secularised. Maria in Campis no longer existed, but the buildings did. Because of the central position of Assen and the fact that the government from what was then called de Landschap Drenthe (the Landscape Drenthe) was searching for a location for the government and civil servants, Assen became the seat for, and thus practically also the capital of Drenthe.
Drents Haagje
Assen really was not a municipality yet, not even ecclesiastical sense. Even though there was an abbey church, Assen fell ecclesiastically and administratively under Rolde. In 1615 Assen got its own preacher. In 1807 Assen administratively freed itself from the control of Rolde when the village got to establish its own municipal authorities. A municipal authority which moreover in most cases operated in the shadow of the provincial government, which always manifested itself prominent in the Drentse Haagje. The municipal authority mainly got there because of matter of provincial governors like governor Petrus Hofstede, to which the city also thanks its uniquely located park (in the center of the city). From that time Assen also obtained its nickname het Herenbolwerk.
City Rights
Assen currently has about 65,000 inhabitants, but it only got a real city scope after World War II. But it has been an official city since 1809. After Coevorden, then a village of about sixteen hundred people, Assen became the second place in Drenthe with city rights, granted by King Lodewijk Napoleon, who had big plans with the village. A plan to make it a real city was set up at the time, but unfortunately for Assen, the Kingdom of the Netherlands was incorporated with France of Napoleon Bonaparte and the plans were abandoned.
As administrative centre, Assen attracted well-to-do inhabitants and with that also new enterprises and initiatives, these contributed to slow but steady increase of commerce, wealth
