Meppen

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Meppen (disambiguation) .

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 52 ° 42 '  N , 7 ° 18'  E
Basic data
State :	Lower Saxony
County :	Emsland
Height :	14 m above sea level NHN
Area :	188.34 km 2
Residents:	35,313 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	187 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	49716
Area code :	05931
License plate :	Tbsp
Community key :	03 4 54 035
City structure:	13 districts
City administration address :	Markt 43 49716 Meppen
Website :	www.meppen.de
Mayor :	Helmut Knurbein (independent)
Location of the city of Meppen in the Emsland district

Meppen is the district town of the Emsland district and an independent municipality in the west of Lower Saxony , near the border with the Netherlands .

geography

Geographical location

Meppen is located in the center of the Emsland at the confluence of the Hase in the Ems . About half a kilometer before its confluence with the Ems, the Hase takes on the Dortmund-Ems Canal , which runs south of Meppen in an artificially created river bed. North of Meppen, the developed river course of the Ems is largely used for the Dortmund-Ems Canal.

In terms of nature, Meppen is located in the North German lowlands in the Dümmer-Geest valley . Along the rivers Ems and Hase there are narrow valley sand areas , which are covered in many places by dunes . Most of these are now forested with conifers through reforestation. In the northeast of the urban area, Meppen has a share of the foothills of the Geestrückens Hümmling , in the southeast of the Lingener Land . The largely cultivated Bourtanger Moor begins on the western edge of the urban area , east of the Emstal in the north of the urban area is a small part of the Tinner Dose high moorland, which is under nature protection .

The city center is located 18 kilometers east of the Dutch border. The city of Lingen (Ems) is 20 kilometers south as the crow flies , the city of Papenburg 45 kilometers north.

The European route E 233 runs through the area of ​​the city of Meppen in an east-west direction - in this section as federal road 402 , in north-south direction the federal motorway A 31 and federal road 70 .

Meppen is touched by the tourist route Straße der Megalithkultur .

climate

Meppen has a temperate maritime climate, which is influenced by north-westerly winds from the North Sea . On a long-term average, the air temperature at the Meppen station reaches 8.9 ° C and around 740 millimeters of precipitation fall. The lowest temperatures are between December and February, the highest values ​​are reached in July and August.

Climate table for Meppen Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 3 4th 8th 13 18th 21st 22nd 22nd 19th 14th 8th 4th O 13 Min. Temperature (° C) −2 −2 0 3 7th 10 12 12 9 6th 2 −1 O 4.7 Precipitation ( mm ) 65.9 43.7 53.9 49.1 57.2 72.9 70.8 67.9 59.6 58.8 67.6 72.1 Σ 739.5 Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 1 2 3 5 7th 7th 6th 6th 5 3 2 1 O 4th Rainy days ( d ) 11 9 10 10 10 11 10 10 9 9 11 12 Σ 122 Source:

Neighboring communities

Meppen borders the following cities and municipalities: the city of Haren (Ems) in the north, the joint municipality of Sögel in the northeast, the city of Haselünne in the east, the municipality of Geeste in the south and the municipality of Twist in the west.

City structure

Meppen in the borders of July 1, 1967 - Numbering of the districts within the core city  - Gray: built-up area (as of 2006).

On July 1, 1967, the city of Meppen and the municipality of Vormeppen merged on a voluntary basis. Today these two former communities have mostly grown together, a demarcation is hardly possible. The "core city" formed in this way, without the districts incorporated on March 1, 1974, is divided into the following districts:

1. The old town is the historic city center immediately south of the confluence of the Ems and Hase rivers. It is surrounded by the city wall, a relic of the former city fortifications, today a tree-lined promenade. In the center of the old town is the market square and on top of it the historic town hall. In the immediate vicinity of the town hall is the grammar school church to the east, and the provost church a little further south. The market square is traditional and, since the 1980s, the western old town has also increasingly been shaped by retail. The northern old town is dominated by banks and authorities, on the eastern edge is the Windthorst-Gymnasium , while the south-east is occupied by the Ludmillenstift hospital . A campsite and the Emsbad (outdoor and indoor swimming pool) are located directly on the Ems outside the city wall.
2. Esterfeld is located in the west of the city center on the left bank of the Ems and has become the district with the largest number of inhabitants due to brisk construction activity, especially in the 1960s and 1970s.
3. Feldkamp / Helter Damm is a residential area in the southeast of the core city that has been developed as a new development area since the mid-1980s.
4. The cow pasture south of the old town was built on from the end of the 1950s - after the Ems flood plains were dyed and a pumping station was built.
5. The Neustadt is on the right bank of the Hase and Ems in the northeast of the city center. The Meppen train station and the administrative district of Emsland are located in the Neustadt district. In 2013, the MEP shopping arcade was opened in the Bahnhofstrasse pedestrian zone with 45 retail outlets and restaurants on over 13,000 square meters of retail space. In the years before the construction of the MEP, this part of Bahnhofstrasse had increasingly developed into an urban development problem area, characterized by vacancies and decaying buildings.
6. Nödike is located in the south of the city center on the left of the Dortmund-Ems Canal. The city's largest commercial area is located here.
7. Lock group in the south of the city center is opposite Nödike on the right of the Dortmund-Ems Canal. The settlement is named after the lock group consisting of the Small Meppen Lock and the Large Meppen Lock.

