Bellingwedde () was a

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

in the province

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

in the northeast of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Bellingwedde was established in 1968, when the municipalities of Bellingwolde and Wedde merged. After almost 50 years, Bellingwedde was disestablished in 2018, when the municipalities of Bellingwedde and

Vlagtwedde Vlagtwedde () is a village in the very southeast of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the northeastern Netherlands. It lies on the Dutch border with the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony to the east. History The municipality of Vl ...

merged into Westerwolde.

Etymology

The name ''Bellingwedde'' is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of ''

Bellingwolde Bellingwolde (; Gronings dialect, Gronings: ''Bennewolle'') is a village with a population of 2,655 people in the municipality Westerwolde (municipality), Westerwolde in the Netherlands. It is situated in the southeast of the region Oldambt (regi ...

'' and ''

Wedde Wedde () is a village in the municipality Westerwolde in the province Groningen in the Netherlands. It is located 9 km southeast of Winschoten. The castle Wedderborg is located in the village. History Most of Westerwolde was a raised bog ...

'', which are the names of the two municipalities that were merged in 1968 to form Bellingwedde. At the time, three names were considered for the new municipality: ''Bellingewedde'', proposed by the province of

, ''Bellingwolde-Wedde'', proposed by the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of Bellingwolde, and ''Bellingwedde'', proposed by the municipal council of Wedde. The province selected the last option, which was eventually also accepted by the municipal council of Bellingwolde.

History

On 1 September 1968, the municipality of Bellingwedde was formed by merging the municipalities of Bellingwolde and Wedde. Henk Eijsink of the Labour Party, who was the last mayor of Bellingwolde and acting mayor of Wedde, became the first mayor of Bellingwedde in 1968–1970. He was followed by Jurjen Jan Hoeksema (Labour; 1970–1978), Engbert Drenth (Labour; 1979–2007), Erik Triemstra (

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

; 2007–2013) and Janneke Snijder-Hazelhoff (

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

; 2013–2018). The municipality merged with

into the new municipality of Westerwolde on 1 January 2018.

Geography

Bellingwedde is located at in the east of the province of

, in the northeast of the

on the border with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is in the south of the region of Oldambt and in the north of the region of Westerwolde. Bellingwedde is bordered by the Dutch municipalities of Oldambt (in the north),

Pekela Pekela () is a municipality in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. It was created in 1990 when Oude Pekela and Nieuwe Pekela were merged. Geography Pekela is located at in the southeast of the province of Groningen in the northeas ...

(west),

Stadskanaal Stadskanaal () is a town and municipality with a population of 32,715 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. It was named after the canal Stadskanaal. From 1800 until 1900 this area was ideal for its peat mining, and so ...

(south-west), and

(south), and by the German municipalities of

Rhede Rhede () is a municipality in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern ...

(south-east) and Bunde (north-east). The nearest city is

Winschoten Winschoten (; ) is a city with a population of 18,518 in the municipality of Oldambt (municipality), Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the region of Oldambt (region), Oldambt in the province of Groningen (prov ...

. The municipality contains the villages

Blijham Blijham () is a village with a population of 2,240 in the municipality of Westerwolde in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. The origins of the settlement date back to the 11th century. Until 1968, Blijham was part of the municipality o ...

Oudeschans Oudeschans () is a small village with a population of around 100 in the municipality of Westerwolde (municipality), Westerwolde in the province of Groningen (province), Groningen in the Netherlands. The 16th-century fortification is now a state p ...

, Veelerveen,

Vriescheloo Vriescheloo (; ) is a village in the municipality of Westerwolde in the Netherlands. History Vriescheloo is a linear settlement on the sand ridge which formed the old road between Groningen and Germany. The village dates from the 11th or 12th ...

, and

. It also contains the hamlets

Den Ham Den Ham ɛn ɦɑmis a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Twenterand, about 15 km northwest of Almelo. Den Ham was a separate municipality until 2001, when it became a part of V ...

, Klein-Ulsda, Rhederbrug, and

Wedderveer Wedderveer () is a hamlet near Wedde in the municipality of Westerwolde in the Netherlands. It has a population of around 135 and a total area of . The sawmill Spinnenkop has been listed as a national heritage site since 1990.Pekel Aa Pekel A or Pekel Aa () is a river in the Province of Groningen in the Netherlands. The villages of Oude Pekela and Nieuwe Pekela have been named after the river. The name translates to Brine ('' Pekel'') River ('' A''), and used to flow from the ...

