Small Berßen

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 52 ° 46 '  N , 7 ° 27'  E
Basic data
State :	Lower Saxony
County :	Emsland
Joint municipality :	Sögel
Height :	29 m above sea level NHN
Area :	16.92 km 2
Residents:	1152 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	68 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	49777
Area code :	05965
License plate :	Tbsp
Community key :	03 4 54 024
Association administration address:	Clemens-August-Str. 39 49751 Sögel
Mayor :	Hermann Hinrichs ( CDU )
Location of the municipality of Klein Berßen in the Emsland district

Klein Berßen is a municipality in the Emsland district in Lower Saxony . It belongs to the Sögel municipality , which has its administrative headquarters in the Sögel municipality .

The municipality extends over 16.93 km² and has 1155 inhabitants .

geography

Geographical location

Klein Berßen is a few kilometers south of the hilly geest landscape of the Hümmling . It is located a few kilometers northeast of Meppen between the Nordradde in the northwest and the Mittelradde in the southeast.

Neighboring communities

Neighboring municipalities are the municipality of Stavern in the northwest , the municipalities of Groß Berßen and Westerloh in the east, the town of Haselünne in the south and the town of Meppen in the southwest .

history

The name Berßen was first documented in a document that reports on a church consecration in Bokeloh. In this document small and large Berßen are mentioned as belonging to the church of Bokeloh. Bishop Dodo consecrated this church on the feast of the Assumption of Mary. However, the year is missing. There were two bishops named Dodo in Osnabrück: Dodo I. (918–949) and Dodo II. (978–996). Which of the two consecrated the church at Bokeloh is unclear. Pastor Diekmann von Bokeloh assumes that it was Dodo I. In this case the church would have been consecrated between 919 and 936. If Dodo II were meant, he would have been called "Dodo II", just as the second bishop Benno was always called Benno II. However, it will never be possible to answer this question with certainty.

politics

Municipal council

The municipal council from Klein Berßen consists of 11 council members.

mayor

Hermann Hinrichs has been serving as mayor of the municipality since November 1, 2016.

Culture and sights

Buildings

Choir of the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Klein Berßen

The village has a church (Herz Jesu Kirche), which was built in 1218 in the Gothic style. Today (2010), masses in the Roman Catholic faith are still celebrated in it weekly and on high feast days. The churchgoers come not only from Klein Berßen, but also from Groß Berßen. Because despite its location in Klein Berßen, the church was built for the members of both communities. The parish has its own pastor, who is also responsible for the parish of St. Michel Stavern. The cemetery is adjacent to the church. This has its own morgue. However, this will be demolished in the course of the village renewal; a few meters further a new morgue is being built. The church is located in the center of the village. Village life tends to take place around them: in the nearby youth center, at the local bakery (Wotte bakery) and in the evening in the village pubs (Nieters and Unkenholz), where young and old from the community meet and get together likes to talk about the day's events over a beer.

Sports

The village sports club is SV Eintracht Berssen 1946 e. V. Together with the neighboring village of Groß Berßen , this club was founded in 1946 and today offers sports opportunities in various areas. The club's sports facility consists of two tennis courts, two soccer fields and a skate park.

Natural monuments

In the immediate vicinity is the Süd-Tannen-Moor nature reserve , one of the few remaining heather bogs of the Hümmlings. The Kesselmoor natural monument is also nearby. In Klein Berßen you can admire the historic street, a formerly important traffic route with cobblestone pavement and straight trees on both sides. The road leads south to the former Schleper train station. There are also stone graves typical of this area in Klein Berßen.

Oddities

Klein Berßen has more inhabitants than Groß Berßen , which in turn has a larger area. Both municipalities are politically independent, each municipality has its own mayor and its own local council. Except for the political activities, everything else runs together. There is a common parish, a common sports club, a common brass band, etc. The citizens of both parishes also organize and celebrate the annual celebrations such as the shooting festival, the fair or the harvest festival. Although both communities have always been governed by CDU mayors, it has so far not been possible to form a joint Berßen out of small and large Berßen.

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

In terms of traffic, Klein Berßen is close to federal highways 70, 213 and 402 and can be reached via the Meppen and Lathen junction of the A31. The nearest train stations are also in these places.

Personalities

• Erich Maria Remarque , the author of the book “ Nothing New in the West ”, worked from May to August 1920 in Klein Berßen as a teacher at the elementary school. A street in the center of the village was named after him.

literature

• Werner Kaemling - Atlas on the history of Lower Saxony , Gerd J. Holtzmeyer Verlag, Braunschweig 1987, ISBN 3-923722-44-3
• Hermann Abels - The place names of the Emsland, in their linguistic and cultural-historical significance , Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1929
• Ernst Förstemann, Hermann Jellinghaus (editor) - Old German Name Book , Volume II, 1 and 2
  place names , Bonn 1913/1916 (Reprint: Volume II, 2, Hildesheim 1967/1983, ISBN 3-487-01733-4 )

Web links

Commons : Klein Berßen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the joint municipality

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 ).