De Marne () is a former

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 northeast of the

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 ...

. On 1 January 2019 it merged with the municipalities of

Bedum Bedum (; gos, Beem) is a former municipality and a town in the northeastern Netherlands. Populated by inhabitants in , Bedum is one of the larger of Groningen's several satellite towns. On 1 January 2019 it merged with the municipalities of De M ...

, Eemsmond and Winsum to form the new municipality

Het Hogeland Het Hogeland is a municipality in the north of the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. History The municipality of Het Hogeland was established on 1 January 2019 by merging the municipalities of Bedum, De Marne, Eemsmon ...

Population centres

Broek,

Eenrum Eenrum is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Het Hogeland, 17 km northwest of the city of Groningen. Eenrum was a separate municipality until 1990, then it was merged with Ulrum, Kloosterburen ...

, Hornhuizen, Houwerzijl, Kleine Huisjes,

Kloosterburen Kloosterburen is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Het Hogeland. The village developed around a monastery. Kloosterburen was a separate municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Leens, Ulrum ...

, Kruisweg,

Lauwersoog Lauwersoog is a seaside village and harbour in the province of Groningen, located in the northern part of the Netherlands. It is part of the municipality of Het Hogeland. It was established on 23 May 1969. The ferry to Schiermonnikoog departs fr ...

Leens Leens is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Het Hogeland. Leens was a separate municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Ulrum, Eenrum and Kloosterburen. Brief history Leens is located on o ...

, Mensingeweer, Molenrij, Niekerk, Pieterburen, Schouwerzijl, Ulrum, Vierhuizen, Warfhuizen, Wehe-den Hoorn,

Westernieland Westernieland (Gronings: ''Westernijland'') is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is part of the municipality of Het Hogeland. The village is located near the Wadden Sea. History Around 1000, the village of Mariaburen was founded o ...

Zoutkamp Zoutkamp is a village in the municipality Het Hogeland which is part of the province Groningen in the Netherlands. The village started as a sconce. During the Dutch Revolt, it was the site of the Battle of Zoutkamp. Later it became a fishing vil ...

, Zuurdijk.

Topography

''Dutch Topographic map of De Marne, June 2015''

A brief description

The municipality of De Marne lies in the north-western part of the province of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

, adjoining the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...

. It has about 10,000 inhabitants, covers an area of 240 square kilometres and encompasses 21 villages. De Marne is mainly an

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

area, focussing on

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...

growing and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

farming. The

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

industry also plays an important role.

Bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs dur ...

cultivation is also an up-and-coming commercial endeavour.

Maren

De Marne has a large network of

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

s, cyclepaths, and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

ing routes. Of particular interest are the so-called 'maren': narrow waterways twisting and turning their way throughout the countryside. They are particularly suitable for recreational sailing and canoeing. The many marked walks, cycle routes and sail and drive routes connect all of the various villages.

Special attractions

Besides the well-known attractions such as the

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

crèche in Pieterburen, the centre for mud flat walking and the

Lauwersmeer Lauwersmeer () is a man-made lake in the north of the Netherlands, on the border of the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. The lake was formed on 23 May 1969, when the dike between the bay called Lauwers Sea and the Wadden Sea was closed. It ...

area, there are also some other attractions. For instance, there is the Borg Verhildersum in Leens, Abraham's

Mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

Museum in Eenrum and many

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

es,

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

s, listed heritage farms, terps and protected village settings. There are also famous

church organ Carol Williams performing at the United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.">West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. ...

s built by

Arp Schnitger Arp Schnitger (2 July 164828 July 1719 (buried)) was an influential Northern German organ builder. Considered the most paramount manufacturer of his time, Schnitger built or rebuilt over 150 organs. He was primarily active in Northern Europe, es ...

, Lohman (family) and Hinsz.

Pilgrimage

The hermitage of Our Lady of the Enclosed Garden in Warfhuizen is a popular Marian shrine. Processions go from Wehe-den Hoorn to Warfhuizen four or five times a year. A unique devotional practice is the ' swapping of the handkerchief'. According to Spanish tradition the statue of the crying

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

usually holds a white handkerchief. The faithful bring a new white handkerchief and give it to the hermit to swap it with the one the Virgin has been holding which, in turn, is then given to someone sick or lonely. Students take it to their exams to calm their nerves.

The Lauwersmeer area

The Lauwersmeer area is a nature area suitable for fishing, bird watching, walking, and cycling. It features a few waters ports. The area covers about 90 square kilometres. The Lauwersmeer area came into existence when the Lauwerszee was closed off in 1969. Over the years the salt has slowly retreated from the water and new countryside has emerged.

Local products

There are a number of typical products of the area. An example of this is the 'Spelt Project'. This project ensures the production of pure local products. Farmers,

miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...

s, bakers, upholsterers and

distiller Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heatin ...

s work together to produce old-fashioned spelt grain, flour, bread, gin and cushions filled with spelt husks.

Municipal reorganisation

The municipality came into being in 1990 when the smaller municipalities of

and Ulrum were joined together. The local government employs about 115 people.

Notable people

* Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman (1882 in Leens – 1945) an experimental Dutch artist, typographer and printer *

Cornelis Simon Meijer Cornelis Simon Meijer (17 August 1904, Pieterburen – 12 April 1974) was a Dutch mathematician at the University of Groningen who introduced the Meijer G-function In mathematics, the G-function was introduced by as a very general functio ...

(1904 in Pieterburen – 1974) a Dutch mathematician and academic * Sicco Mansholt (1908 in Ulrum – 1995) a Dutch politician and diplomat * Martin Zijlstra (1944 in Eenrum – 2014) a Dutch politician *

Freek de Jonge Frederik "Freek" Jan Georg de Jonge (born 30 August 1944) is a Dutch cabaret performer and writer. Biography Early life and career De Jonge was born in Westernieland as son of a pastor. His family moved to Workum, and later to Zaandam and G ...

(born 1944 in Westernieland) a Dutch cabaret performer and writer IMDb Database
retrieved 10 August 2019

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Het Hogeland Former municipalities of Groningen (province) Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2019