. The river Westerwoldse Aa crosses the east of Bellingwedde from south to north. The canal B.L. Tijdenskanaal, that unites the Mussel-Aa-kanaal and the Ruiten-Aa-kanaal in the south, crosses the west of Bellingwedde from south to north.

Governance

The

municipal building Municipal Building may refer to the following places: United States Arkansas *Crossett Municipal Building, Crossett, AR *Municipal Building (El Dorado, Arkansas), El Dorado, AR *Texarkana, Arkansas, Municipal Building, Texarkana, AR California *V ...

is located at the Hoofdweg in Wedde. A municipal government in the Netherlands consists of the executive college of the mayor and aldermen and the elected

. Janneke Snijder-Hazelhoff of the

, appointed in 2013, was the last mayor of Bellingwedde. The municipal council had 13 members. In the 2014 election, the last prior to merger, turnout was 57.57% with 4,191 valid votes. The results are shown in the table below: A coalition was formed between the Labour Party (PvdA), the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). All three parties had one alderman in the college of mayor and aldermen. Although the Socialist Party got the most votes, it is not part of the coalition. , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" !colspan="2" align="left", Party !Votes !% !Seats , - , style="color:inherit;background:", , align="left",

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, 1,116 , 26.63 , align="center", 3 , - , style="color:inherit;background:", , align="left", Labour Party , 853 , 20.35 , align="center", 3 , - , style="color:inherit;background:", , align="left",

, 572 , 13.65 , align="center", 2 , - , style="color:inherit;background:", , align="left",

, 531 , 12.67 , align="center", 2 , - , style="color:inherit;background:", , align="left",

GreenLeft (, ; GL) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the ...

, 493 , 11.76 , align="center", 1 , - , , align="left", Plaatselijk Belang Bellingwedde , 355 , 8.47 , align="center", 1 , - , , align="left", Westerwolde Lokaal , 271 , 6.47 , align="center", 1 , - , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" !colspan="2" align="left", Total !4,191 !100 !align="center", 13 Bellingwedde was twinned with

in Germany in 1979 and

Nowogród Bobrzański Nowogród Bobrzański () is a town on the Bóbr river in Zielona Góra County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, with 5,165 inhabitants (2019). It is the administrative seat of the Gmina Nowogród Bobrzański. History The historic town was e ...

in Poland in 2004.Partnerschappen
(in Dutch), Gemeente Bellingwedde. Retrieved 13 June 2013.

Demographics

Since 1968, when the municipality was established, Bellingwedde had a population between 8,561 and 9,748. In 2015, it had a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 9,154 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of .

Attractions

Two villages have a state protected village area (), Oudeschans since 1991 and Bellingwolde since 2009. There are two museums in Bellingwedde.

Museum de Oude Wolden Museum de Oude Wolden (; ), abbreviated as MOW, is a regional museum in the village of Bellingwolde in the Netherlands. The museum focuses on art and history of the regions of Oldambt (region), Oldambt and Westerwolde (region), Westerwolde in ...

in Bellingwolde is a

regional museum In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

about the art and history of Oldambt and Westerwolde. It has temporary exhibitions and a permanent exhibition with paintings of

Lodewijk Bruckman Lodewijk Karel "Loki" Bruckman (; 14 August 1903 – 24 April 1995) was a Dutch people, Dutch Magic realism, magic realist painter. He lived and worked in the Netherlands, the United States, and Mexico. Museum de Oude Wolden in the village of Bel ...

from the municipal collection of Bellingwedde.

Vestingmuseum Oudeschans Vestingmuseum Oudeschans (; ) is a local museum in the village of Oudeschans in the Netherlands. The museum showcases the history of the 16th-century fortification of Oudeschans and has a collection of archaeological findings. The museum opened ...

in Oudeschans is a

history museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

about the

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

of Oudeschans. It has a collection of archaeological findings from the 17th and 18th century on display. There are five windmills in the municipality: De Korenbloem in Vriescheloo, Niemans Molen in Veelerveen, Spinnenkop Wedderveer in Wedderveer, Veldkamps Meuln in Bellingwolde, and Weddermarke in Wedde. The Wedderborg is a ''

borg The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. They are Cyborg, cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a Group mind (science fiction), hive mind called "The Collective". The Borg co- ...

