Provincie Overijssel Vacations, Provincie Overijssel Vacation Reviews, Tourism Guide

Overijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country, and borders to Germany in the east. The province's name in both Dutch and Latin means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle.

The name Overijssel was used for the first time in 1528. Before that it was:‘Oversticht’.

Deventer, Kampen and Zwolle were powerful Hanseatic towns that together with the knighthoods of Salland, Twente and Vollenhove formed the ‘parliament’ of Overijssel. The mayors of the large towns and the members of the knighthoods governed the province, which had been part of the DutchRepublic since the rebellion against Philips II (son of Charles V).

After a short occupation by the bishop of Munster (1672-1674) Overijssel got a different form of government, giving the stadtholders more power. The patriot resistance against this, led by Joan Derk van der Capellen tot de Pol, eventually resulted in the BatavianRepublic in 1795. A centralist government arose and the country was divided into departments. Overijssel and parts of Gelderland and Friesland became the ‘Department of the Old IJssel’.

In 1801 the old provincial boundaries were restored. After 1813 the Provincial Council consisted of representatives from the knighthoods, the three large towns and the rural regions.

The five large cities are: Zwolle, Deventer, Enschede, Hengelo and Almelo.