Groningen - Culture

  An old city with a young population

Groningen is the "capital" of the Northern Netherlands. The city was founded in the early Middle Ages and was, for some time, a member of the Hanseatic League, the medieval trade alliance of the cities in the north of the Netherlands and Germany.

The rich history of the town is immediately apparent to every visitor: stately buildings tower over charming old alleys and almshouses. But, Groningen is more than just the past. It is a dynamic city with a young and ambitious population. Trade and industry are ever expanding and the city's modern architecture has international appeal. Groningen looks to the future!

The first official document in which the city of Groningen is mentioned dates from 1040, so Groningen's origins must lie before that date. Even though this respectable age does not make Groningen the Netherland's oldest city, with more than half of the population under 35, it is certainly the youngest.

After Leiden, Groningen is also the oldest university town of the country, with an age-old tradition of being a centre of knowledge, science, and culture, but also of trade and industry. Of its 170,000 inhabitants, 35,000 are students. This striking composition of the population is partly responsible for the sparkling character of the city. The many cafes and restaurants, the theatres, museums and cinemas, the discotheques and nightclubs give Groningen the feel of a small metropolis.

An energetic province

The city of Groningen is situated in a green countryside of vast fields and meadows, dotted with small, age-old villages. This is the province of Groningen. Traditionally, Groningen was mainly an agricultural region. The number of jobs in agriculture has decreased, however, partly due to mechanization and the development of industries.

Situated as it is near the sea, the province had many shipyards, but the importance of shipbuilding has also decreased over the past twenty years, due to international competition. The discovery in the 1950s of an enormous gas deposit, has meant an enormous boost to the province's economy. Groningen became the most important energy source of the Netherlands and supplier of one of the main Dutch export products.

Far from the crowded Randstad (the region enclosed by Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht) the province of Groningen offers its visitors peace, quiet, and space. Most of the area lies below sea level and is enclosed by dikes. An extensive network of ditches and canals drains off surplus water to the sea, by means of authentic Dutch windmills and ultra-modern pumping-stations. The terpen en wierden date back to the time when the sea was a real threat to the land and its inhabitants. They are artificial hills rising above the flat land, on which villages were built.

The north of the province borders on the Waddenzee (Wadden Sea), which is an arm of the North Sea enclosed by a string of islands. It is a very interesting scenic area, the domain of seals and the breeding ground for hundreds of thousands of birds of many species.

Groningen City is a very special and unique place. It is not only the centre of the Groningen Province, but it is also seen as the centre across the provincial borders.
The many students and young people in Groningen City can often be found in the dozen of bars, restaurants and cafés, discos and other places of entertainment. The historical centre of the city is situated around the 'Grote Markt' and the 'Vismarkt', which are the sites of a lively street trade in the form of stands offering a very high quality and a wide selection. Also the big shopping streets are to be found here, the most important one is the 'Heerestraat'. The Groninger Flower market is an attraction in itself, which is well worth a trip.