Visbek (

Old Saxon 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 Eur ...

''Fiscbechi'') is a municipality in the district of Vechta, in the Oldenburg Münsterland region of the state of

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 ...

Location and municipal subdivisions

Visbek lies on the

North German Plain The North German Plain or Northern Lowland () is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the north, Germany's ...

, approximately 12 km to the north of

Vechta Vechta (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the Vechta (district), Vechta district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is home to the University of Vechta. It is known for the 'Stoppelmarkt' fair, which takes place every ...

. The municipality consists of the village of Visbek itself, together with 13 surrounding

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

(), viz. Astrup, Bonrechtern, Endel, Erlte, Hagstedt, Halter/Meyerhöfen, Hogenbögen, Norddöllen, Rechterfeld, Varnhorn/Siedenbögen and Wöstendöllen.

Neighbouring municipalities

Neighbouring communities are (counting clockwise from north): the municipality of

Großenkneten Großenkneten is a municipality in the district of Oldenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Großenkneten is one of the largest municipalities in Germany, in terms of its area, and is situated between the rivers Hunte and Lethe, in the land ...

, including Ahlhorn, the town of

Wildeshausen Wildeshausen (; Low Saxon: ''Wilshusen'') is a town and the capital of the Oldenburg district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated by the river Hunte. History In the 1648 Peace of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years' War Sweden gained lar ...

, the municipality of Goldenstedt, the town of

and the municipality of Emstek.

Landscape

Visbek is the northernmost municipality in Vechta district, bordering the

rural districts A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the adm ...

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 ...

and Oldenburg. To the west, north and east of the village of Visbek, lies the long, narrow strip of the

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

of Streams of the Endel and Holzhausen Heath, with the

geest Geest (, , ) is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outw ...

brooks and wet lowlands of the Aue, Twillbäke and Visbeker Bruchbach streams with their associated

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

Middle Ages

Historical tradition dates back as far as to the late 8th century, when upon order of the Frankish king

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

(later Emperor

Charles the Great Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800, holding these titles until his death in 814. He united mo ...

), the abbey of Visbek - then called "cellula fiscbechi", under Abbot Gerbert Castus - played a major role in the

Christianization Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

of the newly conquered surrounding

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

territories of Lerigau, Hasegau and Venkigau. In 855 AD, King

Louis the German Louis the German (German language, German: ''Ludwig der Deutsche''; c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany (German language, German: ''Ludwig II. von Deutschland''), was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 8 ...

allocated the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Abbey of Visbek in the shire of Lerigau, with its territories and possessions, to the

Imperial Abbey of Corvey The Princely Abbey of Corvey ( or ) is a former Benedictine Order, Benedictine abbey and Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling ''List of Imperial abbeys, princely ...

Megalithic tombs

The Visbek region, however, had been populated even before the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, in fact as far back as the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Period, as evinced by numerous

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

ic tombs of the

Funnelbeaker culture The Funnel(-neck-)beaker culture, in short TRB or TBK (, ; ; ), was an archaeological culture in north-central Europe. It developed as a technological merger of local neolithic and mesolithic techno-complexes between the lower Elbe and middle V ...

(3,500 - 2,800 BC) that may still be seen today. Examples - aside from the Heidenopfertisch illustrated below - include the large stone graves of ''Mühlensteine, Schmeersteine, Visbeker Braut'' and ''Visbeker Bräutigam''.

Media

The following regional newspapers are delivered in Visbek: * Oldenburgische Volkszeitung, Vechta * Nordwest-Zeitung, Oldenburg

Economy

Several companies of the

meat industry The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...

are located in Visbek. The PHW Group, the largest German

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

meat producer, has its

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

in Rechterfeld. The

EW Group The EW Group GmbH (also known as the Erich Wesjohann Group), headquartered in Visbek, Germany, is a global family owned holding, which integrates more than 300 active subsidiaries. The company is operating primarily at the beginning of the value ...

, the world market leader in poultry breeding and genetics, also has its headquarters in Visbek. Additionally, the Plukon Food Group runs poultry meat processing facilities in Visbek.

Regular festivities

* Every year at Pentecost, the Visbek Shooting Club, St. Hubertus, hosts its

Schützenfest A Schützenfest (, '' marksmen's festival'') is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. At a Schützenfest, contestants compete based on thei ...

fun fair and folk processions. * The annual ''Visbek Rockt'' open air music festival takes place at the end of May, featuring local and regional rock bands.

Partner municipality

A partnership with Pontvallain in the Sarthe Departement has been maintained since 1988.

Gallery

Visbek Ortseingang.JPG, The high street (''Hauptstraße'') in Visbek Gerbertschule.jpg, ''Gerbert'' Primary School, Visbek St. vitus.jpg, Roman Catholic St. Vitus Parish Church, Visbek, seen from the west Visbek Gerbert-Castus-Denkmal 2.JPG, Abbot Gerbert Castus Monument at St. Vitus Church, Visbek Großsteingrab Heidenopfertisch 02.JPG, The Heidenopfertisch, a megalithic grave near VisbekSteinzeitreise: ''Heidenopfertisch. Grave 974''
/ref> at Engelmannsbäke Visbek Twillbäke.JPG, The Twillbäke stream, Bullmühle Visbek - Twillbäke.jpg,

Mill pond A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Description Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam or weir (and mill stream) across a waterway. In many places, the co ...

of Twillbäke stream, Bullmühle Endel Kokenmühle 2.jpg, The Kokenmühle Watermill, Endel (Visbek) Endel Neumühle.jpg, The Neumühle Watermill, Endel (Visbek)

References

External links

Official website of ''Municipality of Visbek''

Official website of the ''Catholic Parish Church of St. Vitus Visbek''

Official website of ''Visbek Rockt''
{{Authority control Vechta (district)