Assen, the capital of the province of
Drenthe. A friendly and still pretty quiet country
town. It's the place where I was born and where I went to school. A town
with many civil servants, because it is the site of the local and provincial
governments. Some people call it with some overestimation "the town of
palaces" and that's because of the many 19th century mansions.
Assen was founded in 1260 around the monastery Maria in Campis. Remains of this monastery are still visible. In 1809 the hamlet was granted city rights by King Lodewijk Napoleon. After that the number of inhabitants grew steadily. Nowadays it has over 52.000. Assen has an old center with many cozy shops. Typical for towns and villages in Drenthe is the "Brink", an old square in the center with big oak trees; often used as a marketplace. In Assen the Brink is surrounded by historic buildings, one of which is the "Drents Museum". It is one of the most important museums on archaeology in the country. Here you will find the pottery, the beakers, axes, scrapers, beads etc. that were found in the 'hunebedden'. |