On July 1, 1970, a small part of the dissolved community of Groß Fullen , which had about twenty inhabitants at that time, was incorporated. As a result of the municipal reform , the municipality of Emslage, without Rühlerfeld and Rühlermoor, as well as the villages of Apeldorn, Bokeloh, Borken, which was newly formed on July 1, 1970 from the previously independent municipalities Groß Fullen (partially), Klein Fullen, Rühle and Versen, have belonged since March 1, 1974 , Helte, Hemsen, Holthausen, Hüntel, Schwefingen and Teglingen to Meppen.

Meppens structure - numbering of the districts incorporated in 1974

1. Apeldorn (777)
2. Bokeloh (1253)
3. Bark (545)
4. Big Fill (1072)
5. Small Fill (401)
6. Helte (596)
7. Hemsen (750)
8. Holthausen (142)
9. Hüntel (328)
10. Rühle (1397)
11. Schwefingen (442)
12. Teglingen (771)
13. Verses (1795)

(in brackets the number of residents on March 9, 2005)

history

prehistory

• The living space of Meppen-Nödike is from the late Paleolithic.
• The Mesolithic residential area of ​​Meppen-Emslage is located in Emslage .
• In Teglingen, the Meppen-Teglingen burial mound of the individual grave culture was excavated.
• A settlement from the pre-Roman Iron Age was excavated in the Esterfeld district.

The former fortress city looks back on a history of over 1200 years.

Origin of name

Various attempts have been made to derive the name Meppen.

One explanation leads the name Meppen back to the Old Saxon word mappe or Meppe , which is said to have meant mouth and derived from it also mouth . Since the hare flowed into the Ems in three arms up until the Middle Ages, the settlement there was "at the mouths". In one, written in Latin deed of 30 May 946, with which King Otto the Great to the monastery Corvey Meppen market and spell rights conferred, is Meppiun talk. In Old Saxon, this can be understood as the dative plural of the above-mentioned Meppe and would then mean (place at) the mouths .

Another explanation derives the name Meppen from Mepelte , an old Low German name for the field maple , which could have been native to the settlement area.

The name Meppen has been used consistently in documents and on maps since the 13th century at the latest .

The place Meppen (Illinois) in the USA was named after Meppen.

Historical data

Meppen was first mentioned in a document in 834 in a deed of donation from Emperor Ludwig the Pious , in which the Meppen mission cell was transferred to the Corvey monastery . In 945 Otto the Great granted Meppen coinage and customs rights and in 946 market rights. Countess Jutta von Vechta-Ravensberg sold her possessions to the Bishop of Münster in 1252, and Meppen became part of the Lower Monastery of Münster . The Lords of Meppen and, after their death, from 1392, the Lords of Langen, administered the place as ministerials .

In 1360 Meppen was granted city fortifications by Bishop Adolf von Münster , and thus city rights. By 1660 Meppen was expanded into a fortress town . In 1762, towards the end of the Seven Years' War , the fortifications were razed, the counter wall has been preserved to this day. In 1803, the Meppen office and Vest Recklinghausen were assigned to the Duke of Arenberg as a replacement for the loss of his territories on the left bank of the Rhine, based on the resolutions of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss . Meppen became the capital of the Duchy of Arenberg-Meppen . Since 1811 Meppen belonged as part of the Département de l'Ems-Supérieur to the French Empire and was the capital of a canton .

From 1813 to 1814 Meppen was occupied by Prussians . The Duchy of Arenberg-Meppen was assigned to the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814/15 by resolutions at the Congress of Vienna . With the opening of the Hanoverian Westbahn in 1855, Meppen was connected to the railway network. After the German War , the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia in 1866 and thus became a Prussian province. The district of Meppen was formed on April 1, 1885 from the former Hanoverian offices of Meppen and Haselünne. The state of Prussia was dissolved after the Second World War in 1946, and Meppen was now part of the newly created state of Lower Saxony. The municipality of Vormeppen and the city of Meppen merged in 1967 to form the city of Meppen. In the course of the community reform on March 1, 1974, 13 communities were incorporated into Meppen . During the Lower Saxony district reform on August 1, 1977, the former Lingen , Meppen and Aschendorf-Hümmling districts were combined to form the Emsland district, and Meppen became the seat of the district administration.

The Emslandlager IX Versen and X Fullen were located in the area of ​​today's city of Meppen during the Nazi era .

End of the war in 1945

The city of Meppen was not handed over to the Allies without a fight in the final phase of the Second World War, so that there was heavy fighting in the city.

On April 6, 1945, Canadian pioneers repaired the canal crossing at the church bridge in Schönighsdorf, which had previously been destroyed by the Wehrmacht , and then advanced with armored vehicles over the Provincial Road to Klein- and Groß Fullen. The first firefights took place there before the Versen and Filling camps were liberated. On the Schullendamm in front of the destroyed Emsbrücke, the Canadians were taken under heavy fire by Wehrmacht soldiers who had holed up on the market staircase and at Nagelshof.

On April 7th, the Canadians succeeded in advancing to Esterfeld via Rühlenmoor, Rühlerfeld and Rühle, but the fighting on Schullendamm continued and ultimately the Gustav Adolf Church was destroyed and the Provost Church of St. Vitus was badly damaged . In Esterfeld, too, there were new battles at the same time when German soldiers began to fire at the advanced Canadians.

After another day of street fighting, Meppen was finally captured by Canadian associations on April 8th.

