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De Marne (The Netherlands)

Groningen province

Gerard van der Vaart - Shipmate : http://www.shipmate.nl/flags.htm

Municipal flag
Eenrum
Kloosterburen
Leens
Ulrum

See also:

De Marne municipality

Number of inhabitants (1 Jan 2003): 11.180; area: 167,35 km². Settlements: Leens (seat), Broek, Eenrum, Hornhuizen, Houwerzijl, Kleine Huisjes, Kloosterburen, Kruisweg, Lauwersoog, Mensingeweer, Molenrij, Niekerk, Pieterburen, Schouwerzijl, Ulrum, Vierhuizen, Warfhuizen, Wehe-den Hoorn, Westernieland, Zoutkamp, Zuurdijk
De Marne is a new municipality in northwest Groningen, consisting of the old municipalities of Ulrum, Leens, Kloosterburen and Eenrum (since 1 Jan 1990; the municipality was first named Ulrum; on 1 Jan 1992 it was renamed De Marne). It is an agricultural area with the old harbor of Zoutkamp on the spot where the canalized river 'Reitdiep' streamed into the Lauwerszee; and of course with the creche for seals in Pieterburen.
Info from <http://www.bng.nl/ngw/m/demarne.htm>:
This area was formerly an island in the Hunze river. Named 'De Marne' it was a division of the region Hunsingo. De Marne enjoyed legal freedom as the German emperor wasn't able to exert his power there. It had a seal since 1375 showing St. Peter with a key with a head in the form of a cross. The seat of justice was in the church, devoted to St. Peter in Leens.
This region is a kind of mirror of the Friesland municipality of Dongeradeel and it can't be an accident that both have blue fields
halved by white (wavy) bars. Of the former municipalities Sierksma (Nederlands Vlaggenboek, 1962) [sie62} has drawn only the flag of Eenrum.
Jarig Bakker, 7 November 1999

De Marne CoA

image from the De Marne municipal website.

Granted 28 Aug 1990.

Eenrum [former municipality]

Shipmate : http://www.shipmate.nl/flags.htm

Adopted 15 May 1962

Ulrum [former municipality]

by Jarig Bakker, 2 Jun 2003

Ulrum is a village with c. 2000 inhabitants in the municipality of De Marne in Groningen province. Until 1990 it was the seat of Ulrum municipality, which then merged with Eenrum, Leens, and Kloosterburen to form the new municipality of Ulrum, renamed in 1992 to De Marne.
It was first mentioned in the 11th century as Uluringhem, the settlement of the people of Ulurin or Ulrin. The village lies on two "wierden" (man-made hills). On one wierde is the Romano-gothic church (end 12th century), on the other the demolished castle of Asingaborg, since 1988 the site of a park. Here Hendrik de Cock was vicar when he started the "Afscheiding" (secession) movement in 1834, which became the foundation of the "Gereformeerde Kerken" in the Netherlands. The "Kocksianen" were
enthusiastically persecuted (even some laws of Napoleon were used against them), and some of them migrated to Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA), where they founded Holland, Michigan.
For centuries Ulrum was the terminal of the "snik" (track-boat) from Groningen city. Between 1873 and 1916 there was on the Hunsingokanaal the "Ceres" straw-paper factory.

According to Derkwillem Visser's "Gemeentevlaggen en wapens Koninkrijk der Nederlanden", 2001, the municipal flag of Ulrum was adopted 25 Jan 1972; description: five equally wide horizontal stripes yellow - white - blue - green - white.
Jarig Bakker, 2 Jun 2003

May I assume that the Groningsen "wierden" are the same as the Frisian "terpen"?
The "terpen" were built from the 5th century A.D, till the 13th century in order to prevent sea and river waters to flood farms and churches. The height of the "terpen" varies between 2 and 6 meters, their area between 1 and 12 ha. The north of Friesland is called "Terpenland". A literal translation of "terpen" would be "mound", wouldn't it?
Ivan Sache, 2 Jun 2003

You are right: "terpen" and "wierden" are synonyms. The "Groninger Ommelanden" were part of Friesland in the Middle Ages (nowadays they still use the Frisian flag on their flag and CoA) and the landscape is about the same as the Frisian landscape - the farms are a bit bigger; in Friesland the farmers are "boeren", in Grunningen they're called "hereboeren", and their farmhouses are more stately. We don't really know how high the terpen or wierden really were, as the top was often used as very fertile soil, and "scientists" have demolished many buildings and mounds for their "research" in the 19th century. The terp
in Hoogebeintum/Hegebeintum in Ferwerderadiel is the highest known: 12,50 meters above sealevel. (its church is well worth a visit). The largest in area was 18 ha. One of the most impressive is in Ezinge (Groningen), with 17 ha. In Friesland many placenames contain *wier* or *werd* as a reference to their terpen. In the Betuwe (western Gelderland) terpen were called "woerden".
Jarig Bakker, 2 Jun 2003