Provincie Groningen - Province of Groningen
Groningen is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands with a typical Low Saxon dialect called Gronings (Grönnegs / Grunnegs in Gronings regional language), with local nuances. Nowadays, many inhabitants of the province do not speak the dialect, especially in the city of Groningen where many outsiders have moved.
Its capital, which gave the name to the province – Groningen is a big and active city, the seat of the powerful energy company exploiting natural gas from the North Sea as well from the Dutch mainland - Gausnie. The company’s headquarters, a huge modern building by the Dutch architects Alberts and van Huut, in view of its authors an example of an "organic architecture" is called by the locals "apenrots" (the rock of apes).
The center of Groningen has been preserved. Its attraction lays in a contrast between old and new. An important museum – Groninger Museum housed in a complex modern structure by an Italian architect Alessandro Mendini is worth a 150 km trip from Amsterdam. It has an interesting collection of modern art as well as archeological artifacts and Old Dutch Golden age art shown in a context of interesting, modern architecture. Again, contrast between old and new so characteristic for this city may be felt.
In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen (districts of Leer and Emsland), in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea. Land use in Groningen is mainly agricultural, it has a large natural gas field near Slochteren. Local plans to stir economic development and create a city scene similar to New York are under way; rezoning hearings began in late 2005. East Groningen has been the scene of a particularly fierce class struggle in the 19th and 20th century. Perhaps not coincidentally, Groningen boasts the only municipality (Beerta) where the Dutch Communist party has ever had a mayor (Hanneke Jagersma). The capital of the province is the city of Groningen.