Population development

Population development including the municipalities incorporated until 1974:

Meppens population development between 1821 and 2016

year Residents 1821 4815 1848 5130 1871 5085 1885 6268 1905 7687

year Residents 1925 9645 1933 11,745 1939 15,045 1946 17.173 1950 19,141

year Residents 1956 20,965 1961 22,914 1971 27.305 1975 27.308 1980 28,135

year Residents 1985 28,888 1990 30,508 1995 32.093 2000 33,412 2005 34,196

year Residents 2010 34,944 2015 34,918 2016 34,935 2017 35,267

Religions

The population is predominantly Roman Catholic (69.7 percent), 16.7 percent are Evangelical Lutheran and 2 percent are Evangelical Reformed. About 11 percent of the population belong to another or no religion.

Churches

St. Vitus Meppen old town

• Catholic parishes
  • Provost church St. Vitus , old town
  • St. Paulus , Neustadt
  • St. Mary for Peace, Esterfeld
  • St. Franz Xaver , Rühle
  • St. Vinzentius , Fullen / Versen
  • St. Vitus , Bokeloh
  • St. Antonius , Apeldorn
  • Church of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Hemsen
  • St. Joseph , Schwefingen
  • St. Antonius , Teglingen
• Protestant communities
  • Evangelical-Lutheran Gustav-Adolf-Parish , Neustadt
  • Evangelical Lutheran Bethlehem Church Community, Esterfeld
  • Evangelical Reformed parish , Schönighsdorf
• Free Churches
  • Evangelical Free Church Congregation , Baptists

Other denominations

• New Apostolic Church
• Jehovah's Witnesses

politics

City council election 2016

Turnout: 57.09% (2011: 53.30%)

 %

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

44.58%

24.16%

15.45%

8.40%

4.52%

2.41%

CDU

SPD

UWG

Green

FDP

BfM ^f

Gains and losses

compared to 2011

 % p

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

  -8th

-6.92  % p

-0.33  % p

+ 3.38  % p.p.

-0.58  % p

+1.56  % p

+ 2.41  % p

CDU

SPD

UWG

Green

FDP

BfM ^f

Remarks:

^f citizens for Meppen

Meppen has the status of an independent municipality and has been the district town of the then largest German district in terms of area, the district of Emsland, since 1977.

Composition of the city council

The city council has 38 elected members. In addition, there is the directly elected full-time mayor . Since the local elections on September 11, 2016, it has consisted of councilors from four parties and two voter communities.

Party / list	Seats	change
CDU	17th	- 3
SPD	9	± 0
UWG	6th	+ 1
Green	3	± 0
FDP	2	+ 1
BfM	1	+ 1

mayor

Until the local elections in 2001, the mayor was elected by the members of the city council. Until then he only had representative tasks.

The first full-time mayor was Heinz Jansen (CDU), who was elected in the runoff election on September 23, 2001 against former mayor Meppens Karin Stief-Kreihe (SPD) with 56.7 percent of the vote. In the local elections on September 10, 2006, 54.11 percent of the votes went to the CDU candidate Jan Erik Bohling , who was able to achieve an absolute majority in the first ballot. His term began on November 1, 2006.

From 1994 to 1996 Karin Stief-Kreihe was mayor of Meppens, although the CDU had an absolute majority in the city council. After several rounds of voting it was a draw. According to the Lower Saxony electoral law at the time, the lot finally decided.

In the mayoral elections on May 25, 2014, Helmut Knurbein (independent) won with 52.46 percent of the vote against incumbent Jan Erik Bohling with 39.52 percent and thus became the new mayor in the first ballot. He was supported in the election campaign by the UWG, SPD, Greens and FDP. Knurbein took office on November 1, 2014.

Honorary Mayors :

• Hermann Kerckhoff (1946)
• Arnold Blanke (1946–1947)
• Wilhelm Sagemüller (1948–1956)
• Arnold Blanke (1956-1967)
• Hans Plate (1975–1988)
• Wilhelm Mevenkamp (1988–1994)
• Karin Stief-Kreihe (1994–1996)
• Heinz Jansen (1996-2001)

Full-time mayors :

• Heinz Jansen (2001-2006)
• Jan Erik Bohling (2006-2014)
• Helmut Knurbein (since 2014)

City Directors :

• Hans Kraneburg (1946–1964)
• Hans Simon (1964–1989)
• Franz Quatmann (1989-2001)

coat of arms

Meppen came to the Principality of Münster in the 13th century . The Meppen coat of arms is derived from the original Münster coat of arms . This original coat of arms is a gold-red-gold bar coat of arms, which in its original form is still used today by the city of Werne and the diocese of Münster . In contrast to this, a red cross has been added to the Meppen coat of arms on the central bar.

Town twinning

Ostrołęka ( Poland ), since September 1994

Culture and sights

Historic town hall Meppen

Jesuit grammar school church

Arenbergische Rentei

Högerhaus

Höltingmühle Meppen

Herrenmühle

Meppen-Hüntel power plant

Stadtwall (former Kontreescarpe)

"Borken Paradise"

Bahnhofstrasse pedestrian zone - condition before the renovation and construction of the MEP shopping arcade

Bahnhofstrasse pedestrian zone - condition after the construction of the MEP shopping arcade, 2018

Diamond of the MEP, photographed from the Dortmund-Ems Canal, 2013

Old port of Meppen - state before decommissioning and demolition

Vormeppen train station

Ems in Meppen, with an old lift bridge before 2007

Insertion of the new lift bridge in 2007

theatre

The Meppen theater community offers an extensive program between September and April . The performances take place in the theater and concert hall of the city of Meppen designed by Eberhard Kulenkampff and completed in 1959 , which also serves as an auditorium for the Windthorst-Gymnasium. Spoken theater with touring productions and music events of various genres are offered.

