Hoogeveen is a city of 56,000 people (2019) in Drenthe. It is a good base for those who want to discover the province. It has great cycling and walking routes create a feeling of freedom, such as the Oude Diep walking route or the Rosenboom cycling route.

Understand

• Tourist information, Hoofdstraat 17A, touristinfo@hoogeveen.nl. +31 528 291 177. (updated Nov 2020)

History

Hoogeveen is a relatively young city for the non-reclaimed parts of the Netherlands, being founded in 1636. The town was founded by two investors from Leiden, after they got into conflict about settlement on the peat fields of Drenthe. The main crossing of the settlement, referred to as Het Kruis (the cross), quickly attracted shopkeepers, peat workers, land agents and other people practising all sorts of trades. The town quickly grew, and doubled in size between 1811 and 1874 to over 10,000 citizens. The town was connected to the outside world by rail in 1870, being on the rail line between Meppel and Groningen.

The Second World War was particularly eventful in Hoogeveen, it having a lot of underground militias, working against occupying Nazi forces. The National Socialist mayor of nearby Schoonenbeek was assassinated by a group of Hoogeveen resistance members in June 1943. The Germans retaliated by killing between 25 and 30 Resistance members. Less than a year later, the Resistance staged a heist of the post office, taking some 13,000 bonkaarten (food- and general-purpose stamps). The occupation of Hoogeveen came to an interesting end, when its National Socialist mayor fled by bike and hid in the toilet of a house. He evaded arrest temporarily, but was sentenced to six months imprisonment in 1948, and later settled as an accountant in Rotterdam.

Since the war, Philips, Standard Electric and Fokker settled in the city's industrial scene. The city is also home to a Dutch caravan brand, Kip, which is known mostly for its compact models. Though the models have changed character after bankruptcy in 2010, the vintage compact models are still easily spotted on campsites all across Europe. Most canals connecting to the city, left over from its time as a peat mining colony have been filled in since, though Hoogeveen still has a favourable position between the economic heart of the Netherlands and Germany, being easily accessible for motorized traffic.

Get in

By car

Hoogeveen is at the intersection of the A28, A37 and N(3)48. The A28 connects to most of the rest of the country, connecting the city to Meppel and Zwolle. Zwolle in turn can be reached using the A50 (towards Arnhem and terminating by Eindhoven) if the A28 does not suffice. The A28 terminates at the ringroad of Utrecht, connecting to Amersfoort along the way. If you're coming from either Amsterdam or Schiphol, take the A2 headed for Utrecht, then switch to the A28 using the A27 heading northbound. The German city of Meppen can be found at the end of the A37, which becomes the Bundesstraße 402, which also connects to Autobahn 31, which links Emden and Leer with the Ruhrgebiet. The N48, lastly, is only useful if you're coming from Twente, connecting to Ommen, which in turn is reaches relatively easy from Almelo, Hengelo and Enschede using the N36 and A35. Though the N48 does go on beyond Ommen to become the N348, connecting to Deventer, that city is an hour's drive away, regardless of whether you use the A1, A50 and A38 or not.

By train

Hoogeveen is serviced with a train station, 1 Hoogeveen , had a Sprinter and Intercity service between Zwolle and Groningen, with the Intercity connecting as far as Amsterdam. Both of these trains are at a half-hourly schedule.

See

• 1 De Verhalenwerf (Museum De 5000 Morgen). Culture-historical museum of Hoogeveen, named for the first peat-winning company working in the region. (updated Jun 2020)
• In the centre, especially around the old cross, are some of the oldest houses in the village with beautiful facades, such as the Huis met de Duivengaten (now a restaurant) and the former drugstore from 1703 (now a leather boutique). In the facade, probably the oldest facade in Hoogeveen, is a plaque with the text "So Godt voor ons is Wie sal tegen ons syn". And also the Olde Schippershuus, a café where skippers came together. The Olde Schippershuus is one of the oldest buildings in Hoogeveen. The Van Echten family had it built around 1640 under the name "Tiendenhuis", where the population had to pay taxes. After 1882 it became a café.
• The Cascade, the longest work of art in Europe by the Main Street
• The Historical museum De 5000 Morgen
• The Grote Kerk on the Grote Kerkstraat (construction started in 1651 and was somewhat completed in 1664)
• The statue of the drummer on the Kleine Kerkstraat
• The Jewish cemeteries at van Echtenstraat (founded 1725) and Zuiderweg (founded 1829)

Hoogeveen town hall

• The De Zwaluw corn mill on the van Echtenstraat
• The Synagogue on the Schutstraat, the current church building of the Baptist community union De Schutse
• The Remonstrant Church on the Grote Kerkstraat
• Vincent van Gogh house in Hoogeveen (in 1883 Van Gogh stayed here for a few weeks)

Hoogeveen airport

• Cultural Center Het Podium
• Jewish Historical Museum Hoogeveen

Do

• 1 Skydive Hoogeveen, Plesmanstraat 14, ☏ +31 683 170 163. (updated Jun 2020)
• Escaperoom The Basement (Escaperoom Hoogeveen), De Vos van Steenwijklaan 75, ☏ +31 528 52 21 33, info@escaperoomthebasement.nl. (updated Oct 2020)
• Essent chess tournament
• Tour of Drenthe
• Univé World on Wheels inline skating competition
• Hoogeveense Cascaderun

Buy

• Weekly markets, Centre of town. Th 08:00-13:30, Sa 08:30-17:00. Fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, cheese or meat, beautiful flowers. (updated Nov 2020)

Eat

• Degust. Seafood. (updated Oct 2019)

Sleep

• b&b de binnenhorst. (updated Oct 2019)