Westerwolde (municipality)

Westerwolde (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌʋɛstərˈʋɔldə]; Gronings: Westerwoolde) is a municipality in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands.

Westerwolde
Municipality
Ter Apel Bellingwolde Vlagtwedde Sellingen Blijham Wedde Ter Apelkanaal
Flag Coat of arms
Location in Groningen
Coordinates: 53.0281°N 7.1445°E / 53.0281; 7.1445
Country	Netherlands
Province	Groningen
Established	1 January 2018
Government
• Body	Municipal council
• Mayor	Jaap Velema (D66)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Website	www.westerwolde.nl

The municipalities of Bellingwedde and Vlagtwedde have merged into the new municipality of Westerwolde on 1 January 2018.^[1] The municipality continues to use both municipal halls in Sellingen and Wedde.^[2]

Geography

Map of the municipality

The municipality is located in the southeast of the province of Groningen at the border with Drenthe and in the northeast of the Netherlands at the border with Germany. Neighbouring municipalities in the Netherlands are Oldambt in the north, Pekela and Stadskanaal in the west, Borger-Odoorn in the southwest, and Emmen in the south. Neighbouring municipalities in Germany are Bunde in the northeast, Rhede, Dörpen, and Lathen in the east, and Haren in the southeast.

Politics

On 22 November 2017, the first election was held for Westerwolde municipal council.^[3] The next election was held on 16 March 2022, the result shown in the table below.^[4] The council has 21 seats, the number determined by the population size.

Party		Popular vote		Seats
		Votes	%
	Gemeentebelangen Westerwolde (GB)	2,879	26.92	6 / 19
	Labour Party (PvdA)	2,175	20.33	5 / 19
	Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA)	2,055	19.21	4 / 19
	Party for Freedom (PVV)	1,312	12.27	3 / 19
	GroenLinks (GL)	831	7.77	1 / 19
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)	751	7.02	1 / 19
	Ecologisch Alternatief Westerwolde	693	6.48	1 / 19

Notable people

• Siert Bruins (1921 in Weite – 2015) a Dutch member of the SS and SD during World War II
• Minze Stuiver (1929 in Vlagtwedde – 2020) a geochemist and geoscience researcher especially in radiocarbon dating
• Jan Mulder (born 1945 in Bellingwolde) former footballer with 200 caps, writer, columnist and TV personality
• Geert Meijer (born 1951 in Sellingen) football manager and former professional player with 295 caps
• Anja Hazekamp (born 1968 in Vlagtwedde) politician and Member of the European Parliament
• Claudia Bokel (born 1973 in Ter Apel) a German épée fencer, silver medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• Rindert van Zinderen Bakker (Ter Apel 1912 – Almere Haven 1993) member of the Dutch Resistance in WWII and politician

Gallery

• 
  South side of the Ter Apel Monastery
• 
  Haren-Ruitenbroek canal at German border, near Ter Apel
• 
  Boslaan with Hotel Boschhuis in Ter Apel
• 
  De Spinnenkop windmill in Wedderveer