From May to September, the Emsland open-air stage in Meppen offers visitors a family musical and an evening piece, mostly from the field of musicals. The more than 30,000 visitors who come to the natural stage in the Esterfelder Forst every year can expect large pieces of equipment with up to a hundred participants from the field of music theater.

Museums

• City museum in the Arenbergische Rentei in Obergerichtsstrasse, built by August Reinking
• Exhibition center for the archeology of the Emsland in the art center at the Koppelschleuse

Buildings

High altar of the provost church St. Vitus in Meppen

• Around 1461/62 the provost church of St. Vitus was built as a three-aisled late Gothic hall church. While there were only wooden church buildings in the area, a simple stone predecessor building stood here as early as the 9th century. This was expanded in the 11th century, including the core of today's tower. During the expansion in the 13th century, the bridal and north portal of the church were built.
• The residence , today's seat of the administration and the rectorate of the Windhorstgymnasium, was built between 1726 and 1729. Later the grammar school church (1743–46) was added to the residence under Father Superior Karl Immendorf .
• The town hall , today the town's landmark, was built from boulders in 1408 . Between 1601 and 1605 it was considerably expanded and a brick floor was added. In order to increase the floor space for the upper floors, an open arch hall was presented to the building. The stepped gable with semicircular attachments is based heavily on models from Münster ( Rothenburg 44 from 1583 and Krameramtshaus from 1589). At the beginning of the 19th century, the building seems to have been in a state of disrepair, as the Arenberg building director Josef Niehaus was asked by the city for an expert opinion on its renovation. Among other things, he recommended demolishing the ailing tower and removing the decoration on the gable, but this did not happen at first. In 1885 the essays were finally removed and the top of the gable was given a simple triangular gable. In addition, the hood of the side stair tower, which was added in 1611, had to be removed due to its dilapidation. In 1909 it was decided to reconstruct the tower and gable in the form they still have today. Inside there is a sandstone chimney marked in 1605.
• The armory was built in 1752 on the former site of the removed Paul Castle , a 1374 built Droste seat , on behalf of Elector Clemens August erected. It was intended to serve the soldiers on duty in the Meppen Fortress as a storage room for weapons, ammunition, uniforms and military equipment. In the 19th century, the building was used commercially and today as a residential building. After some structural changes, it has been preserved until today.
• The history of the Herrenmühle , a water mill on the Nordradde , goes back to the 16th century. Today it is used for cultural events.
• Residential buildings. In contrast to Lingen , which is only a few kilometers away , the inner city of Meppen hardly has any historical buildings. The streetscape today is mainly characterized by new clinker buildings and individual brick buildings from the 19th century. The Arenbergische Rentei in Obergerichtsstrasse is of supraregional importance . The two-storey classical building with pilasters and a mansard roof was built in 1805 by August Reinking for the merchant Ferdinand Frye and his wife Josefine Mulert. Used as a rental company from 1835 , it now serves as a city museum. Four years later, the so-called Heyl'sche Haus in Emsstrasse was built according to plans by the same architect . The builder was the ducal arenberg chamber councilor Anton Heyl. While the actual house was demolished in 1977 in favor of a bank building, the adjoining hall building with its remarkable furnishings could be preserved and restored. In addition to the scale-breaking bank, however, it seems quite lost. The 1816 built by the physician Nicholas Vagedes townhouse near the town hall houses the city administration since 1936th The single-storey eaves houses Kuhstraße 24 and Im Sack 12 are among the few surviving half-timbered buildings . The core of the former dates back to the 16th century, making it one of the oldest residential buildings in the city. It has been expanded and lengthened several times. In Sack 12 , on the other hand, it wasn't built until 1797 and still has a hall gate. Today the offices of the senior newspaper and the senior volunteer agency are located here.
• The Meppener Högerhaus , built between 1936 and 1937 , was the former administrative building of the Meppen district and was designed by the architect Fritz Höger . Today there is a police station in the two-wing, massive brick building with a hipped roof on Bahnhofstrasse. The entrance stairs on the south-west front are dominated by an archway .
• The coupling lock, built between 1826 and 1830, has been preserved in its original state as part of the former Ems-Hase Canal.
• The Höltingmühle , a Dutch windmill , was probably built in 1639 near Bockhorn in the Friesland district . The mill was bought by the Hölting-Bürgerschützenverein and rebuilt on the headland between the Dortmund-Ems Canal and the Hase on the occasion of the city's 600th anniversary in 1959/60. Inside the mill there is now a café that is open on weekends during the summer months. Civil weddings also take place in the mill.
• According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest world map in the world is painted on the 131 meter high cooling tower of the (now closed) peak load gas power plant Meppen-Hüntel . This painting was designed by the Swiss artist Christoph Rihs .

Parks

The former Kontreeskarpe of the Meppen Fortress has been preserved and today forms a promenade lined with old trees, called the “city wall”, around the old town. Between this and the Dortmund-Ems canal is the student meadow, formerly a facility for school sports. Today the student meadow is used regularly for events.

Natural monuments

In the district of Borken , the nature reserve "is Borkener paradise ", a historical Huteweide .

