Groningen (redirected from Grönigen)

Groningen, city, Netherlands

Groningen, city (1994 pop. 170,535), capital of Groningen prov., NE Netherlands. It is an important trade and transportation center. Manufactures include clothing, food products, furniture, and machinery. Among its prominent industries are sugar refining, book printing, and tobacco processing. In the 11th cent., Groningen came under the temporal power of the bishops of Utrecht. It soon rose to prominence and in the 12th cent. supplied ships for the Crusades. In 1284 it joined the Hanseatic League and later gained control over the central section of Friesland, which now constitutes Groningen prov. The city remained loyal to the Hapsburgs at the beginning of the revolt of the Netherlands against Spain, but was captured by the Dutch under Maurice of Nassau in 1594. A picturesque city, Groningen has several churches, notably the Martinikerk (15th cent.) and the Nieuwe Kerk (17th cent.), as well as the Groniger Museum of Art and many other museums. It is also the site of the Univ. of Groningen (1614).

---

Groningen, province, Netherlands

Groningen (grō`nĭng-ən), province (1994 pop. 556,600), c.900 sq mi (2,330 sq km), NE Netherlands, bordering on Germany in the east and the North Sea in the north. Groningen is the capital of the province, which has both an agricultural and industrial economy. There is a fertile coastal strip; the interior consists largely of reclaimed fenland and peat bogs and is drained by numerous canals. Vast reserves of natural gas were discovered there in 1961. In 1536, Charles V, the Hapsburg ruler, added Groningen to his Netherlands possessions. During the revolt of the Netherlands against Spain, the nobles living in the province's countryside signed the Union of Utrecht in 1579. The capital, however, remained loyal to the Hapsburgs until 1594.

---

Groningen

1. a province in the NE Netherlands: mainly agricultural. Capital: Groningen. Pop.: 573 000 (2003 est.). Area: 2336 sq. km (902 sq. miles)

2. a city in the NE Netherlands, capital of Groningen province. Pop.: 177 000 (2003 est.)

---

Groningen 

a province in the Netherlands. Area, 2.300 sq km. Population, 517,000 (1970). Its administrative center is the city of Groningen. Agriculture is the basis of its economy. Among the crops grown are wheat, oats, barley, rye, potatoes (Groningen and the province of Drenthe produce 30 percent of all exports of seed potatoes and starch in the capitalist world), sugar beets, and flax. The Slochteren region has one of the most important deposits of natural gas in Europe (1.900 billion cu m, according to a 1967 estimate). The Winschoten region produces table salt. (The solution moves by pipe to Delfzijl.) The province also has some metal-working and food industry.

---

Groningen 

a city in the northeastern Netherlands. Administrative center of Groningen Province. In 1970 it had a population of 168,800 (199,800 counting the surrounding areas). It is a transportation center, with canals to Dollart Bay, Wadden Zee, and IJsselmeer. It has food (mainly sugar), tobacco, clothing, and metalworking industries and also important chemical and printing enterprises. The first record of the city dates from the 11th century; in 1284 it joined the Hanseatic League. Its university dates from 1614. The city has a rectangular network of streets and a ring of boulevards on the site of fortifications of the 17th century. The Grote Markt and Vischmarkt squares are in the center of the city. The Martinikerk and the Akerk are Gothic churches dating from the 15th century. The town hall (1802–10, architect J. O. Husly) is in the classical style. In the mid-20th century many new residential areas and office buildings have been built in the modern style.

REFERENCE

Neurdenburg. E. De historische schoonheid van Groningen. Amsterdam, 1942.