Editing Ommen (section)

==Culture==

===Bissing===
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2015}}
[[File:bissingh.jpg|thumb|Former [[burgomaster]] {{Ill|Arend ten Oever|nl}} ([[Christian Democratic Appeal|CDA]]) opening the 2006 Bissing]]

Ommen is famous for its ''Bissing'' [[fair]] and [[market (place)|market]]s. These yearly markets have been organised on the second Tuesday of July since at least 1557. The Bissing lasted three days from Monday till Wednesday. Its success was based on the wide array of products on offer and a relaxation of [[excise]]s and regulation on alcoholic consumption, attracting merchants and consumers to Ommen from far and wide. In the 19th century it became one of the main markets in the province of [[Overijssel]], and there would often be [[Brawling (legal definition)|brawl]]s and [[riot]]s. In 1918, the council of [[Dutch Reformed Church]] asked the town council to end the public events surrounding the Bissing for moral reasons. The town council complied and the Bissing activities were suspended until 1958, although the market continued.

Nowadays the Bissing has become a major [[tourist attraction]], lasting for five consecutive Wednesdays after the initial market and comprising a wide array of ceremonies, fairs, concerts, funfairs and activities.

The [[etymology]] of the word ''Bissing'' is widely discussed. Some believe it is derived from 'Bishop's day', in recognition of the granting of Ommen's town rights, whilst others believe the Low-Saxon word is related to the English word ''business''.

===Language===
[[File:Low Saxon Dialects.svg|thumb|Region where [[Dutch Low Saxon|Low Saxon]] is spoken]]

Most inhabitants of Ommen speak [[Dutch language|Dutch]], but many will also speak [[Dutch Low Saxon|Low Saxon]] or ''Plat'' — an ancient language related to [[Low German]] and [[Old English language|Old English]] which is indigenous to the north-east of the [[Netherlands]]. The dialect of Plat spoken in Ommen is [[Sallands]]. Although both the national government and the [[European Union]] recognise Plat as a [[regional language]], it is considered by many to be a mere [[dialect]] of Dutch, and its popularity is waning rapidly, even compared to [[Twents]].

The poet [[Johanna van Buren]] died in Ommen in 1962. Her Plat poetry in the [[Sallands|Salland]] and [[Twents]] dialect is still popular throughout [[Overijssel]]. The Johanna van Buren Cultural Prize is awarded once every three years to a person who contributed to the regional culture of the Eastern Netherlands.<ref name="Johanna van Buren">Streektaalzang, [http://www.streektaalzang.nl/strk/geen/overjbun.htm ''Johanna van Buren''] (in Dutch)</ref>

===Religion===
Ommen has a reasonable mix of [[Christianity|Christian]] churches, with sizable [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], [[Protestant Church in the Netherlands|Dutch Protestant]] and Liberated Reformed (''Gereformeerd Vrijgemaakt'') congregations.

Ommen was built around the old church at its centre, built around 1150, first mentioned in 1238 and severely damaged by fires in 1330 and 1624.<ref name="Nevelzel"/> The church was converted to [[Calvinism]] during the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] of the 16th century, and it was not until the constitutional reforms of 1853 that the Roman Catholicism was once again openly practiced in Ommen and not until 1860 that a new Roman Catholic church was founded in the centre of Ommen. The village of Vilsteren to the west of Ommen, however, had remained entirely [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] throughout the centuries.

The famous preacher and [[dissenter]] [[Albertus van Raalte]] lived and worked in Ommen between 1839 and 1844, before he and his congregation moved to [[United States of America|America]] to found the [[Christian Reformed Church in North America]] and the city of [[Holland, Michigan]].

Jews in the Ommen area often were small-scale butchers. Most of Ommen's [[Jew]]ish community was murdered during [[the Holocaust]] or left soon after the [[Nazi occupation of the Netherlands]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jck.nl/nl/page/ommen|title = Ommen - Joods Cultureel Kwartier}}</ref> The synagogue building was demolished in 1956. Jewish graveyards still exist.