Zuidlaren ( Noordenvelds: ''Zuudlaoren'') is a village in the province of

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 ...

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 ...

. Zuidlaren has just over 10,000 inhabitants and is situated on natural heightened land which is called the Hondsrug. The village is part of the municipality of Tynaarlo. Formerly the village had its own municipality called Zuidlaren, but in 1998 Zuidlaren merged with

Eelde Eelde () is a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Tynaarlo, and lies about 9 km south of Groningen. Groningen Airport Eelde is located near the village. Eelde was a separate municipality until 1998, wh ...

and Vries. The new municipality was called "Zuidlaren" at first, but was renamed to Tynaarlo on 1 December 1999.Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, "Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten", KNAW, 2006. Tynaarlo is the name of a much smaller village than Zuidlaren and is located between the 3 largest villages of the municipality: Eelde, Zuidlaren and Vries. The new town hall is located in Vries, which replaced the

Laarwoud Laarwoud is a monumental stronghold in the centre of Zuidlaren, the Netherlands. People also describe Laarwoud as a little castle, in the Netherlands locally known as ''havezate'' (Dutch). The word havezate is used in the Dutch provinces of Drenth ...

town hall in 2004.

Sights of interest

A major industry in Zuidlaren is tourism, because of the varied cultural sights and attractions. In the centre of the village are a few important statues. The statue of a horse and two horsetraders has once been revealed by Crown Prince

Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess B ...

during the

Zuidlaardermarkt The Zuidlaardermarkt (Dutch: Market of Zuidlaren) is an annual horse and country market in Zuidlaren, Netherlands. It is held on the third Tuesday in October. The horse market is the largest in Europe. The country market has about 350 market stall ...

. There is also the statue of Berend Botje, which refers to

Lodewijk van Heiden Lodewijk Sigismund Vincent Gustaaf Reichsgraf van Heiden (german: Ludwig Sigismund Vinzent Gustav Reichsgraf van Heyden, russian: Ло́ггин Петро́вич Ге́йден, transliterated Russian name: ''Loggin Petrovich Geyden''; 6 Septemb ...

(1773-1850), a Dutch seafarer. In Zuidlaren Berend Botje is best known as a song for children to be learned in kindergarten. Another statue is located in front of the

Prins Bernhardhoeve The Prins Bernhardhoeve (PBHZ) was a building complex for fairs and events in Zuidlaren, Netherlands. Opened in 1956, the complex consisted of three halls which were all named after members of the Dutch royal family. The largest hall was the Prince ...

(PBH), which is a large exhibition complex. The statue refers to the fire that destroyed a big part of the PBH in 1986, the statue is called 'Vriendschap Vereeuwigd' ('Friendship Immortalized'). It was named like that by R.C. Zuidlaren-Anloo, the local Rotary club, because the payment for the statue was donated by a Rotary club from Achim,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. The memorial of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

is located in front of the former town hall 'Laarwoud'. The annual commemoration of the inhabitants of Zuidlaren who died during World War II is always on 4 May, the day before Liberation Day. The commemoration is also to think of the people who suffer from wars today. The windmill of Zuidlaren is called ' De Wachter', it is in the far east of the village. The mill specializes in corn and oil and has its own bakery and museum. The large green village of Zuidlaren

Zuidlaren is also known for its many village greens (Dutch: brinken) . Village greens in Zuidlaren are mostly small to sizeable grasslands with a stand of trees. The largest village green is in the centre of the village and is located next to a large square.

Events

One of the most well known annual events in Zuidlaren is the

, an annual event with a large cattle market, a country market and a fair. There also are other markets, like the weekly small country market on Fridays and the 'Oud-Drentsche Markt' which is in summer season on Wednesdays. Another large event is

NIC Zuidlaren NIC Zuidlaren is an international horse riding competition in Zuidlaren, the Netherlands. Overview NIC Zuidlaren is the abbreviation of ''Noordelijk Internationaal Concours hippique Zuidlaren'' (Dutch), which might be translated in English as ' ...

, an international horse riding competition. The events in the village are often organized by the 'Zuidlaarder Ondernemers Vereniging' (ZOV). The ZOV is an organization of volunteers and is sponsored by entrepreneurs of Zuidlaren.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 1999 Populated places in Drenthe Former municipalities of Drenthe Tynaarlo