Sports

sports clubs

• From the 1987/88 season to 1997/98, SV Meppen was represented in the 2nd Bundesliga . The club has been playing in the third division since the 2017/18 season .
• The sports club with the largest number of members is the SV Union Meppen , whose volleyball department won the German championship in 1994 in the youth class. The first women's soccer team qualified for the women's DFB Cup in 2014, 2015 and 2016 .
• DLRG OG Meppen e. V.
• Bridge-Treff Meppen
• Gymnastics Club Meppen
• Athletics Club Meppen
• Meppen swimming club
• Disabled sports community Meppen
• Boxing ring Meppen
• Karate club Meppen
• Ju-Jutsu-Martial Arts Association Meppen
• Meppen squash club
• Meppen tennis club
• Water sports club Meppen
• Canoe Club Meppen
• Meppen chess club

Sports facilities

• Athletics stadium Helter Damm
• Hänsch Arena
• Forest Stadium Esterfeld
• Versener Strasse outdoor sports facility
• Skate park
• Meppen outdoor and indoor swimming pool
• Bathing lake on Schlagbrückener Weg
• Archery range
• Tennis facility at the city forest
• Tennis facility on Schullendamm
• several smaller and larger sports halls

Regular cultural events

• The cross , a Good Friday procession , since 1647
• Medieval market, beginning of May
• Rock unter Linden, festival as the closing festival of the Meppener high schools
• Summer fair
• Meppen Jazz and Blues Night on the first Friday in August
• City festival, on the first weekend in September
• Autumn fair in October
• Christmas Market
• Meppen open-air theater
• Meppen Musical Night
• Small town festival (youth culture festival)

Shanty choir

The Meppen-based Shantychor Geeste eV under the direction of Gerd Ruhl is active with regular events in the region and throughout Germany .

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

As the urban center, Meppen was an administrative and trading town with an impact on the surrounding area. In the 19th century, the authorities were joined by an ironworks that was important at the time and which still exists today, in which the lawn iron ore from the area was initially processed, the Krupp company’s shooting range and the railway and hydraulic engineering authorities.

The service sector is the largest today. Retail, administration and healthcare, and increasingly information technology and tourism, are important here. The local logistics company Lanfer Logistik is active throughout Germany and is one of the largest tank logistics service providers in Germany. In the manufacturing industry, electrical and mechanical engineering companies (e.g. Hedelius Maschinenfabrik ), the wood, oil and chemical industries as well as plastics processing and handicrafts should be mentioned. There are farms in the periphery. Industrial animal husbandry is also increasingly being pursued.

Employees

The number of employees subject to social security contributions in Meppen rose from 1980 to 2012 by 77.5 percent from 9085 to 16,124. The table shows that this development was essentially the same as that in the Emsland district (increase of 73.9 percent). In Lower Saxony the number of employees only increased by 19.2 percent during this period:

Employees subject to social security contributions	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010	2012
number	9085	9228	10,717	12.302	13,416	13,362	15,159	16,124
Index city of Meppen	100.0	101.6	118.0	135.4	147.7	147.1	166.9	177.5
Index rural district Emsland	100.0	99.4	114.3	130.0	138.1	137.2	161.6	173.9
Index State of Lower Saxony	100.0	94.8	104.8	109.9	111.7	105.7	112.6	119.2

The service sector dominates the employment structure by economic sector. More than half of the employees work here. The table with the percentage of employees subject to social security contributions also shows the corresponding values ​​for the Emsland district and for the state of Lower Saxony (as of June 30, 2012):

Economic sector	City of Meppen	Emsland district	State of Lower Saxony
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	1.1	1.5	1.3
Manufacturing	23.9	43.2	31.0
Commerce, transport and storage, hospitality	23.8	20.8	23.1
other services	51.2	34.4	44.6
of which: business service provision	13.7	12.5	17.5
of which: public and private services	37.4	21.9	27.1

Data on unemployment are not collected for the city of Meppen itself. The Meppen branch of the Nordhorn Employment Agency includes Meppen and the surrounding communities of Twist , Haren (Ems) , Dohren , Haselünne , Herzlake , Geeste , Lähden and essentially the area of ​​the old district of Meppen . Here the unemployment rate in June 2013 was 2.6 percent. It was 4 percentage points below the national average.

traffic

See also : Traffic in the Emsland district

Road traffic

Meppen can be reached via the federal motorway A 31, junctions Meppen and Twist, as well as the federal highways B 70 and B 402, a section of the European road E 233.

Rail transport

The station Meppen is located at 1855 opened railway line Münster - Emden ( Emsland Railway ). The two-hourly intercity buses on line 35 Koblenz - Norddeich Mole stop in Meppen . In addition, the Emsland-Express RE 15 runs hourly from Münster to Emden , which has been operated by the Westfalenbahn since December 2015 .

In addition to the connection operated by Deutsche Bahn AG (long-distance traffic) and Westfalenbahn (local traffic), there is the route of the Meppen-Haselünner Railway, which opened in 1894, from Meppen via Haselünne to Herzlake . Today only freight trains and a museum railway from Meppen to Essen / Oldenburg run here .

By summer 2015, the station was modernized and redesigned to be barrier-free .

Bus transport

In city traffic, connections are usually offered every hour from Monday to Saturday, sometimes at shorter intervals. In addition, there are regular regional bus connections, including to Nordhorn , Sögel , Haselünne , Herzlake and Twist, as well as cross-border to the Dutch city ​​of Emmen . At Emmen station there is a connection to the Nederlandse Spoorwegen railway network . The local transport association for bus traffic is called Busverkehr Emsland-Mitte / Nord . Central stops are the bus station, the train station and Windthorstplatz.

Bicycle traffic

In Meppen, as in other parts of the Emsland and the areas neighboring the Netherlands, there is a lot of cycling. More precise data are not available. In contrast to Lingen , Leer or the Grafschaft Bentheim, there are no conceptual approaches to promoting cycling in Meppen .

