Meppel

History

Meppel flourished in the 16th century as an inland harbour for peat transport and distribution. It was an important transit port thanks to its connection to the Drentsche Hoofdvaart and Hoogeveense Vaart canals on one side and the Meppelerdiep canal on the other. The Zuiderzee could be reached via the Meppelerdiep canal at Zwartsluis. Peat was exported from all over Drenthe to the west of the country along this route. Now only one waterway remains in the town. In the 17th and 18th centuries, many bargemen settled in the town, which had received city rights from the bailiff of Drenthe in 1644 and now had more than a thousand inhabitants. In 1809, Meppel was again granted city rights by Louis Napoleon. On 5 November 1815, Meppel received its own city regulations from King William I. Partly because of the canal names Heerengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht, the city is sometimes called the Mokum of the North (even if the name is more used for Winschoten). Meppel is also compared to Amsterdam for other reasons. For example, there were centuries of ties between the two cities, and the Jewish community was well represented in Meppel before the Second World War. In the twentieth century, several canals that ran straight through the city center were filled in. Several drawbridges were also replaced by fixed bridges. Since then, it has become impossible to sail through Meppel into Drenthe, partly due to the narrowing of the Hoogeveense Vaart in 2005 near the Oosterboer. On 1 October 1867, Meppel railway station opened to service, drastically improving connectivity in the region. On 1 January 1998, the municipality of Nijeveen, northwest of Meppel, was merged with that of Meppel, retaining the latter name. During World War II, almost all of Meppel's Jewish…

Geography

Meppel is located at in the southwestern part of the province of Drenthe in the northeastern part of the Netherlands. The Meppelerdiep, the Drentsche Hoofdvaart and the Hoogeveense Vaart connect Meppel to Zwartsluis, Assen and Hoogeveen. To offload professional transport vessels the Omgelegde Hoogeveense Vaart was dug out south of the city. The Meppelerdiep is accessible for boats with a size of 2,000 ton. The streams Reest and Wold Aa run through the city. The Reest end in the Meppeler Diep. The population centres in the municipality are: * Nijeveen * Nijentap * Havelterberg (part) * Broekhuizen * Rogat * De Schiphorst

Most-observed species

• White Stork

  Ciconia ciconia (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,247
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,658
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,592
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,096
• Common Chiffchaff

  Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  9,174
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,697
• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  8,533
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  8,167

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2025-11-14
  0 km ESE of Uithuizen, Netherlands
• M 2.7 — 2022-09-24
  3 km SSW of Spijk, Netherlands
• M 3.2 — 2019-05-22
  1 km E of Warffum, Netherlands
• M 3.4 — 2013-02-07
  1 km NE of Usquert, Netherlands
• M 3.4 — 2012-08-16
  1 km NNE of Loppersum, Netherlands
• M 3.3 — 2008-10-30
  2 km SSW of Usquert, Netherlands