Rotenburg 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 ...
(''Landkreis'') 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 landlocked by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of
Stade
Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the Stade (district), district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the wes ...
,
Harburg,
Heidekreis,
Verden,
Osterholz and
Cuxhaven.
History
In medieval times the region was part of the bishoprics of
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
and
Verden. After the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
the bishoprics became secular principalities, colloquially called
Bremen-Verden, and finally parts of the
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...
.
The present district was established in 1977 by merging the former districts of Rotenburg and Bremervörde.
Geography
The
Wümme River runs through the district from east to west. The marshy area to both sides of the river is called the ''Wümmeniederung'' (
Wümme Depression).
Coat of arms
The coat of arms displays:
* a lion carrying a cross; the lion was the heraldic animal of Hanover, the cross is symbolising the Prince-Bishopric of Verden
* two criss-crossed keys from the arms of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen
Towns and municipalities
References
External links
Official website(German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotenburg (District)
Districts of Lower Saxony