Dietzland (municipality)

Dietzland is a municipality in Kronenburg. It consists of two large and several smaller islands. The municipality was created in 1798 and is located north-east of Groningen, Waterland and Oosterland and has aproximately 316,000 inhabitants, 134,000 of which live in the capital city of Portus Regius.

Koningin Marie-Louiseland

'Queen Marie-Louiseland', as it is sometimes called in English, is named after queen Marie-Louise (1688 - 1765), the wife of king Jan I. The municipal capital of Portus Regius is located on the northeasternmost point of the island. The city was founded in 1806 in commemmoration of king Willem III and, as the name suggests, the city is above all a harbour city, from where the country's second most important fishing fleet operates. The city is old fashioned with little new buildings. The psychological centre of the city (which isn't the real centre of the city) is Het Merk, a large rectangular square with some kind of triumphal arch in the middle. On the north side of Het Merk the stately city hall is located, with monumental stairs and an impressing balcony, where the mayor traditionally wishes the people a happy new year on the 2nd of January each year. On the south side of the square one finds the municipal library; one of few modern buildings in the city. In Portus Regius a shipping museum and the colonisation museum can be found as well. The 'Dietzlandse Concerthuis' (Dietzlandic Concert House) is home to the Dietzlandic Philharmonic Orchestra.

On the island the villages of Oosterbaai, Jansbaai and Treurgat can be found as well.

Koningin Annaland

The second largest island of Dietzland is Koningin Annaland, named after queen Anna (1709 - 1759), the wife of king Willem II. The largest place on this island is Zurich, a lively town of around 100,000 inhabitants. The three villages on the island are called Gaast, Ulsda and Madaket. Little happens there.

The island is the final destination of a bridge which is projected to be built from Oosterland, through Engelbert.

Engelbert

The narrow island of Engelbert used to be part of the municipality of Oosterland, but was made part of Dietzland in 1976. The only settlement on the island is the town of Engelbert, which was founded in 1922. Nowadays, Engelbert has around 53,000 inhabitants. Engelbert is one of the more christian villages of Kronenburg. The town has four large churches and several smaller ones. The Henoch Church on the Begraafplaatslaan is the largest one. Apart from the typical little colonists' houses which were built since the foundation of the city, one can find on the Havenstraat the famous Light House of Engelbert, built in 1927. The Plein ('Square') has the Sveinbjörnráðhús, the town hall, built in 1957 by the Icelandic immigrant Þórólfur Sveinbjörnsson. In the eastern part of the town, on the Zeeweg, you can see the 'Congresgebouw' (Congress building) from 1991. This building is a rather abstract composition, but for those who love modern architecture a source of beauty and spatial design. In the Koningin Albertine Agnes-Zaal in this congress building, the first AGL Conference in Kronenburg was organised on 8 January 2000.

Other islands

Among the smaller islands of Dietzland, there are three that are inhabited. The first is the island of Iris, which is on the AGL list of Cultural Heritage. The village of Den Draai is located on Iris. The second is Oranjeland, which contains the villages of Fort Albertine Agnes and Fort Casimir. The small island of Kassel is almost completely occupied by the village with the same name.

Mayors

#	mayor of Dietzland	took office	left office	remarks
1	Henrik Dantuma	1798	1814
2	Johannes Dykstra	1814	1817
3	Foppe Dykstra	1817	1843
4	Oene Walstra	1843	1850
5	Durk Hubertus Menkema	1850	1855
6	Rinze Dykstra	1855	1871
7	George Radcliffe	1871	1878
8	Maarten Roorda	1878	1890
9	Hans Willem Wissink	1890	1894
10	Douwe Bottema	1894	1903
11	Eyso Gjaltema	1903	1923
12	Frans Potze	1923	1923
13	Richard Walstra	1923	1935
14	Otto Bruins Kammingha first time	1935	1941
	Clifford Graham	1941	1947	Appointed by U.S. administration
15	Otto Bruins Kammingha second time	1947	1950
16	Boele Nijenstijn	1950	1960
17	Thorben Hillborg	1960	1966
18	Pia Eisses-Opland Falting (f)	1966	1973
19	Marja Weisbeek-van Haren (f)	1973	1980
20	Albert Prins	1980	1983
21	Bas Maarsingh	1983	1991
22	Saskia Wiersma-Wittenberg (f)	1991	1996
23	Hendrik van den Brink	1996	2000
24	Albert Fransuma	2000	2012
25	Margit Graeff-Ahlstrand (f)	2012	incumbent