Nieuwlande

Geschiedenis

Nieuwlande is a small Dutch village. The population, as of 1 January 2004, is 1,250. It is located in the north-eastern province of Drenthe. In the Drents dialect, the town is called Neilande. The town is situated in the municipality of Hoogeveen. It is one of only two villages in the world that collectively received Righteous Among the Nations award for all 117 inhabitants of the village for saving Jews during World War II, the other being the French Le Chambon-sur-Lignon.Nieuwlande is on peat land in the south of Drenthe. It arose where five municipalities meet: Oosterhesselen, Dalen, Coevorden, Hardenberg, and Hoogeveen. For this reason a book about Nieuwlande's history of the village had the catching title "Nieuwlande, village with five burgomasters". This situation obstructed to a great extent the extension possibilities and an efficient governing board: for many municipalities it was but an unimportant edge area. At the municipal division of Drenthe on 1 January 1998 it was chosen for this reason for the village to be in one municipality, by moving over to the municipality border of Hoogeveen about 1.5 kilometre to the east. The small part in the municipality of Hardenberg was, however, not concerned at this; and also beyond the new municipality border some inhabitants of Nieuwlande still lived in the new fusion municipality Coevorden. The border now, however, no longer goes straight through the village