Assen is a municipality and city in the north of the Dutch province of Drenthe, of which it is the capital. The area of the municipality is 83.5 km². On August 1, 2020, the municipality had 68,798 inhabitants (source: CBS). A resident of Assen is called an Assenaar. Assen is part of the Groningen-Assen region partnership.
By train
Station Assen. Assen has one train station, where both
the intercity trains and the slow trains on the Zwolle-Groningen route
stop. There were plans to build a second station in Assen-Zuid, but the
other station was renovated instead.
By bus
Nowadays, Assen is
fairly easy to reach by bus. From the bus station at the Station, buses
depart for Groningen, Leeuwarden, Heerenveen, Meppel and more. The rest
of the public transport (city, regional transport and train) also
departs from here. Furthermore, there are two forms of city buses in
Assen, the Cityline and bus line 1 of Qbuzz. All city buses pass the
station, and the Cityline 8B and Qbuzz line 1 also pass the transferium
Marsdijk, from here buses to Groningen also depart.
Bus station
Assen, Stationsplein. Buses depart in several directions from the bus
station near the station
Bus station Marsdijk, Martin Luther Kingweg.
City buses and regional buses depart from here to Groningen.
By
car
The A28 motorway from Hoogeveen to Groningen runs along the
western edge of the city. The N33 towards Veendam starts from this
highway on the south side of Assen.
By boat
After large-scale
work around the Vaart, it has been possible to receive boats in the
center of Assen since 2008. The Canal was also made navigable again
between 2012 and 2017, allowing pleasure craft to sail from Groningen
through the center of Assen to Smilde and beyond.
There is only one regular bus line in the city, operated by Qbuzz. This line runs from bus station M.L. Kingweg in the north via the station to the TT circuit. There is also the Cityline, a local bus service.
On the polygonal Brink, formerly the forecourt of the monastery, are
several important buildings, such as the former Government building (now
Drents Museum), the Drents Archief and the Abbey Church.
A little
further north is the large neoclassical Palace of Justice, with the
inscription: Sine justitia nulla libertas (No freedom without justice).
In 1892 the Johan Willem Frisokazerne was built along the Vaart, which
is still in use today.
Other special buildings are:
Overcingel, an 18th century estate
Joseph Church in neoclassical
style
Detention house from 1840
In 2012, the De Nieuwe Kolk
cultural center was opened by Princess Margriet. This building contains,
among other things, five cinema halls, theater halls, the public
library, an apartment complex and an underground parking garage.
Several parts of Assen are a protected cityscape: Brink, an extension to it, Markt and even further expansion. There are also more than a hundred national monuments, municipal monuments and a number of war monuments in the city and municipality, see:
Drenthe Museum
Shock Troops Museum
Bommel and Tom Poes museum
Assen
Barrel Organ Museum (Assen) (1987-2008, closed)
DeFKa /
Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (2009-2017, defunct)
Some annual events in Assen are:
Assen International Film Festival
TT Assen
Liberation Festival Drenthe
Asser Blues Days
Superbike
World Championship
Art Explosion
Preu event
Art on the Canal
Jack's Racing Day
Truck Star Festival
Late summer fair
Dutch
Open (darts)
Pump up the 90s
The main part of the range of shops in Assen is located in the historic city center, including Warenhuis Vanderveen on Koopmansplein and the covered shopping center De Triade. There are also various (indoor) shopping centers in the various districts of Assen. The shopping evening is on Friday evening (except in the Kloosterveen district, where it is on Thursday evening) and there are shopping Sundays on every last Sunday of the month. There is a residential boulevard in the north of the city.
The Triad
Mercury center
Baggelhouses
Citadel
Monastery
fortress
Nobellan
't Forum
Vredeveld
Shopping area Marsdijk
Residential boulevard Borgstee
Peelo
On Wednesdays and Saturdays there is a market from Nieuwehuizen/Noordersingel to Brink.
