Weijerswold * Wezup * Wezuperbrug * Zweeloo * Zwinderen

International relations

Coevorden is twinned with: Station coevorden

Transportation

There are two railway stations in the municipality: * Coevorden railway station *

Dalen railway station Dalen is a railway station located in Dalen, Netherlands. The station was opened on 1 November 1905 and is located on the Emmerlijn (Zwolle - Emmen). Train services are operated by Arriva. The station was closed between 2 October 1938 and 10 Ju ...

Notable people

* Johannes Benedictus van Heutsz (1851-1924). Gouverneur-generaal (1904-09), a Dutch military officer and governor general of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...

in 1904 * Albert Bouwers (1893 in Dalen – 1972) a Dutch optical engineer, worked with X-Rays * Relus ter Beek (1944 in Coevorden – 2008) a Dutch politician *

Tim de Zeeuw Pieter Timotheus "Tim" de Zeeuw (born 12 May 1956 in Sleen) is a Dutch astronomer specializing in the formation, structure and dynamics of galaxies. From 2007 to 2017 he was the director general of European Southern Observatory. He is married ...

(born 1956 in Sleen) a Dutch astronomer specializing in the galaxies *

Thijs Berman Thijs Berman (born 26 September 1957 in Coevorden) is a former journalist. Between 2004 and 2014, he was a Dutch politician and a Member of the European Parliament. Biography Berman was a correspondent in Paris and Moscow for Dutch weekly De G ...

(born 1957 in Coevorden) a former journalist, a Dutch politician and a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

Herman von Hebel Herman von Hebel (born 22 November 1961) is a Dutch jurist, he was Registrar of the International Criminal Court between 2013 and 2018. Career Van Hebel was born on 22 November 1961 in Coevorden. From 1981 to 1987 Von Hebel studied international ...

(born 1961 in Coevorden) was a Registrar of the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to pro ...

* Maxim Februari (born 1963 in Coevorden) a Dutch writer, philosopher and columnist *

Joël Voordewind Joël Stephanus Voordewind (born 9 July 1965 in Sleen, Drenthe) is a Dutch politician and former development aid worker. As a member of the Christian Union (''ChristenUnie'') he was an MP from 2006 until 2021. He focused on matters of foreign p ...

(born 1965 in Sleen) a Dutch politician * Don Pepijn Schipper (born 1980 in Coevorden) stage name Don Diablo is a Dutch DJ, record producer, musician and songwriter of electronic dance music * Mark-Jan Fledderus (born 1982 in Coevorden) a Dutch retired footballer with 321 caps

Gallery

File:Coevorden Wilhelminastraat 2b Sint-Willibrordeuskerk.jpg, Coevorden Wilhelminastraat, Sint-Willibrordeuskerk File:Kasteel coevorden.jpg, Kasteel coevorden File:Gracht bij Van Heutszpark.jpg, Gracht bij Van Heutszpark File:Coevorden, Netherlands - panoramio (15).jpg, Coevorden

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in the Netherlands Municipalities of Drenthe Populated places in Drenthe Star forts