Assen, gemeente (municipality), northeastern Netherlands, at the northeastern end of the Drentsche Hoofd (also called Smilder) Canal. Founded in 1257 around a small convent, it was not chartered until 1807, when King Louis Bonaparte made it the provincial capital. An agricultural and dairy centre, it also has some light industry. It is a rail junction, and Eelde airport is 10 miles (16 km) north. The 13th-century Cistercian convent church remains and houses a museum of antiquities; in the vicinity of Assen are prehistoric stone monuments (hunebedden). Pop. (2007 est.) 64,391.