Several long-distance cycle paths lead through the city : The Dortmund-Ems-Canal Route is a 350-kilometer long and almost incline-free cycle path that connects the Ruhr area with the North Sea coast . The Ems Cycle Path begins at the Ems source in the village of Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock on the edge of the Teutoburg Forest and follows the river for a distance of 375 kilometers. The Emsland Route , a 300 kilometer long circuit between Rheine and Papenburg, crosses or uses the same route several times as the Dortmund-Ems Canal Route. The Hase-Ems-Tour leads along the Hase for around 265 kilometers through Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia via the confluence of the Hase into the Ems near Meppen to Rheine. Along the section between Bersenbrück and Meppen there is a work of art in every town or municipality. The sandstone sculpture Encounter by Jutta Klose is in Meppen . The works of art are connected by the approx. 100 km long Hasetal art route , which can be traveled by bike.

Shipping

The Ems is navigable downstream from Meppen and is part of the Dortmund-Ems Canal, upstream it is only used for recreational traffic today. Freight traffic has been circumnavigating the numerous meanders of the Ems between Lingen and Meppen on the Ems-Hase Canal since 1829 , which has been mainly included in the Dortmund-Ems Canal since 1899.

About half a kilometer north of the city limits, in the area of ​​the city of Haren (Ems) , the intermunicipal Eurohafen Emsland was opened in 2007 . After the expansion of the Dortmund-Ems Canal into a class V inland waterway, large motor goods ships will also be able to approach this right-hand Ems port . Until 2008 there was an Emshafen near the city center about 300 meters north of the mouth of the Hase. This small parallel port on the eastern bank of the river was designed for European ships and was mainly used for bulk cargo handling.

media

Print media

• Meppen daily mail, part of the publisher of the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung ( head leaf ) appears on weekdays
• Emsland-Kurier, owned by the Osnabrücker Nachrichten publishing house, appears on Wednesdays and Sundays
• The Meppener, appears monthly

Online media

• What's going on in Meppen?

Radio and television

• Ems-Vechte-Welle , an advertising-free public radio for the Emsland and the county of Bentheim
• Hospital radio and TV "Studio Ludmilla" in the Ludmillenstift hospital
• Church radio of the St. Vitus Church
• Ems-TV , formerly Emsland-eins , regional Internet television station for the Emsland

health care

The Ludmillenstift Meppen hospital , as a hospital providing specialist care, provides in- patient medical care for the population. With its 420 beds, it offers  around 17,000 inpatients and around 65,000 outpatients annually medical help in 17 specialist and occupational departments.

Public facilities

In addition to the seat of the district administration, Meppen is also the seat of many other supra-local authorities. Meppen is therefore considered the official city of the Emsland.

The Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 91 for weapons and ammunition of the Bundeswehr , formerly Kruppsch shooting range , was founded in 1877. It is one of the largest employers in Meppen and the surrounding area and operates the Meppen Air Base .

education

High schools

• Gymnasium Marianum , private high school sponsored by the Diocese of Osnabrück
• Windthorst High School
• Vocational high school economics, technology, social education and health care

High school

• Cardinal von Galen School in Meppen

Hauptschule and Realschulen

• Anne Frank School
• Johanness School

Elementary schools

• Six primary schools in the central districts, as well as seven in the incorporated districts of Apeldorn, Bokeloh, Groß Fullen, Hemsen, Rühle, Teglingen and Versen

Special schools and day-care centers

• Pestalozzi School , special school with a focus on learning
• Helen Keller School, special school with a focus on physical and motor development
• Jakob-Muth-Schule, day-care center for children and young people with special needs in the field of intellectual development

Vocational schools

• Vocational schools in Meppen - agricultural and home economics subjects
• Vocational schools Meppen - industrial and commercial subjects
• Marienhaus School: Vocational, technical and technical colleges of the Missionary Sisters of Mary
• Training center at the Ludmillenstift hospital in Meppen: basic, advanced and advanced training for health professions

More schools

• Music school of the Emsland
• Art school in the Meppener Kunstkreis
• Adult Education Center Meppen
• German Employees Academy

Personalities

Windthorst Monument

Honorary citizen

• 1888: Ludwig Windthorst (1812–1891), member of the Meppen Reichstag and co-founder of the German Center Party
• 1913: Wilhelm Anton Riedemann (1832–1920), pioneer of tanker shipping and co-founder of the German-American Petroleum Society (DAPG, today ExxonMobil )
• 1919: Engelbert-Maria von Arenberg (1872–1949), ninth Duke of the House of Arenberg and grandson of Duke Prosper-Ludwig von Arenberg (1785–1861), the former sovereign in the Duchy of Arenberg-Meppen
• 1950: Wilhelm Berning (1877–1955), Bishop of Osnabrück from 1914 to 1955
• 1955: Wilhelm Sagemüller (1880–1962), Mayor of the city of Meppen from 1948 to 1956, revocation of honorary citizenship by the city of Meppen on September 18, 2014 a. a. because of the participation in the construction of the Emsland camps in 1933
• 1967: Arnold Blanke (1887–1972)