The city of Assen is located in an es-village
landscape. In addition to the town of Assen, the municipality
includes the villages of Witten, Loon, Rhee, Ter Aard, Ubbena, a
part of Vries, Zeijerveen and Zeijerveld. In addition, the hamlets
of Anreep, De Haar, Schieven and Graswijk belong to the municipality
of Assen.
Residential areas
After 1900, the development of
Assen gained momentum. In the period before the Second World War,
employment and with it the population grew to about 22,000 people.
After 1945 that number doubled.
After the Second World War, a
number of large residential areas were built. Assen has nine
residential areas, which are sometimes divided into neighborhoods.
The oldest is the center, after which “over the track” Assen-Oost
was built, which is popularly called Vredeveld. From the past, this
district can be divided into different neighborhoods, such as the
Red, Blue and White village, the Schildersbuurt, Amelterhout and the
residential areas Sluisdennen, Vreebergen and Houtlaan. A new
residential area is being set up in Assen-Oost, Park Diepstroeten,
on the former site of the Hendrik van Boeijenoord foundation.
The second extension in Assen is the Lariks and Noorderpark
districts, then Vredeveld and Noorderpark were enlarged and the
Pittelo district was built. The Assen-West district was established
in the early 1970s; this consists of the neighborhoods Baggelhuizen,
Kortbossen and Westerpark. Peelo and Marsdijk were built in the 80s
and 90s. Kloosterveen followed in 1997, named after an old hamlet
where more than 11,000 people live (2015). The district is divided
into 15 residential areas with various living styles. In the heart
of the district, the shopping center 'Kloosterveste' was opened in
2010.
In 1259, the Maria nunnery in Campis or Mariënkamp was moved from
Coevorden to a sand ridge on the spot where the center of Assen is now
located. Most of the canals dug at that time were later filled in, but
the current street names (Gedempte Singel, Noordersingel, Oostersingel
and Zuidersingel) are still a reminder of this. The monastery was closed
in 1602, after which the main building was used as a meeting place for,
among others, the Board of Deputies. Later in the 17th century, a real
settlement emerged within the canals, approximately a circle with a
diameter of 300 meters. Assen was not expanded beyond this area until
late in the 18th century. It was only around that time that the
previously inconspicuous Assen became an attractive place to live for
the well-to-do in the province. Examples of remarkable residential
houses are Huize Overcingel and the White House.
By order of
Lodewijk Napoleon, who chose Assen as his summer residence, it became an
independent municipality in 1807 and a city in 1809. This makes it one
of the youngest cities with city rights in the Netherlands. The grand
urban plan that he had drawn up by the Italian architect Carlo Giovanni
Francesco Giudici remained virtually unimplemented. In 1814 Assen became
capital of Drenthe. The town had 3,613 inhabitants in 1840, which
increased to 5,948 in the year 1900. After 1900, the development of
Assen gained momentum. In the period before the Second World War,
employment and thus the population grew to approximately 22,000 people
in 1940. After the Second World War, a number of large residential areas
were built. Assen has nine residential areas, which are sometimes
divided into neighbourhoods. The oldest is the center, after which
Assen-East was built "over the railway", which is popularly called
Vredeveld. From the past, this district can be divided into different
neighbourhoods, such as the Red, Blue and White village, the
Schildersbuurt, Amelterhout and the residential areas of Sluisdennen,
Vreebergen and Houtlaan. In East Assen, a new residential area is being
set up, Park Diepstroeten, on the former site of the Hendrik van
Boeijenoord foundation.
The second expansion in Assen is the
Lariks and Noorderpark districts, then Vredeveld and Noorderpark were
enlarged and the Pittelo district was built. The Assen-West district was
established in the early 1970s; this consists of the neighborhoods
Baggelhuizen, Kortbossen and Westerpark. Peelo and Marsdijk were built
in the 1980s and 1990s. Kloosterveen followed in 1997, named after an
old hamlet, where more than 11,000 people live (2021). The district is
divided into 15 residential areas with various living styles. The
'Kloosterveste' shopping center was opened in 2010 in the heart of the
district.
