Located in the northeastern part of the country, Drenthe is one of the Netherlands' provinces. The province neighbors Groningen to the north, Friesland to the west, and Overijssel to the south. Additionally, Drenthe forms a state border with Germany's Lower Saxony to the east.[2] The capital city, Assen, is located in the central northern part of the region. Assen is known for the Drents Museum and TT circuit.[9] Other considerable settlements in the province include Emmen, Meppel, Hoogeveen, and Coevorden. In terms of local nature, there are three national parks within the Drenthe's borders. The local landscape tends to be composed of heathlands, with relatively few rivers and lakes.[2] However, sand dunes can also be found in one of the three national parks, one being the Drents-Friese Wold National Park.[7] On average, "the best time to visit Drenthe" is during summer, namely in June, July, and August, when the temperatures are the warmest.[15]
Assen, the capital city of Drenthe, is found in the central-northern part of the province. The city is known for a mansion found in the town center called Landgoed Overcingel. The mansion was built in 1778 and also includes a small park with English gardens. Assen is often visited by motorsports fans for the TT circuit built in 1955. Today, the circuit has a length of 4555 m and hosts DutchTT, the largest single-day sports event in the country. Tourists interested in local history might take interest in the Drents Museum. Highlights of the museum include displays of bog bodies and the reported world's oldest boat, built around 8000 BC. In the art section of the museum can also be spotted artworks by Vincent van Gogh.[9] Drents Museum homes approximately 90,000 objects. According to the museum website, Drenths' Archeology collection is among the most important in Northwest Europe.[10]
There are three national parks and numerous natural protected areas within Drenthe's borders. The province offers a considerable number of outdoor activities, such as mountain biking or horseback riding. Reportedly, there are 900 kilometers of covered wagon trails and trails for horseback riding.[11] Additionally, in the nature of Drenthe are hidden Netherland's oldest historical monuments, the Dolmens. Dating back to the Ice Age, Dolmens, or Hunebeds, served as burial chambers. Most of the 52 Dolmens of Drenthe can be found in the Hondsrug UNESCO Global Geopark.[12] The geopark covers almost the whole Eastern part of Drenthe and also a part of the province of Groningen. Beyond the protection of the local landscape and historical heritage, the geopark offers a variety of educational materials relating to the Hondsrug, such as complete lesson series with teachers' manuals, students' study materials, tips for excursions, and more.[13]
Regarding technological advances, Drenthe province is home to the Dwingeloo Radio Telescope, commissioned in 1956. The Dwingeloo Radio Telescope used to be the world's first and largest radio telescope used for professional astronomy. The telescope was used to explore the Milky Way and other cosmic objects. In the 1990s, two new galaxies were discovered with the Dwingeloo telescope. Nowadays, the telescope is the largest telescope in the world for amateurs. Additionally, in 2009, the radio telescope has been designated as a Netherlands national monument.[14]
Drenthe is located in the northeast of the Netherlands, bordering Germany's state of Lower Saxony to the east. It is the ninth largest province in the Netherlands, the third least populous and least densely populated province in the state as well. The area stretches across approximately 2,683 square kilometers of land, from which roughly 44 square kilometers are covered by water, and 72% is used for agriculture. The landscape consists mainly of heathlands, with few rivers and lakes. Major settlements within the territory include the province's capital, Assen, in the north and Emmen, Meppel, Hoogeveen, and Coevorden in the south.[2]
There are several protected nature areas to be found in Drenthe. Apart from three national parks, Dwingelderveld, the Drents-Friese Wold, and the Drentsche Aa, there are also several nature reserves in the province.[4] Dwingelderveld National Park, the smallest of the three national parks, bears the status of the largest contiguous wet heath area in Western Europe. The Dwingelderveld's landscape consists of more than sixty fens and peat bogs, where plants such as heather, bog fluff, bell gentian, and mouse ear can be spotted. Two sheep herds occupy the Dwingelderveld lands, both consisting of Drentse Heideschapen, which is the oldest sheep breed on the mainland of Western Europe.[5] Another of the three Drenthe national parks is National Park Drentsche Aa, reportedly the best-preserved stream and esdorp landscape in Western Europe. Additionally, Drentsche Aa bears considerable history as several Dolmens, burial mounds, and Celtic fields are scattered across the region. Some local animal and plant species include beavers, otters, kingfishers, black-blue rapunzel, sundew, and various orchids.[6] Drents-Friese Wold National Park is the second-largest continuous forest area in the Netherlands. However, the national park is also known for Aekingerzand, or the so-called Kale Duinen, which is a landscape of shifting sand dunes.[7]
Drenthe, located in the northwestern part of Europe, has an oceanic climate.[2] Concerning the average temperatures in Assen, Drenthe's centrally located capital city, the warmest month is July, with an average daily temperature of 22°C. January is the coldest month, with 5°C being the average temperature during that time. February tends to be the driest month in Assen due to having 39 mm of rainfall on average. The most precipitation falls during June, receiving about 72 mm on average.[8]
The territory of today's Drenthe has reportedly been inhabited since prehistoric times. Archeological excavations have proved human presence in the region as soon as 60000 BCE, which dates back to the Late Paleolithic era. Stone hand axes from that time were found at Anderen and Drouwen. Pre-Roman Iron Age farmers called the "proto-Frisians" from Drenthe later colonized the sand marshes of the northern coastal areas, being able to graze sheep in the relatively dry landscapes of Groningen and Friesland.[1] Until the Bronze Age, Drenthe was one of the most densely populated areas in the Netherlands. Of the 54 dolmens found thus far in the Netherlands, 53 of them are located in Drenthe. These prehistoric portal tombs were reportedly built around 3500 BC.[2]
The first written mention of Drenthe dates back to 820 when the area was called Pago Treanth (Drenthe district).[2] From 1046 to 1522, Drenthe was part of the Utrecht diocese. In 1536, the area was incorporated into Habsburg dominions when it passed to the Holy Roman emperor, Charles V. Drenthe later assisted in the Dutch revolt against Spain. However, the land was officially named a Dutch province in 1796.[3]
Since medieval times, peat has been cut for fuel in Drenthe. Nevertheless, starting in the 17th century, there was an effort to cut all the peat from the bog area and convert the land to agricultural use. Furthermore, in the 19th century, settlements of criminals were established to reclaim the heathlands for agricultural use. Since then, a considerable amount of the heathland has been populated with grass, with reclamation continuing to this day. Thus, agricultural processing is the chief economic activity in Drenthe, namely the production of potato flour and strawboard. Additionally, since World War II, the oil industry developed near Schoonebeek.[3]
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