Editing Assen (section)

===City rights===
[[File:Beilerstraat 82 Assen.jpg|thumb|left|''De Eerste Steen'', a typical early 20th-century estate]]
Assen has been an official city since 1809. After [[Coevorden]], then a village of about sixteen hundred people, Assen became the second place in [[Drenthe]] with [[City rights in the Low Countries|city rights]], granted by King Louis Napoleon, who had big plans for the village. A plan to make it a city was set up at the time, but the Kingdom of the Netherlands was incorporated into [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]]'s [[First French Empire|French Empire]], and the plans were abandoned.

As an administrative centre, Assen attracted well-to-do [[Residency (domicile)|inhabitants]] and new enterprises and initiatives. These contributed to a slow but steady increase of commerce, wealth and new establishments; such a newspaper in 1823, a [[Latin]] school in 1825, a postal service on [[Groningen (city)|Groningen]] in 1830, a court in 1840, a first beginning for a [[garrison]] in 1852 and a railway station in 1870. Another major achievement was the canal Drentse Hoofdvaart, which was used to transport peat and other goods; the Noord-Willemskanaal was opened in 1861. The most important monuments of the city are from the nineteenth century.