Meppen, Germany
Encyclopedia
Meppen is a town in and the seat of the Emsland
district of Lower Saxony
, Germany
, at the confluence of the Ems, Hase
, and Nordradde
rivers and the Dortmund-Ems canal
(DEK). The name stems from the word Mappe, meaning "delta
".
and Papenburg
.
Lying about 12 miles (20 km) from the Dutch
border, the town has an area of 188.45 km² and is 15 m above sea level. The population was 34,196 as of 30 June 2005.
Quarters of Meppen:
Following villages are situated in Meppen:
In 1974, 13 independent municipalities in the close vicinity of the town were integrated into Meppen.
Meppen, formerly a fortified town, boasts 12 centuries of history.
The first documented mention of Meppen is in 834, in a deed of donation by Frankish
emperor
Louis the Pious
, transferring a missionary establishment of that name to the abbey of Corvey.
945 -- Emperor Otto the Great
grants the town the rights to mint
coins
and collect tolls
, followed in 946 by market rights.
1252 -- Countess Jutta von Vechta-Ravensberg sells her possessions to the Bishop of Münster. Meppen becomes part of the Niederstift Münster.
1360 -- Meppen is granted the right to build city fortifications by Bishop Adolf of Münster, and thereby, town rights. Over the next three centuries until 1660, Meppen is built up as a fortified town.
1762 -- at the end of the Seven Years' War
, the fortifications are demolished. Some walls remain standing today, however.
1803 -- Resolutions of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss assign Meppen to Louis Engelbert, 6th Duke of Arenberg
, to compensate for the loss of his possessions on the west bank of the Rhine. Meppen becomes the capital of the dukedom of Arenberg
.
1811 -- Meppen is incorporated into the First French Empire
as a cantonal seat.
1813 -- 1814 -- Occupation by Prussia
.
1814 -- 1815 -- Resolutions of the Congress of Vienna
assign Meppen and the Arenburg dukedom to the Kingdom of Hanover
.
1855 -- Meppen connected to the Hannoverschen Westbahn railway line upon its opening.
1866 -- Hanover becomes a province of Prussia.
Since November 16, 1944 about 2,500 inmates of the Neuengamme concentration camp were transported to a prisoner of war
camp in the quarter Versen. They are forced to build the so called Friesenwall. On March 25, 1945 the SS cleared the camp and the inmates were forced to walk toward Bremen
together with the inmates of the Dalum camp. Most of them were deported back to the Neuengamme camp, some were transported to Sandbostel
camp Stalag X-B
. The camp in Versen is listed as no. 927 Meppen-Versen in the official German list.
1946 -- The state of Prussia is abolished after the Second World War. Meppen becomes part of the newly created Land of Lower Saxony
.
1977 -- District reforms in Lower Saxony unite the former districts of Lingen, Meppen and Aschendorf-Hümmling in the district of Emsland, with Meppen as administrative seat.
Emsland
Landkreis Emsland is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany named after the river Ems. It is bounded by the districts of Leer, Cloppenburg and Osnabrück, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia , the district of Bentheim and the Netherlands .- History :For a long time the region of the Emsland was...
district of Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, at the confluence of the Ems, Hase
Hase
The Hase is a 193 km long river in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ems, but part of its flow goes to the Else, that is part of the Weser basin. Its source is in the Teutoburg Forest, south-east of Osnabrück, on the north slope of the 307 m high Hankenüll hill.- Weser-Ems...
, and Nordradde
Nordradde
Nordradde is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany....
rivers and the Dortmund-Ems canal
Dortmund-Ems Canal
The Dortmund–Ems Canal is a 269 km long canal in Germany between the inland port of the city of Dortmund and the sea port of Emden. The artificial southern part of the canal ends after 215 km at the lock of Herbrum near Meppen. From there, the route goes over a length of 45 km over...
(DEK). The name stems from the word Mappe, meaning "delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
".
Geography
The town lying on the mouth of the Hase into the Ems in the central part of the Emsland between the cities of LingenLingen
Lingen is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 2008 the population was 52,353, and in addition there are about 5,000 people who have registered the city as their secondary residence...
and Papenburg
Papenburg
Papenburg is a city in the district of Emsland in Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners.-Districts:...
.
Lying about 12 miles (20 km) from the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
border, the town has an area of 188.45 km² and is 15 m above sea level. The population was 34,196 as of 30 June 2005.