People born in Meppen

• Johannes Schiphower (1463 – after 1521), theologian and historian
• Theodor von Rheden (1492–1556), Bishop of Lübeck
• Dietrich von Velen (1591–1657), Drost of the Emsland and founder of Papenburg
• Dietrich Anton von Velen (1643–1700), Provost of the Cathedral in Münster
• Levin Schücking (1814–1883), writer
• Ferdinand Schöningh (1815–1883), publisher
• Bernhard von Lepel (1818–1885), Prussian officer, writer and lifelong friend of Theodor Fontane
• Eduard Schöningh (1823–1900), pioneer of raised bog cultivation, naval artillery officer and mayor of Meppen
• Augustus Maria Toebbe (1829–1884), Bishop of Covington, Kentucky, USA
• Wilhelm Anton Riedemann (1832–1920), pioneer of tanker shipping and co-founder of the DAPG
• John of You (1834-1922), Bishop, Apostolic Vicar of Denmark (1892-1922)
• Adolf Bödiker (1835-1893), member of the Reichstag and Landtag (center)
• Tonio Bödiker (1843–1907), Prussian statesman and senior government councilor
• Max Sternberg (1856–1930), politically active doctor
• Theodor Reismann-Grone (1863–1949), publisher and politician
• Karl Brandi (1868–1946), historian
• August Löning (1889–1966), politician
• Franz Bösken (1909–1976), organologist
• Rhabanus Maurus Haacke , (1912–1993), Benedictine and church historian
• Gerd Zacher (1929–2014), composer, organist and music writer
• Hans Hunfeld (* 1936), professor for didactics of the English language and literature
• Alwin Schockemöhle (* 1937), show jumper
• Wendelin Köster SJ (* 1939), Rector of the Jesuit College Sankt Georgen
• Hermann Lause (1939–2005), film and theater actor
• Günter Balders (* 1942), Baptist theologian and professor emeritus for church history
• Reinhold Schaffrath (* 1946), actor, singer, theater scholar and director
• Bernt Jansen (* 1949), table tennis player
• Hermann Korte (1949–2020), Germanist and literary scholar
• Helmut Gels (* 1952), Mayor of Vechta
• Carolin Philipps (* 1954), author of children's books
• Helmut Hoping (* 1956), Catholic theologian and professor
• Andreas Slominski (* 1959), artist
• Markus Löning (* 1960), politician
• Andreas Müller (* 1961), youth judge
• Alwin Otten (* 1963), two-time lightweight rowing world champion
• Ludger Abeln (* 1964), company spokesman and former television presenter for NDR
• Daniel Giese (* 1969/70), neo-Nazi singer
• Bernd Schlömer (* 1971), politician (Pirate Party; FDP)
• Tobias Böckermann (* 1973), journalist and non-fiction author
• Holger Wehlage (* 1976), soccer player
• Kerstin de Witt (* 1976), recorder player
• Carsten Schlangen (* 1980), athlete, German champion 2006/07/09/10, Olympic participant 2008 and European silver medalist 2010
• Thomas Bröker (* 1985), professional football player
• Jana-Franziska Poll (* 1988), national volleyball player
• Maciej Szewczyk (* 1994), Polish-German soccer player
• Thorben Deters (* 1995), football player

Personalities who have worked on site

• Beringer Altmann (1939–2010), painter and graphic artist
• Gottfried Wilhelm Bueren (1801-1859), song writer
• Matthias Deymann (1799–1871), lawyer and politician
• Johannes Bernhard Diepenbrock (1796–1884), theologian and historian
• Gerhard Henschel (* 1962), writer and translator
• Dodo Freiherr zu Innhausen and Knyphausen (1583–1636), general in the Thirty Years War. He was killed at the beginning of the battle near Haselünne . His body was transported from Meppen by ship down the Ems to Emden on March 4, 1636 and buried in the Jennelter Church on May 3, 1636, where the magnificent copper coffin can still be viewed today
• Hermann Michel (1935–2015), player trainer at SV Meppen and until 1991 physical education teacher at the Marianum high school
• Maria Mönch-Tegeder (1903–1980), poet
• Werner Müller (1946–2019), manager and politician and former Federal Minister of Economics; Abitur at Windthorst-Gymnasium
• Christian Neidhart (* 1968), soccer coach of SV Meppen at the time of promotion to the 3rd division
• Otto Pankok (1893–1966), painter and sculptor; 1964 stay in Meppen, temporarily living in what is now the Bokeloh district during the Nazi era
• Theo Paul (* 1953), Vicar General of the Diocese of Osnabrück
• Gottlieb Planck (1824–1910), judge and politician; worked from 1863 to 1867 as a judge at the Meppen Higher Court
• Christoph Rihs (* 1957), artist
• Josef Stecker (1916–2008), lawyer and politician
• Deniz Undav (* 1996), soccer player
• Arthur Wieferich (1884–1954), mathematician

Trivia

Luise Koschinsky , portrayed by cabaret artist Hans Werner Olm , is also based in Meppen . However, the shooting for her episodes has not yet taken place in Meppen.

The FC Barcelona was August 3, 1982 at SV Meppen guest. This was Diego Maradona's first club game on European soil.

