Gasselte is a village in the Dutch

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 Jan ...

. Located in the

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' ...

Aa en Hunze Aa en Hunze () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. The names 'Aa' (more precisely the 'Drentsche Aa') and 'Hunze' refer to two small rivers through the municipality. Population centres Transpo ...

, it is situated about 16 km (9.9 mi) east of

Assen Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...

. In 2021, it had a population of 1,770.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1302 as "Jacobus de Gesholte". The etymology is unclear. Gasselte is an '' esdorp'' on the highest part of the

Hondsrug image:Hoogstraatje RA.JPG, 300px, The Hoogstraatje in Groningen (province), Groningen, the northernmost hill of the Hondsrug The Hondsrug () is a Dutch ridge of sand that is mainly located in the province Drenthe and partly in the province Gronin ...

which developed during the Early Middle Ages as a satellite of Borger. It used to consist of two settlement with their own ''es'' (communal pasture): Lutkenend (Little End) and Grotenend (Big End). The Dutch Reformed church dates from the 13th century and has been painted white. It was restored in 1637 and again in 1647. The detached tower was demolished in 1787 and replaced by a little tower on the roof. In 1830, a large part of the village was destroyed in a fire. Gasselte was home to 390 people in 1840. During the 19th century, the two original hamlets grew into one village. There used to be railway station on the Gasselternijveen to

railway line between 1905 and 1947. The building was demolished in 1969. Between 1946 and 2013, sand was excavated at Gasselterveld resulting in a lake with a depth of up to . In 2017, a beach was constructed near the lake. Gasselte was a separate municipality until 1998, when it became a part of the newly established municipality of

. In 2021, Gasselte was used as the postcard for the United Kingdom during the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.

Gallery

File:Pastorie De Weem 2 Gasselte.jpg, Clergy house De Ween File:Golfbaan De Semslanden.jpg, Golf course De Seemslanden File:Voormalig gemeentehuis gemeente Gasselte-Vaart Gasselternijveen.jpg, Former town hall File:Wemeltje Kruit Gasselte.jpg, Statue of

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 1998 Populated places in Drenthe Former municipalities of Drenthe Aa en Hunze