The history of Groningen.

1. Groningen

2. Overview
 Groningen (Gronings: Grunnen) is the
main municipality and capital of the
province of the same name in the
Netherlands.
 With a population of 202,567 at the
2017 census, it is the largest city in the
north of the Netherlands.
 An ancient city, it was the regional
power of the northern Netherlands, a
partially independent city-state and
member of the German Hanseatic
League.
 Groningen is a university city; it is
home to the University of Groningen
(with nearly 30,000 students) and the
Hanze University of Applied Sciences
(with nearly 25,000 students).

3. Symbols
Flag Coat of arms

4. Peter den Oudsten, current Mayor of Groningen

5. History
 While the oldest archaeological clues discovered are believed to have their origins from the
years 3950–3720 BC (its earliest known major settlement has been dated as far back as the
3rd century AD), little is known of its history prior to 1040, when it was given, together with the
adjoining districts then known as the Gorecht, to the bishops of Utrecht by Emperor Henry
III.
 Initially an agricultural settlement, it grew into an important commercial center on the Aa
River, dispensing ships for the Crusades in the 12th century and joining the Hanseatic
League.
 By the 14th century, Groningen was a mostly independent aristocratic republic that regulated
the (Frisian) Ommelanden (Surrounding Regions) between the Ems (Eems) River and the
Lauwerszee and maintained a tight control of trade in the area.
 It passed to the Duke of Gelderland in 1515 and to Emperor Charles V in 1536 and
underwent frequent blockades and occupations in the wars of the 16th century.

6. History – cont.
 Occupied by the Spanish from 1580, it was continuously at war with the contiguous
Ommelanden until it was seized by Maurice of Nassau in 1594.
 It successfully withstood a blockade by the Bishop of Münster in 1672, and its
ramparts were upgraded in 1698 by the Dutch military engineer Baron Menno
van Coehoorn.
 The city was under French rule from 1795 to 1814.
 The Nazis occupied it during World War II, when it suffered intense damage.

7. 1580 map of Groningen

8. Siege of Groningen, 1672

9. Raising the Vrijheidsboom, circa 1795

10. Canadian soldiers during the
Battle of Groningen, April 1945

11. History – cont.
 Groningen has a university (1614,
right) and a number of museums,
namely the provincial museum.
 Among its notable landmarks are the
Martinikerk (St. Martin’s Church; 1452),
A-Kerk (a Gothic church; 1253), the old
Ommelanderhuis (formerly an
extraterritorial venue of the
representatives of the Ommelanden) in
the refugium of a monastery,
picturesque houses for old people, and
16th- and 17th-century houses.
 The painters Jozef Israëls and Hendrik
Willem Mesdag were born in
Groningen.

12. Landmarks
St. Martin’s Church A-Kerk

13. Landmarks – Ommelanderhuis

14. Modern day
 One of the most important cities in the northern Netherlands today, it is a
shopping and industrial center with a significant exchange in cereals, oilseed,
lumber, and cattle.
 Its industries comprise sugar refining, metallurgy, food processing, and asphalt
and steel manufacturing.

15. Groningen Airport Eelde

16. References
 https://www.britannica.com/place/Groningen-Netherlands
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groningen#History
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Groningen