Wapserveen is a village in the Dutch province of

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 ...

. It is a part of the municipality of

Westerveld Westerveld () is a municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. The municipality Westerveld was established in 1998 out of the municipalities of Diever, Dwingeloo, Havelte, and Vledder. Westerveld is crossed by a channel, the ''Drentsche Hoofdva ...

, and lies about 21 km northwest of

Hoogeveen Hoogeveen (; or '' 't Oveine'') is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Population centres Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout the town. Other v ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1395 or 1396 as Wasperveen, which means "

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

excavation village belonging to Wapse". Wapserveen is a road village near a peat excavation area. It was founded by colonists from

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. Large scale excavation did not start until the 17th and 18th century. The Dutch Reformed church dates from 1803, but was built with bricks from its medieval predecessor. A separate bell tower was placed on the cemetery around the same time. During the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the Catholic church became Dutch Reformed and the priest was replaced by the minister Foppius Hilarii in 1606. However, the villagers preferred the priest, and Hilarii was killed by a farmer. The former priest was given a state

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

in 1607 on the condition that he no longer practise and assisted the minister. Wapserveen was home to 617 people in 1840. In 1896, the cooperative dairy factory in Wapserveen was built in the village.

People

Sicco Mansholt Sicco Leendert Mansholt (; 13 September 1908 – 29 June 1995) was a Dutch farmer, politician and diplomat of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later the Labour Party (PvdA), who served as the fourth president of the European Com ...

, the former president of the European Commission (1972) and former European Commissioner for Agriculture between 1958 and 1972 lived after his career until his death in Wapserveen.

Gallery

File:Exterieur overzicht, voorgevel, rechter zijgevel - Wapserveen - 20322640 - RCE.jpg, Farm in Wasperveen File:Overzicht boerderij - Wapserveen - 20375496 - RCE.jpg, Farm and horse in Wasperveen File:Hervormde kerk Wapserveen.jpg, Dutch Reformed church

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Drenthe Westerveld