was secularised. Marienkamp no longer existed, but the buildings did. Because of the central position of Assen and the fact that the government from what was then called de Landschap Drenthe (the Landscape Drenthe) was searching for a location for the government and civil servants, Assen became the seat for, and thus practically also the capital of Drenthe. 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. City rights 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, 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 Bonaparte's French Empire ,and the plans were abandoned. As an administrative centre, Assen attracted well-to-do 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 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. Industry Around 1900 Assen began to play a more prominent industrial role. It was originally a centre of civil servants, but the establishment of a slaughterhouse, dairy factory and iron foundry created more diverse expansion opportunities and encouraged growth. Around 1930, by establishing various psychiatric hospitals and healthcare centres, Assen became a central point