Assen has a number of industrial estates, including Messchenveld, Peelerpark, Schepersmaat and Stadsbedrijvenpark (Marsdijk).
The Drentsche Hoofdvaart was extended to Assen in 1780 and connected to Groningen around 1860 with the North Willems Canal. In the 20th century it was decided to close the canal from the center of Assen to the Noord-Willemskanaal for shipping traffic. The vortex was filled in and a parking space for the cinema and theater De Kolk was created here. Large-scale work around the Vaart started in 2007, during which the Kolk was restored to its former glory, dams were dug away and bridges were built so that shipping traffic is possible again. Preparations have now also started to make the Canal in the city center navigable again, whereby locks must also be built in addition to bridges.
Assen is located on the A28 between Groningen and Utrecht. Via the N33 it is possible to travel smoothly to Veendam, Delfzijl and Eemshaven. Assen is the northern terminus of the N371, which leads from Meppel along the Drentsche Hoofdvaart.
The Ring Assen in the built-up area of Assen ensures the accessibility of the city's neighborhoods. However, part of this ring road is missing on the east side, whereby use can be made of Industrieweg and Overcingellaan, which lead traffic over the Blauwe Klap and through the Overcingel tunnel.
Assen has had a station on the railway line from Zwolle to Groningen
since 1870, Assen station. This means that Assen has direct train
connections with Groningen, Zwolle, Utrecht Central, The Hague Central
and Rotterdam Central. The station building, built in 1868, was
demolished in 1988. It was replaced by a new building that was taken
into use in 1989.
The station area was renovated as part of the
FlorijnAs plan. A new station was part of this plan. The station from
1989 has been demolished and a new station building has been installed,
with an underground bicycle shed. The new station was commissioned in
2018.
The city service of Assen consists of a city bus (line 1) operated by Qbuzz. In the districts that are not served by the city bus, the Cityline runs, which supplements public transport with two bus lines (lines 7 and 8). The city service is provided by Qbuzz (line 1) and Connexxion Taxi Services (lines 7 and 8). Assen has had a city service since 1949, which was carried out by bus company Harmanni. In 1986 the city service was taken over by the DVM.
The most famous sporting event in Assen is the TT, the annual motor
race on the TT Circuit Assen since 1925. The TT has been part of the
World Motorsport Championship since 1949. It is also the largest one-day
sporting event in the Netherlands. Traditionally, the motorcycle race
was always held on the last weekend of June. Prior to that: the TT
Festival (with the TT Night from Friday to Saturday, in which visitors
from the region and from all kinds of countries visit the Asser city
center). As of 2016, races will be held on the last Sunday in June.
In 2015, a World Motocross Championship race was held on the TT
Circuit for the first time.
Another motorsport event in Assen was
the international ice speedway, which took place for the first time in
1976. Since 1994, the Stichting IJsspeedway Assen (Motorclub Assen and
Surroundings) has organized an annual final round for the individual
world championship on the ice rink of De Bonte Wever, formerly De Smelt,
in the month of March. The ice rink closed in March 2016.
In 2009
the Tour of Spain started in Assen. A prologue was held on the TT
circuit. This was won by Fabian Cancellara. The start of the first stage
was also in Assen. This stage had the finish in Emmen.
There are
also several sports clubs active in Assen. The municipality has seven
football clubs: Achilles 1894 (Marsdijk), Asser Boys (Assen-East), ACV
(Asserbos area), FC Amboina (Pittelo), FC Assen (Kloosterveen), VV LEO
(Loon/Marsdijk) and LTC (Pittelo ). In addition, the municipality has
AVO (derived from the merger between ASKO and VDW-OLS), one of the
largest korfball associations in the Northern Netherlands, three
volleyball associations vv Peelermarke, Animo '68 and Sudosa-Desto), the
hockey association HVA (Kloosterveen), the budo association Asahi,
basketball club Assist Assen, a rowing club (ARC) and a baseball and
softball club (The Pioneers)