In 1259 a nunnery moved to what is now the city centre of Assen. The names of certain streets in Assen, like Gedempte Singel, Noordersingel, Oostersingel and Zuidersingel still refer to the webbing which was made in the 13th century. In 1602 the nunnery closed, which led to a real settlement within the webbing in the 17th century. It was only in the 1800s that the outer areas of this settlement started getting populated. This development together with prosperity led to bourgeois and nobels to settle in Assen. Certain houses like Huize Overcingel or het Witte Huis still remind us of that era. In name of Napoleon Bonaparte Assen became a municipality in 1807. Two years later in 1809 Assen got her city rights, and in 1814 it became the capitol city of Drenthe, one of the 12 provinces in the Netherlands. Visit het Drents Museum to learn more about the history of Assen and Drenthe.
