Muntendam is a village in the municipality of
Midden-Groningen
Midden-Groningen (Gronings: ''Midden-Grunnen'') is a municipality with a population of 60,953 in the province of Groningen, Netherlands. The municipality was formed by the merger of former municipalities of Hoogezand-Sappemeer, Slochteren and M ...
, in the Dutch province of
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 ...
. The village has a population of 4,635 (2021). Muntendam had been an independent parish since the Middle Ages, but until 1840 it was ecclesiastically part of
Zuidbroek.
From 1811 until 1990 it was a separate municipality, which boasted the title 'reddest (most socialist) municipality in the Netherlands', with a council of 11 containing 7
PvdA (Labour Party) members and 2
CPN (Communist Party) members. (However, nearby
Reiderland
Reiderland () is a former municipality in the province Groningen in the northeastern Netherlands, which was founded in 1990 during a large municipal reorganisation. The former municipalities Finsterwolde and Bad Nieuweschans were abolished and a ...
had had a vast CPN majority since
WWII
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, so the claim is rather too strong). When a new mayor had to be appointed in 1980 (at the time a municipality had no say in the matter), it was assumed that it would become a PvdA mayor as it had always been. However, the then minister of the interior,
Hans Wiegel
Hans Wiegel (; 16 July 1941 – 19 May 2025) was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman.
Wiegel studied Law at the University of Amsterdam before switching to Political science obtaining a Bache ...
of the right-wing
VVD
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right that tries to promote private enterprise and ...
, decided that this very left-wing part of the Netherlands needed a change and appointed a
D66 (left of centre) mayor. This led to a cold reception and the first time a Dutch mayor was not officially inaugurated. Over time, however, people started to like him and when he moved to a bigger municipality there was even an action to keep him (to no avail). Not much later, the method of appointing a mayor in the Netherlands was changed, with the municipality putting up a request which is usually followed.
Gallery
File:Muntendam (Grinslân), PKN-tsjerke.jpg, Protestant church
File:Muntendam (Grinslân), it âlde gemeentehûs fan de gemeente Muntendam.jpg, Former town hall
File:Egypteneinde, Egypte, Muntendam 054.jpg, House in Muntendam
File:Muntendam 081.JPG, Street view
References
External links
*
Populated places in Groningen (province)
Former municipalities of Groningen (province)
Midden-Groningen
{{Groningen-geo-stub