Bellingwedde

Bellingwedde (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌbɛlɪŋˈʋɛdə]) is a municipality with a population of 9,039 in the province Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. It contains the villages Bellingwolde, Blijham, Oudeschans, Veelerveen, Vriescheloo, and Wedde. The acting mayor of Bellingwedde is Janneke Snijder-Hazelhoff (VVD) and the aldermen are Lea van der Tuin (CDA) and Jannes Buiter (PBB).

The four major roads in Bellingwedde are N367, N368, N969, and N973. Bus services are connecting the villages to the surrounding municipalities.

Etymology

The name Bellingwedde is a contraction of Bellingwolde and Wedde, which are the names of the two municipalities that were merged in 1968 to form Bellingwedde. At the time, three names were being considered for the new municipality: Bellingewedde as proposed by the province of Groningen, Bellingwolde-Wedde as proposed by the municipal council of Bellingwolde, and Bellingwedde as proposed by the municipal council of Wedde. The province selected the last option, which was eventually also accepted by the municipal council of Bellingwolde.