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The Brokmerland is a
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
and historic territory, located in western
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 ...
, which covers the area in and around the present-day communities of
Brookmerland Brookmerland is a ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated southeast of Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to ...
and Südbrookmerland. The Brokmerland borders in the east on the Harlingerland and in the north on the Norderland. The historic Brokmerland is usually written with only one "o". Occasionally one also finds the spelling "Broekmerland" ("oe" pronounced as a long "o"), while today's communities have chosen to spell the name with a double "o".


Etymology

The name comes from the
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 ...
and
Old Low German Old Saxon (), also known as Old Low German (), was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europ ...
word ''brōk'', which meant a moor-like carr landscape that had been very sparsely settled. It stretched from the western edge of the East Frisian geest ridge, from the Ley (Norder Tief) to the Flumm ( Fehntjer Tief), and was characterised by numerous shallow lakes from the Großes Meer to the Sandwater. The suffix ''mer'' is derived from ''mann'' (i.e. "man") with the possessive suffix ''-er''.


History

Until the early Middle Ages, the Brokmerland was largely uninhabited and provided a natural boundary between the Federgau and the Emsgau on one side and the provinces of Norditi (Norderland) and
Östringen Östringen ( South Franconian: ''Öschdringe'') is a town in Northern Karlsruhe district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Östringen is a twin town with Abergavenny Abergavenny (; , , archaically , ) is a market town and Community (Wales), ...
on the other side. This boundary also played a role in church history because it was the dividing line between the Diocese of Münster (Federgau and Emsgau) and the
Archdiocese of Bremen The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen () was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church that after its definitive secularization in 1648 became the hereditary Bremen-Verden, Duchy of ...
(Norderland and Östringen). Archaeological finds suggest a sparse population in the period up to 800 AD. The population grew from about 1100, firstly because the construction of dykes in the region was completed and, secondly, because the " Julian Flood'' of 1164 forced many people to flee inland from the coast. In addition, the population increased in the
High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...
, which resulted in the sparsely populated or unsettled areas of East Frisia being opened up by land development, a process known as internal colonization. As a result of this, the Brokmerland was reclaimed for agriculture by settlers from the
Krummhörn Krummhörn is a municipality in the Aurich (district), district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Ems (river), Ems estuary, approximately 15 km southwest of Norden, Lower Saxony, Norden, and 10 km northwest of ...
Marsh as well as the Norder and Aurich Geest. In the 11 and 12th centuries, new settlements and the first churches were built here on the edge and the outliers of the geest. The result of this process were the ribbon villages (''Reihendörfer'') with their right (called ''Upstrecken'') to claim land into the moor until they reached someone else's land. The ''Brokmers'' are mentioned for the first time in the Östringen (Rastede) chronicles of 1148, which may indicate that by this time they had attained a certain importance. From 1251 the ''Brokmänner'' then appeared as inhabitants of an independent territory, the Brokmerland, which was initially divided into three intermediate districts, each with two mother churches: Marienhafe and Engerhafe, Wiegsboldsbur and Burhafe (now isolated farms in the Victorbur Marsh), Bedekaspel and Südwolde (Blaukirchen). The church districts belonged to the Diocese of Münster. The main place of assembly of the ''Brokmann'' to begin with was probably the Wiegboldsbur Church. In the course of the 13th century, the Brokmerland experienced its heyday. The construction of great churches was carried out during this time, of which the (formerly three-aisled) Marienhafe Church is the largest. At that time she was even the largest church in northwest Germany and even in 1462 Pope
Pius II Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...
paid an indulgence for visiting the church, for donations towards furniture, as well as monetary donations for the preservation of the Church ''"curia beate Marie"''. The Bishop of Münster acknowledged the growing importance of the area in the middle of the 13th century by granting the church its own diocese. Previously, it had been assigned to the dean's office of Uttum and Hinte. In addition, the bishop built a castle in Fehnhusen in the parish of Engerhafe, later called the Oldeborg which formed the nucleus of the modern village. The Frisian territories had a consulate constitution under which the consuls and judges were elected by the people for one year. Political leadership and the judiciary were directly in the hands of the population. Every year, meetings were held by the representative of the seven Frisian maritime territories (''Seelande''). The Upstalsboom from that period is still a popular meeting place today. The Brokmerland had its own jurisdiction and, in the ''
Brokmerbrief __NOTOC__ The Brokmerbrief or Law of Brokmerland is the early 13th-century law code of the ''brocmanni'', the inhabitants of Brokmerland, west of Aurich in East Frisia. The area had been placed under cultivation and settled by the end of the 12t ...
'', its own constitution as well. This document acts as the most detailed source of Frisian law from the territorial and judicial constitution in Brokmerland, whose law was based on the collective will of the people. At the end of the 13th century, Auricherland joined the Brokmerland and formed the fourth region in its territory. After the end of the reign of the
tom Brok The tom Brok family (, also: tom Broke, tom Brook, tom Broek, ten Brok, ten Broke; equivalent to Dutch , "at the marsh") were a powerful East Frisian chieftains, East Frisian line of chieftains, originally from the Norderland on the North Sea coas ...
chieftains in 1450, the Auricherland separated again from Brokmerland.