literature

• Hermann Abels: The place names of the Emsland, in their linguistic and cultural-historical significance . Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1929.
• Johannes Bernhard Diepenbrock : History of the former Münster office of Meppen or of the current Hanoverian duchy of Arenberg-Meppen . Munster 1838.
• Ernst Förstemann, Hermann Jellinghaus (Ed.): Old German name book , Vol. II, 1 and 2: Place names. Bonn 1913/1916. (Reprint: Vol. II, 2, Hildesheim 1967/1983, ISBN 3-487-01733-4 )
• Alexander Geppert: Meppen. Outline of a city's history . City of Meppen, Meppen 1951.
• Hans-Jürgen Häßler (Ed.): Prehistory and early history in Lower Saxony. Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-8062-0495-0 .
• Heinrich Heeren and Dieter Stockmann: Meppen in old views, volume 1. Zaltbommel, 1982.
• Heinrich Heeren: Meppen in old views, volume 2. Zaltbommel, 1992.
• Michael Herrmann (Ed.): Meppen in the mirror of historical sources . Meppen 2003, ISBN 3-9808550-1-5 .
• Carl Knapstein (Ed.): Meppen in old and new times 834–1984 . City of Meppen, Meppen 1983.
• Hans Simon: Meppen 1946–2001 - the time of the city directors. A contribution to Meppen's urban development . City of Meppen, Meppen 2007, ISBN 978-3-9808550-3-7 .
• City of Meppen (Hrsg.): History of the city of Meppen. City of Meppen, Meppen 2006, ISBN 978-3-9808550-2-0 .
• Gerhard Steenken: The Meppener Eisenhütte - The history of an important industrial company from 1859 until today . In: Studiengesellschaft für Emsländische Regionalgeschichte (Ed.): Emsländische Geschichte , Vol. 19, Haselünne 2012, ISBN 978-3-9814041-4-2 , pp. 218-300.
• Anton Timpe: New and old in Emsland . Osnabrück 1933.
• Hermann Wenker: Meppen and its citizens in olden times . 3. Edition. Gels, Meppen 1978.

Web links

Commons : Meppen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Meppen in the Topographia Westphaliae (Mathäus Merian)  - sources and full texts

• Official website of the city of Meppen

Individual evidence

1. ↑ State Office for Statistics Lower Saxony, LSN-Online regional database, Table 12411: Update of the population, as of December 31, 2019  ( help ).
2. ^ Hans Heinrich Seedorf: 1.1.1 General landscape structure. In: The district of Emsland. Geography, history, present. A circle description. Meppen 2002, map of the natural areas with legend, pp. 22–23.
3. ^ Precipitation data according to the German Weather Service, normal period 1961–1990
4. ^ Hermann-Josef Mammes: Shopping UFO landed in Emsland. Meppener "Diamant" is opened after 18 months of construction - 55 million euros invested. In: Meppener Tagespost, edition of May 15, 2013, p. 7.
5. ^ Hermann-Josef Mammes: Problem child Bahnhofstrasse. Dilapidated and ailing. In: Meppener Tagespost, edition of January 7, 2009, p. 15.
6. ^ Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Historical municipality directory for the Federal Republic of Germany. Name, border and key number changes in municipalities, counties and administrative districts from May 27, 1970 to December 31, 1982 . W. Kohlhammer GmbH, Stuttgart / Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 257 .
7. ^ Hermann Abels: On the origin of Emsland place names. In: Heimatkalender 1926, Kreis Meppen, Meppen 1926, p. 20.
8. ↑ Alexander Geppert: Meppen. Outline of a city's history. City of Meppen, Meppen 1951, pp. 14-15.
9. ^ Hermann Wenker: Meppen and its citizens in olden times. 3rd edition, Gels, Meppen 1978, p. 9.
10. ↑ Carola Alge: Small point on the map is astonishing. In: Meppener Tagespost of September 24, 2011, p. 20.
11. ↑ 1945 - invasion of the Meppen district. In: Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung from April 6, 2015, accessed on October 20, 2016.
12. ↑ Gustav Uelschen: The population in Lower Saxony from 1821 to 1961. Hanover 1966 (for 1821 to 1961).
13. ^ Yearbook of the Emsland Homeland Federation. Vol. 20, 1973 (for 1971).
14. ↑ Statistical Survey 100 - population update. State Office for Statistics and Communication Technology Lower Saxony, accessed on May 26, 2013 (from 1975).
15. ↑ http://ftp.meppen.de/web/wahl/kommunalwahl2016/454035_000033/index.html Result of the city council election 2016 on 09/11/2016 - Meppen municipality
16. ↑ Helmut Knurbein in Meppen sensation winner. In: Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung from May 25, 2014
17. ↑ Hans Simon: Meppen 1946–2001, the time of city directors. A contribution to Meppen's urban development, ed. from the city of Meppen. Meppen 2007.
18. ↑ Coupling sluice. ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Meppen tourism. 
19. ^ Meppen cross costume. Propsteigemeinde St. Vitus.
20. ^ Website of the Shantychor
21. ↑ Statistical Survey 70A - Employees and Commuters, from 1980. State Office for Statistics and Communication Technology Lower Saxony, accessed on July 10, 2013.
22. ↑ Statistical Survey 70H - Employees WZ2008 (66) from 2008. State Office for Statistics and Communication Technology Lower Saxony, accessed on July 10, 2013.
23. ↑ Labor market in figures: Labor market report, Nordhorn Employment Agency. Federal Employment Agency, Nuremberg June 2013. p. 25.
24. ↑ Station profile Meppen
25. ↑ Lukas Herbers: Westfalenbahn on the Emsland route since Sunday. Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, December 13, 2015, accessed on February 17, 2016 . 
26. ↑ Journeys in 2016. Eisenbahnfreunde Hasetal, accessed on February 17, 2016 . 
27. ^ Hermann-Josef Mammes: Ten million euros for Meppener Bahnhof. Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, accessed on February 17, 2016 . 
28. ↑ Timetable Meppen – Emmen (PDF file)
29. ↑ history. Eurohafen Emsland GmbH, accessed on July 18, 2013.
30. ↑ Dortmund-Ems Canal Northern Line - Outlook. Wasserstraßen-Neubauamt Datteln, accessed on July 18, 2013.
31. ↑ Holger Keuper: Last cargo ship unloaded yesterday. Dismantling of the Meppener Emshafen begins. In: Meppener Tagespost, edition of May 31, 2008, p. 17.
32. ↑ About us. EV1.
33. ↑ Honorary Citizen of the City of Meppen ( Memento of the original from October 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.