Ammerland is a
district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
in
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the city of
Oldenburg and the districts of
Oldenburg,
Cloppenburg
Cloppenburg (; ; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, in north-western Germany, capital of Cloppenburg District and part of Oldenburg Münsterland. It lies 38 km south-south-west of Oldenburg in the Weser-Ems region between Bremen and the Dutch ...
,
Leer,
Friesland
Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...
and
Wesermarsch
Wesermarsch is a ''Districts of Germany, Kreis'' (district) in the northwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. Neighboring are (from the east clockwise) the districts of Cuxhaven (district), Cuxhaven and Osterholz, the city of Bremen in the state ...
.
History
The "Ammerland" was first mentioned in the 10th century. The word is believed to derive from ''Ameri'', which is an old word meaning "swamp". In the time of
Viking
Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
raids small ring-like castles were built in order to protect the defenceless hamlets.
For many years there was little interest in this swampy region. In the 14th century it became part of the
County of Oldenburg
The County of Oldenburg () was a county of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1448 Christian I of Denmark (of the House of Oldenburg), Count of Oldenburg became King of Denmark, and later King of Norway and King of Sweden. One of his grandsons, Adolf, ...
. The counts established strongholds in the region, which was the frontier against the lands of the untamable
Frisia
Frisia () is a Cross-border region, cross-border Cultural area, cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. Wider definitions of "Frisia" ...
ns.
The district was established in 1933 in the rough borders of the historical region.
Geography
Ammerland is characterised by a very flat countryside, many fens and swamps, and many
windmills. The latter are a symbol of the district, which calls itself sometimes the "land of windmills".
The central point of the district is the
Zwischenahner Meer located near the resort town of
Bad Zwischenahn, a lake with an area of 5.5 km
2 (''Meer'' is the German word for "sea", but in the local
Low German
Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...
, as in Dutch, it means
mere (lake), pond).
Coat-of-arms
The
coat-of-arms displays:
* top left: the red stripes from the arms of the counts of
Oldenburg
* top right: the golden cross of the County of Bentinck (1733–1818 in
Varel
Varel () is a town in the district of Friesland, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Jade River and the Jade Bight, approximately south of Wilhelmshaven and north of Oldenburg. With a population of 23,984 (2020) it is the bigg ...
; Wiefelstede was a part of this county)
* bottom left: the acorn symbolising the common
oaks of the Ammerland
* bottom right: the red zigzag lines are an ancient symbol of the Ammerland
Its
blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...
is: "Quarterly Or and Azure, I: two bars Gules; II: a
Greek cross
The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Jesus, Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...
Or; III: an oak stem with
leaf
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leav ...
and
acorn
The acorn is the nut (fruit), nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'', ''Notholithocarpus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), en ...
Or; IV: two bars dancetty Gules".
Cities and municipalities
References
External links
*
Parklandschaft Ammerland Tourism website
{{Authority control
Districts of Lower Saxony