'', a type of castle from the province of Groningen, in Wedde. The building has 14th, 15th, and 16th-century elements and is currently used as a hotel and restaurant.

Infrastructure

Roads

There are no highways in Bellingwedde. The nearest highway is the A7 ( E22) directly north of the municipality and which is connected to

in the west and

Leer Leer may refer to: * Leer, Lower Saxony, town in Germany ** Leer (district), containing the town in Lower Saxony, Germany ** Leer (Ostfriesland) railway station * Leer, South Sudan, town in South Sudan ** Leer County, an administrative division ...

(Germany) in the east; its nearest access point is exit 48 (Oudeschans). There are four provincial roads in the municipality. In the northwest, the N367 connects the municipality to

and Oude and

Nieuwe Pekela Nieuwe Pekela (Gronings dialect, Gronings: ''Nij Pekel'') is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Groningen (province), Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Pekela, about 7 km southeast of Veendam. The village started as ...

. The N368 runs from northwest to southwest, connects Blijham via Wedde to

, and also connects to the other three major roads. The N969 runs from west to southeast and connects Blijham via Bellingwolde and Rhederbrug to

in Germany. And the N973 runs from southwest to the center and connects Wedde via Vriescheloo to Bellingwolde.

Public transport

There are also no railways in Bellingwedde. The nearest railway stations are

and

Bad Nieuweschans Bad Nieuweschans (; ; ; also Lange Akkeren) is a village in the north-eastern Netherlands on the border with Germany. It forms part of the municipality of Oldambt. Nieuweschans means "new fortification ( sconce)". In 2009, the word Bad ("spa") w ...

on the

Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway The Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway is a railway line in the Netherlands running from the port of Harlingen, Netherlands, Harlingen to Bad Nieuweschans, passing through Leeuwarden and Groningen (city), Groningen. The line was opened between 1863 ...

just north of Bellingwedde. The railway is connected to the

Groningen railway station Groningen railway station (; abbreviation: Gn), locally called ''Hoofdstation'' (main station), is the main railway station in Groningen in the Province of Groningen, Netherlands. It is located on the Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway between Z ...

and the rest of the Dutch railway network in the west and to the Leer railway station and the German railway network in the east. The bus lines passing through Bellingwedde are exploited by

Qbuzz Qbuzz is a public transport company in the Netherlands that operates services in Friesland, South Holland, Utrecht, Drenthe and Groningen. Founded in 2008, it was a subsidiary of Nederlandse Spoorwegen from 2013 until 2017. It is currently ow ...

(places in Bellingwedde are in italics): * Line 11: Winschoten – ''Blijham'' – ''Wedderveer'' – ''Wedde'' – Veele – Vlagtwedde – Bourtange * Line 12: Winschoten – ''Blijham'' – ''Bellingwolde'' – ''Blijham'' – Winschoten * Line 14: Stadskanaal – Alteveer – Tange – Onstwedde – Barlage – Smeerling – Vlagtwedde – Veele – ''Wedde'' – ''Wedderveer'' – ''Blijham'' – Winschoten * Line 811: Bad Nieuweschans – ''Klein-Ulsda'' – ''Oudeschans'' – ''Bellingwolde'' – ''Vriescheloo'' – ''Veelerveen'' – Vlagtwedde

Education

There are four

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

s, seven

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s, and one

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

in Bellingwedde. There are no institutes of

tertiary education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

in the municipality.

Media

''Het Streekblad'' is a

free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference betw ...

door-to-door

weekly newspaper Weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspap ...

in the municipalities of Bellingwedde, Oldambt, and

. ''

Dagblad van het Noorden The ''Dagblad van het Noorden'' (; ), abbreviated as ''DvhN'', is a Dutch regional daily newspaper that is published and circulated in the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe in the northeastern Netherlands. The newspaper is owned by Mediahuis. Er ...

'' is a

daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

in the northern provinces of the Netherlands. Radio Westerwolde is a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

channel in the municipalities of Bellingwedde, Pekela, and

.Arjan Brondijk,
Twintig jaar Radio Westerwolde: terugblikken en bluesfeest
(in Dutch), ''Het Streekblad'', 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2015.

Notable people

* Jan Mulder (born 1945 in Bellingwolde), footballer, writer, and commentator

References

External links

* (in Dutch) {{Authority control Westerwolde (municipality) Former municipalities of Groningen (province) Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2018