Coevorden

Coevorden is a city and municipality in the province of Drenthe, Netherlands. During the 1998 municipal reorganisation in the province, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo, retaining its name. In August 2017, it had a population of 35,267.
Etymology
The name Coevorden means "cow ford(s)" or "cow crossing", similar to Bosporus or Oxford.
History
Coevorden received city rights in 1408. It is the oldest city in the province of Drenthe.
The city was captured from the Spanish in 1592 by a Dutch and English force under the command of Maurice, Prince of Orange. The following year it was besieged by a Spanish force but the city held out until its relief in May 1594. Coevorden was then reconstructed in the early seventeenth century to an ideal city design, similar to Palmanova. The streets were laid out in a radial pattern within polygonal fortifications and extensive outer earthworks.
The city of Coevorden indirectly gave its name to both Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Vancouver, Washington, named after the 18th-century British explorer George Vancouver. The explorer's ancestors (and family name) originally came to England "from Coevorden" (van Coevern in Dutch Low Saxon). There is also a family of nobility with the surname van Coeverden, sometimes spelled with a K (as with Canadian kayaker Adam van Koeverden).
Geography
Coervorden is located at in the south of the province of Drenthe in the east of the Netherlands.
The population centres in the municipality are:
Aalden
Achterste Erm
Ballast
Benneveld
Coevorden
Dalen
Dalerpeel
Dalerveen
De Kiel
De Mars
Den Hool
Diphoorn
Eldijk
Erm
Gees
Geesbrug
Grevenberg
't Haantje
Holsloot
Hoogehaar
Kibbelveen
Klooster
Langerak
Meppen
Nieuwe Krim
Nieuwlande
Noord-Sleen
Oosterhesselen
Padhuis
Pikveld
Schimmelarij
Schoonoord
Sleen
Steenwijksmoer
Stieltjeskanaal
Valsteeg
Veenhuizen
Vlieghuis
Vossebelt
Wachtum
Weijerswold
Wezup
Wezuperbrug
Zweeloo
Zwinderen
International relations
Coevorden is twinned with:
Transportation
There are two railway stations in the municipality:
Coevorden railway station
Dalen railway station
Notable people
Johannes Benedictus van Heutsz (1851-1924). Gouverneur-generaal (1904-09), a Dutch military officer and governor general of the Dutch East Indies in 1904
Albert Bouwers (1893 in Dalen – 1972) a Dutch optical engineer, worked with X-Rays
Relus ter Beek (1944 in Coevorden – 2008) a Dutch politician
Tim de Zeeuw (born 1956 in Sleen) a Dutch astronomer specializing in the galaxies
Thijs Berman (born 1957 in Coevorden) a former journalist, a Dutch politician and a Member of the European Parliament
Herman von Hebel (born 1961 in Coevorden) was a Registrar of the International Criminal Court
Maxim Februari (born 1963 in Coevorden) a Dutch writer, philosopher and columnist
Joël Voordewind (born 1965 in Sleen) a Dutch politician
Don Pepijn Schipper (born 1980 in Coevorden) stage name Don Diablo is a Dutch DJ, record producer, musician and songwriter of electronic dance music
Mark-Jan Fledderus (born 1982 in Coevorden) a Dutch retired footballer with 321 caps
See also
Fantasy Gardens, a replica of Coevorden Castle donated to Richmond, British Columbia for the Expo 86
Gallery
References
External links
Cities in the Netherlands
Municipalities of Drenthe
Populated places in Drenthe
Star forts