Onstwedde

Onstwedde was first mentioned in 875 as Uneswido in documents of the Werden Abbey.[4] The name means the forest (-wido similar to the English wood) of Une (first name).[5] The village is a double esdorp, a communal pasture surrounded by houses. The northern pasture was called Wold, and the southern pasture Loug.[6] Onstwedde was a part of Westerwolde, a region dominated by raised bogs which formed the natural border between Groningen, East Frisia and the Prince-Bishopric of Münster.[7][8] Onstwedde is located in the valley of the Mussel-Aa river,[6] and was a fertile island surrounded by bogs on all sides.[4]

A dominant feature of Onstwedde is the Nicolaas Church which was constructed around 1500. It has a 41 metres (135 ft) tall tower. The walls are 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) thick, and it used to be surrounded by a moat and could be accessed via a drawbridge. It is assumed that the church was also used as a fortification.[8]

Onstwedde used to be the main village of the region.[6] In 1765, the city of Groningen started to dig the Stadskanaal to the south of Onstwedde in order to exploit the peat.[9] In 1840, the population of Onstwedde was 2,405 people,[8] and Stadskanaal had 1,980 inhabitants.[9] Stadskanaal soon surpassed Onstwedde, and in 1882, the town hall was moved to Stadskanaal.[6] In 1969, the municipality was renamed Stadskanaal.[9]

On 20 April 1943, the Royal Canadian Air Force bomber Mosquito II crashed and burnt in Smeerling near Onstwedde. The crew members are buried in a Commonwealth War Grave on the municipal cemetery.[10]

The two elementary schools of Onstwedde merged into a single entity. Since 2011, the kindergarten, elementary school and high school moved into MFA De Bast, a single building. Onstwedde is one of the few places in the Netherlands where all educational facilities are concentrated in a single building.[4]

Smeerling 18

The hamlet of Smeerling is located on the road to Vlagtwedde.[11] It contains about ten houses and is home to approximately 25 people, and is considered a part of Onstwedde for statistical and postal services.[12]

There are eight farms in the hamlet which are in similar condition to the 1830 situation.[13] Five of the farms are monuments,[12] the others are from a later date, but traditionally constructed and match the surroundings. In 1972, the entire hamlet was designated a protected monument.[13] The protected area measures 91.6 hectares (226 acres). A two kilometre path has been constructed through the hamlet, forests and meadows of Smeerling.[12]

• Henk Bleker (born 1953), Dutch politician[14]
• Izaak Reijnders (1879–1966), Dutch general[15]

• 
  Former town hall
• 
  Post mill (1936)
• 
  Pagediep, a remnant of the former bogs

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Onstwedde.

• www.onstwedde.info (in Dutch)