page_title: Emmen, Netherlands
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Emmen, Netherlands / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Dolmen d43 in Emmen Nederlands: Hunebed d43 in Emmen
context_page_description: Emmen is a municipality and town of the province Drenthe in the northeastern Netherlands.
context_section_description: A prime example of a planned city, Emmen arose from several small farming and peat-harvesting communities which have dotted the province of Drenthe since the Middle Ages. Traces of these communities can still be seen in the form of the villages of Westenesch, Noordbarge and Zuidbarge: they have a separate history and layout, but are surrounded by the suburbs and the centre of Emmen.
  The expansion of the town did not happen until after the Second World War. Suburbs were built around the old centre of Emmen, starting with Emmermeer directly to the north, and followed to the south-east by Angelslo (for which an old village of the same name was demolished), Emmerhout (famed at the time for being separated from the town by an existing forest) to the east, Bargeres, the Rietlanden and Parc Sandur to the south and south-west. Construction of the last suburb, called Delftlanden, is well underway with a large number of homes already built and people living in the area.
  There are few historic landmarks left within the town, but those few include the church on the market square, where a church has been standing since the Middle Ages, the court of law building, dating from the beginning of the twentieth century, and the post office from the same time.  In the town's environs an earthwork by Robert Smithson, "Broken Circle/Spiral Hill", may be found.
  In 1957 it hosted the 1st Women's Chess Olympiad.
  The prime economic booster since the 1980s has been the zoo, the Dierenpark Emmen. Begun in the 1930s, it was almost completely redesigned in the 1970s, and is now co-owned by the municipality of Emmen. It attracts over 1.5 million visitors per year. It was replaced by Wildlands in 2016, when the old zoo closed. Important industries include Teijin Aramid, DSM Engineering Plastics, Wellman and Diolen Industrial Fibers. There are extensive glasshouse complexes for horticulture, especially in the Klazienaveen-Erica area.  The municipality offers some 38,000 jobs.
  Emmen is the most populous urban area of Drenthe. The municipality of Emmen is one of the largest in the Netherlands, although the area outside the town borders of Emmen is rather rural. The other villages of importance are Emmer-Compascuum, Klazienaveen, Nieuw-Amsterdam and Schoonebeek.
caption: Dolmen in Emmen
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