Hoogstede () is a community in the district of

Grafschaft Bentheim County of Bentheim () is a districts of Germany, district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the Netherlands, Dutch provinces of Overijssel and Drenthe, the district of Emsland, and the distri ...

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 ...

, in north-western Germany.

Geography

Location

Hoogstede lies northwest of

Nordhorn Nordhorn (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Nothoorn'', or ''Notthoarn'', ''Netthoarn,'' and Dutch: ''Noordhoorn'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim, located in the southwest corner of the state, near th ...

on the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

. The

Vechte The Vechte (, ) or Vecht (), often called Overijsselse Vecht () in the Netherlands to avoid confusion with Vecht (Utrecht), its Utrecht counterpart, is a river in Germany and the Netherlands. Its total length is , of which is in Germany. The Ve ...

flows through town, and its tributary, the Lee empties into it here. The community belongs to the Joint Community (''Samtgemeinde'') of Emlichheim, whose administrative seat is in the like-named community.

Constituent communities

The community's seven centres are Hoogstede, Kalle, Tinholt, Arkel, Bathorn, Scheerhorn and Berge.

History

Hoogstede's history begins in 1821 when the Evangelical-Reformed parish's

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

was moved from Arkel to Hoogstede. In 1859, the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church was built, and by and by a population centre developed. In 1953, the Evangelical-Old Reformed church was built, and in 1961 the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church. Today, roughly 2,900 people live in Hoogstede and its outlying centres. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Stalag 308

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

was located in Bathorn from December 1944 until its liberation in April 1945.

Religion

Hoogstede is home to four churches: * Evangelical-Reformed * Evangelical-Old Reformed * Evangelical-Lutheran * Catholic

Politics

Municipal council

Hoogstede's council is made up of 13 councillors. * CDU 10 seats *

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

2 seats * FDP 1 seat (as of municipal election on 10 September 2006)

Mayor

The honorary mayor Jan Ensink was elected on 14 November 2006 at the municipal council's constitutive meeting.

Clubs and associations

Various clubs and associations have established themselves: * Hoogsteder Sportverein (

sport club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

) * Landjugend Hoogstede (“rural youth”) * Ortsfeuerwehr Hoogstede (

fire brigade A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and ...

) * DRK-Ortsverein Hoogstede (

German Red Cross The German Red Cross (GRC) ( ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany. During the Nazi era, the German Red Cross was under the control of the Nazi Party and played a role in supporting the regime's policies, including the exclusion ...

) * Grafschafter

Autocross Autocross is a form of motorsport in which competitors are timed to complete a short course using automobiles on a dirt or grass surface, excepting where sealed surfaces are used in United States. Rules vary according to the governing or sanctioni ...

Club GACC * Heimatverein Hoogstede-Arkel (“homeland club”) * Schützenverein Hoogstede (shooting club) * Schützenverein Niedergrafschafter Edelweiß-Schützen Bathorn (shooting club)

References

External links

Hoogstede’s websiteJoint community’s webpage
{{Authority control County of Bentheim (district)