Chieftain rule

This consulate constitution lasted until the middle of the 14th century. It then disintegrated and was gradually replaced, as the powerful families took over the chieftainship. In the Bokmerland this was the family of Kenesma, which in the second half of the 14th century was awarded the chieftainship in the Brokmerland. Later, they renamed themselves into the
tom Brok The tom Brok family (, also: tom Broke, tom Brook, tom Broek, ten Brok, ten Broke; equivalent to Dutch , "at the marsh") were a powerful East Frisian chieftains, East Frisian line of chieftains, originally from the Norderland on the North Sea coas ...
s and built the castle of Brooke next to the existing episcopal castle in Oldeborg. Later, the tom Broks built a second castle in Aurich. The capital, Marienhafe, developed at this time into an important trading centre. After severe floods in 1374 and 1377 it even became the seaport. Thus the possibility arose of goods from the Brookmerland being transported by water to the Münsterland. The ''Wadden''
mudflats Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...
of Leybucht and Kuipersand in front of Marienhafe take their name from the old three-aisle Marienhafe mother church. Its roof was covered on its north side with copper (''Kuiper'' = Frisian-Dutch for copper) and on the south side with slate (''Ley'' = old German for slate), so that, from the sea, the changing view of the church with its copper and slate sides acted as a seamark to guide the experienced sailor along the permanently navigable tidal inlet and other stretches of waterway, even at
low tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables c ...
. Without this local knowledge, the place and its
tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...
-dependent harbour were virtually unapproachable from the sea. In the late 14th Century pirates under Klaus Störtebeker were sheltered in Marienhafe. As a result, he returned the favour in the battle for East Frisia by the chieftains of Brookmerland. Widzel tom Brok had opened the then relatively new port to the ''Likedeelers'' or "
Victual Brothers The Victual Brothers () were a loosely organized guild of privateers who later turned to piracy. They affected maritime history, maritime trade during the 14th century in both the North Sea, North and Baltic Sea, Baltic Seas. They were initially ...
" under Klaus Störtebeker. They used the place as a safe haven for stashing their booty and for selling it. This was finally stopped by several punitive expeditions by
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, which took action against the pirates and those chieftains sympathizing with them. Marienhafe was saved from destruction because of its safe harbour. Faldern and
Larrelt Larrelt is a former village in Lower Saxony, Germany. The centuries-old East Frisian village originally belonged to the former Landkreis Norden, but was added to the city of Emden as a district () immediately after the Second World War. It current ...
near Emden and other East Frisian buildings were destroyed, however. The tom Broks initially tried with some success to establish a territory across Frisia on both sides of the River Ems. Ocko II finally inherited such a large domain, that he could be titled the Chieftain of East Frisia. In the period that followed, there were disputes between
Focko Ukena Focko Ukena (1360 or 1370 – 1435) was an East Frisian chieftain (''hovetling'') who played an important part in the struggle between the Vetkopers and Schieringers in the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. Aside from this he was one o ...
and Ocko tom Brok, however, that spilled over into open conflict. After Ukena's initial victory over Ocko II at Detern in 1426 Focko allied himself with the Bischop of Münster and numerous East Frisian chieftains against Ocko who was now confined to the Brokmerland and finally defeated him on 28 October at the
Wild Fields The Wild Fields is a historical term used in the Polish–Lithuanian documents of the 16th to 18th centuries to refer to the Pontic steppe in the territory of present-day Eastern and Southern Ukraine and Western Russia, north of the Black Sea ...
. He was taken to Leer and was imprisoned there for four years. In 1435 he died, powerless, as the last of his line in
Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vill ...
. The reign of Focko Ukena in the Brokmerland that followed turned out to be only a short-term interlude. Having just escaped from the yoke of
tom Brok The tom Brok family (, also: tom Broke, tom Brook, tom Broek, ten Brok, ten Broke; equivalent to Dutch , "at the marsh") were a powerful East Frisian chieftains, East Frisian line of chieftains, originally from the Norderland on the North Sea coas ...
, many of the people felt betrayed by the new rulers, because, like the tom Broks, they appeared not to honour Frisian freedom. As a result, there was a revolt around 1430 in the Brookmerland (today's spelling), which after an unsuccessful attack by Focko on the town of Bremen by the Lower Weser, spread into a general uprising by the East Frisia people. On 14 November 1430 after the conquest of Oldersum and Aurich, the East Frisian territorial alliances (''Landesverbände'') and lesser chieftains, led by Chieftain Edzard
Cirksena The House of Cirksena was the ruling family of East Frisia (). They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel. East Frisia In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, the town of Emden was first ...
from Greetsiel, formed the Freedom League of the Seven East Frisian States.''East Frisian Chieftains''
at www.ostfriesland-tourism.com. Retrieved on 1 Jul 10. In 1440, the Cirksena, then judges and "guardians", became the chieftains of the Brookmerland and Auricherland and had finally begun there, after Ukena's brief reign, the line of the tom Broks. They had, however, to take into consideration municipal freedom (''Gemeindefreiheit'') and provincial law. The country's municipalities had reconstituted themselves. For example, there was once again a Brookmerland, an Auricherland, and even a separate (Bangsted, Ochtelbur, Riepe, and Simonswolde). in 1464, when the Cirksena were elevated to imperial counts, they turned the areas controlled by their castles into districts ('' Ämter''): from then on the Brookmerland, along with the Auricherland, belonged to district (''Amt'') of Aurich and was divided into the ''
Vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...
ei'' of Nordbrookmer, with Osteel, Marienhafe and Siegelsum, and the ''Vogtei'' of Südbrookmer with the parishes of Engerhafe, Victorbur, Wiegboldsbur, Bedekaspel, and Forlitz-Blaukirchen. Subsequently, Brookmerland shared the fate of the county.


References

{{Districts of the Seven Sealands History of East Frisia