Every design for Haren

Ever noticed how the land rises, only slightly, as you leave Groningen to the south-east? That low swell is the Hondsrug, a ridge running up from Drenthe, and Haren sits on its northern tip. The old word in its name, 'haar', describes exactly that: a high ridge in the landscape, grown over with grass and scrub.

Haren lies directly south-east of the city of Groningen; of all the places on the Hondsrug, only the city itself sits further north. That position made it a commuter village, and a green one, often called the green pearl of the north. People have lived on this ridge for thousands of years, and archaeologists have found burial mounds, a beaker grave and a hunebed here. The village once had its own harbour on the Drentsche Aa, long since filled in. Between Haren and the city stood the Cistercian convent of klooster Yesse, where the hamlet of Essen now lies, and today walkers find Het Scharlaken Bos and the Hortus Haren close by.

Wherever you live now, take this green edge of the Hondsrug with you.