Westoverledingen is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the Leer district in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It contains about a dozen villages. The biggest of them are Flachsmeer, Völlen and Ihrhove, where the town hall is located. Völlen lies at the southern edge of the municipality, close to the Meyer-Werft shipyard in Papenburg. Many villagers are employed there. Most villages have interesting old churches, including five that date from the Middle Ages. The Bundesstraße 70 the connects the municipality to

Papenburg Papenburg (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Papenbörg'') is a city in the district of Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners. Geog ...

and Leer. Westoverledingen does not have a train station. The

Emsland Railway The Emsland line (German: is a railway from Rheine via Salzbergen, Lingen, Meppen, Lathen, Papenburg and Leer to Emden, continuing to Norden and Norddeich-Mole in East Frisia in the German state of Lower Saxony. The line is named after the Ems r ...

passes the municipality between stations Leer and

. The

Ihrhove–Nieuweschans railway The Ihrhove–Nieuweschans railway is an international railway line running from Ihrhove near Leer in Germany to Bad Nieuweschans in the Netherlands. The line was opened in 1876. Ihrhove is situated on the north-south Emsland Railway, between ...

splits off from it towards Weener station. The Ihrhove railway station is to be reopened in 2024 or 2025. A touristic bicycle trail, following the Ems, goes through Westoverledingen. Westoverledingen's economy is dominated by agriculture. Many of its inhabitants, however, have a job in nearby towns like Leer or Papenburg.

Villages

Westoverledingen is divided into 12 ''Ortsteile'' for administrative purposes. The larger ones have their own elected local councils (''Ortsrat'') while the smaller ones have a local representative (''Ortsvorsteher'') appointed by the municipal council.Gemeinde Westoverledingen
Ortsbürgermeister und Ortsvorsteher
last visited on 16 March 2022.

References

Towns and villages in East Frisia Leer (district) {{Leer-geo-stub