section_path: History/Drents Haagje
section_name: Drents Haagje
paragraph_text: Drents Haagje
  
  Assen 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 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 prominently in the Drentse Haagje. The municipal authority mainly got there because 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.