Wietmarschen is a unitary municipality (''Einheitsgemeinde'') in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It is split into the villages of Wietmarschen, Füchtenfeld, Schwartenpohl, Lohnerbruch, Nordlohne and Lohne with Lohne being the biggest and having the town hall while Wietmarschen, which is the second biggest, having the name.

Geography

Wietmarschen lies roughly west of Lingen, and northeast of Nordhorn. The community's highest elevation is the Rupingberg in Lohne at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

. There are plans to construct a viewing tower on it.

Constituent communities

The municipality is divided into six ''

Ortsteil A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

e'' named Wietmarschen, Füchtenfeld, Schwartenpohl, Lohnerbruch, Nordlohne and Lohne.

Religion

The community of Wietmarschen diverges sharply from the rest of the district with regard to

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural ...

in that it has a largely

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 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

character. In February 2006, the community's religious affiliations broke down thus: * 74.3% Roman Catholic * 12.6% Evangelical Lutheran * 3.9% Evangelical Reformed * 9.2% other faiths, or no faith

Politics

Municipal council

Wietmarschen's council is made up of 28 councillors. * CDU 22 seats * SPD 5 seats * FDP 1 seat (as of municipal election on 15 September 2016) The town hall is in Lohne.

Mayor

The full-time mayor Manfred Wellen was elected on 25 May 2014 with 64.25% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2021.

Coat of arms

The community's

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

show a red field with a stylized lily in the upper half of the middle flanked by a golden bulrush on each side sprouting up from the bottom and tilting away from the lily, and each with a golden leaf.

Partnership

Mortagne-au-Perche Mortagne-au-Perche () is a commune in the Orne department in Normandy, north-western France. Heraldry Population People *Geoffrey II, Count of Perche and Mortagne, grandfather of Queen Margaret of L'Aigle. * Marie of Armagnac, duchess of ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

became a partner community of Wietmarschen on 2 July 1989.

Culture and sightseeing

Museums

*Heimathaus Lohne (local

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

) *Heimathaus Wietmarschen, the so-called ''Packhaus'' (local museum) *Treckermuseum Wietmarschen ( tractor museum)

Buildings

*''Stiftskirche Wietmarschen'' ( nunnery church), restored historic nunnery area behind the church *''Stiftsbusch'' (nunnery copse) with

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common typ ...

s *Sankt-Antonius-Kirche Lohne (church) *Mühlenturm Wietmarschen (mill tower) *Urbrecker (statue of a bog iron miner) *Glockenturm Südlohne (belltower) *Schafstall Moormann (sheep pen)

Sport venues

*5 gymnasia *10 sport fields *4 beach volleyball fields *2

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

courts *1 big riding centre *2 model aircraft fields *1 miniature car track *1 gliderport

Regular events

Yearly * marksmen's festival *''Urbreckerfest'' * kermis *

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

Economy and infrastructure

Public transport

* Bus line 161: Lingen — Nordlohne — Lohne — Lohnerbruch — Wietmarschen — Füchtenfeld * Bus line 165: Lingen — Nordlohne — Lohne — Rükel — Südlohne — Klausheide — Nordhorn * Nearest railway stations: ** Lingen (Ems) for Meppen, Leer, Emden,

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt (district), Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems (river), Ems, approx. north of Münst ...

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state d ...

** Intercity:

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...

** Bad Bentheim for Rheine,

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a populat ...

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region ('' Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and ...

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Pop ...

(Netherlands), ** Intercity:

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

( Schiphol)

Established businesses

* W.A.S,

Ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

s and Security Vehicles * Ewabo, cleaning agent and disinfectant manufacturer * Wirtschaft Innovation Nordwest, business advisers and

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

agents * Bauunternehmen Overberg,

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

Education

Marien-Schule Wietmarschen (

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

and '' Hauptschule'') Grundschule Lohne (

) Schulzentrum Lohne ('' Hauptschule'' and '' Realschule'')

Famous persons

* August Perk, German Resistance Fighter against the

National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

, briefly Friendship with Erich Maria Remarque and had Influence on Remarques world-famous Novel " All Quiet on the Western Front", Grandfather of

Johnny de Brest Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varia ...

. * Erich Maria Remarque, writer, worked as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

in Lohne in 1919 * Mattias Rosemann,

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control County of Bentheim (district)