Quarters of Meppen:
 |
1. Altstadt Historical centre of Meppen with historical town hall. 2. Esterfeld 3. Feldkamp 4. Kuhweide 5. Neustadt 6. Nödike 7. Schleusengruppe |
Following villages are situated in Meppen:
In 1974, 13 independent municipalities in the close vicinity of the town were integrated into Meppen.
|
 |
History
The first documented mention of Meppen is in 834, in a deed of donation by Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
, transferring a missionary establishment of that name to the abbey of Corvey.
945 -- Emperor Otto the Great
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
grants the town the rights to mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
coins
COinS
ContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method to embed bibliographic metadata in the HTML code of web pages. This allows bibliographic software to publish machine-readable bibliographic items and client reference management software to retrieve bibliographic metadata. The...
and collect tolls
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....
, followed in 946 by market rights.
1252 -- Countess Jutta von Vechta-Ravensberg sells her possessions to the Bishop of Münster. Meppen becomes part of the Niederstift Münster.
1360 -- Meppen is granted the right to build city fortifications by Bishop Adolf of Münster, and thereby, town rights. Over the next three centuries until 1660, Meppen is built up as a fortified town.
1762 -- at the end of the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
, the fortifications are demolished. Some walls remain standing today, however.
1803 -- Resolutions of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss assign Meppen to Louis Engelbert, 6th Duke of Arenberg
Louis Engelbert, 6th Duke of Arenberg
Louis Engelbert, 6th Duke of Arenberg , nicknamed the blind duke, was between 1778 and 1801 the sixth Duke of Arenberg and 12th Duke of Aarschot...
, to compensate for the loss of his possessions on the west bank of the Rhine. Meppen becomes the capital of the dukedom of Arenberg
Arenberg
Arenberg, also spelled as Aremberg or Ahremberg, is a historic county, principality and finally duchy located in modern Germany. The Dukes of Arenberg remain a prominent Belgian aristocratic family.- History :...
.
1811 -- Meppen is incorporated into the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
as a cantonal seat.
1813 -- 1814 -- Occupation by Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
.
1814 -- 1815 -- Resolutions of the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
assign Meppen and the Arenburg dukedom to the Kingdom of Hanover
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg , and joined with 38 other sovereign states in the German...
.
1855 -- Meppen connected to the Hannoverschen Westbahn railway line upon its opening.
1866 -- Hanover becomes a province of Prussia.
Since November 16, 1944 about 2,500 inmates of the Neuengamme concentration camp were transported to a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp in the quarter Versen. They are forced to build the so called Friesenwall. On March 25, 1945 the SS cleared the camp and the inmates were forced to walk toward Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
together with the inmates of the Dalum camp. Most of them were deported back to the Neuengamme camp, some were transported to Sandbostel
Sandbostel
Sandbostel is a municipality in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, 43 km north-east of Bremen, 60 km west of Hamburg. Coordinates: 53° 25′ N, 9° 8′ E. Population: 816...
camp Stalag X-B
Stalag X-B
Stalag X-B was a World War II German Prisoner-of-war camp located near Sandbostel in north-western Germany. Sandbostel lies 9 km south of Bremervörde, 43 km northeast of Bremen. Placed on swampy ground,with a damp, cold climate, it is one of the most notorious prisoner-of-war camps. Between...
. The camp in Versen is listed as no. 927 Meppen-Versen in the official German list.
1946 -- The state of Prussia is abolished after the Second World War. Meppen becomes part of the newly created Land of Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
.
1977 -- District reforms in Lower Saxony unite the former districts of Lingen, Meppen and Aschendorf-Hümmling in the district of Emsland, with Meppen as administrative seat.
Population statistics
(*including the villages belonging to the city of Meppen)| Year | Inhabitants | Year | Inhabitants | Year | Inhabitants | Year | Inhabitants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1821* | 4.815 | 1848* | 5.130 | 1905* | 7.687 | 1939* | 15.045 |
| 1950* | 19.141 | 1971* | 27.305 | 1990 | 30.508 | 2005 | 34.196 |
Sport clubs
- SV MeppenSV MeppenSV Meppen is a German association football club playing in Meppen, Lower Saxony. The club was founded on 29 November 1912 as Amisia Meppen and joined Männer-Turnverein Meppen on 8 February 1920 to form TuS Meppen 1912...
(only soccer) - SV Union Meppen (soccer, tennis, gymnastics, volleyball, table tennis, athletics)
External links
- Official website (German)
- Webcam (German)