Bedekaspel is an

East Frisia East Frisia () or East Friesland (; ; ; ) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisia (peninsula), East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the ...

n village 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 an ''

Ortsteil A village is a human settlement or Residential community, community, larger than a hamlet (place), hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located ...

'' of the municipality of

Südbrookmerland Südbrookmerland is a municipality in the Aurich (district), district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 7 km west of Aurich. Its seat is in the village Victorbur. Subdivisions Südbrookmerland is divided into ...

. It is located near the Großes Meer. A '' Haufendorf'', the village of Bedekaspel includes Wochenendsiedlung ("Weekend Settlement"), a recreational area on the northern shore of the Großes Meer, and Bedekaspeler Marsch. Bedekaspel was an independent municipality until it was incorporated into the municipality of Südbrookmerland on 1 July 1972.

History

The settlement was first officially mentioned in 1475 as ''Betekerke'' and recorded around 1500 as ''Bedekerspell''. ''Lopessumwalde'' may have been an earlier name for the village. The current name has been documented since 1595. The name ''Beede-Kirchspiel'' also appeared in the

Emden Emden () is an Independent city (Germany), independent town and seaport in Lower Saxony in the north-west of Germany and lies on the River Ems (river), Ems, close to the Germany–Netherlands border, Netherlands border. It is the main town in t ...

city archives in 1645. The name was probably derived from

Old Frisian Old Frisian was a West Germanic language spoken between the late 13th century and the end of 16th century. It is the common ancestor of all the modern Frisian languages except for the North Frisian language#Insular North Frisian, Insular North ...

''bēte'', "

penitence Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of contrition for sins committed, as well as an alternative name for the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. The word ''penance'' derives ...

", and ''kerke'', "church", which can be assumed due to the growth of the settlement to

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

(

Middle Low German Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225–34 (). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Mid ...

: ''kaspel'', ''karkspel'', ''kerk-spel''). The original meaning is therefore "penitence church". The element ''–spiel'' or ''-spel'' goes back to a Germanic noun ''*spella'', which means "report", "message", or "speech". The parish or kaspel is therefore the district in which a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

preaches. During the

Christmas flood of 1717 The Christmas Flood of 1717 was the result of a northwesterly storm, which hit the coast area of the Netherlands, Germany, and Scandinavia on Christmas night of 1717. In total, about 14,000 people drowned. It was the last large storm flood in t ...

, the Bedekaspel church, which dates back to the 13th century, was so badly damaged that it had to be demolished and rebuilt – except for the tower.

Gallery

2013-05-03 Fotoflug Nordholz Papenburg HP 2771.JPG, Aerial view of Wochenendsiedlung 2013-05-03 Fotoflug Nordholz Papenburg HP 2764.JPG, Aerial view of Bedekaspeler Marsch Agnes-msu-2021-0717-4452.jpg, Windmill ''Agnes'' Kirche Bedekaspel innen42.jpg, Interior of the church

References

External links

{{Authority control Südbrookmerland Villages in Lower Saxony Towns and villages in East Frisia