Ostfriesland
The term Ost-Friesland is used in regional language and writing to differentiate the historical landscape of Ostfriesland from the broader North Sea coastal region between Dollart and Jadebusen . Outside of the region, this area is usually simply identified with "Ostfriesland", but this does not correspond to the historical circumstances and the self-image of the residents. The rather "artificial" spelling of East Friesland is not very widespread even in the region, mostly the term "East Frisian Peninsula" is used.
area
While East Friesland refers to the area of the former county of East Friesland , which today roughly includes the districts of Leer , Aurich and Wittmund as well as the city of Emden , East Friesland usually also includes the other traditional Frisian areas of the peninsula: the city of Wilhelmshaven and the Oldenburg district of Friesland ( Jeverland and Friesische Wehde ). This notation got its official character with the establishment of the Regional Structural Conference East Friesland in 1991, which represented a spatial extension of the previous institution called the East Friesland Conference.
Saterland is also included in this definition of East Friesland less often. Occasionally there is also the practice of designating the three areas “Landkreis Friesland, Wilhelmshaven, Saterland” or “Landkreis Wittmund, Landkreis Friesland, Wilhelmshaven” solely as East Friesland . However, this is mostly perceived as incorrect.
In its broadest definition, the term Ost-Friesland finally describes all historical Frisian areas in the state of Lower Saxony (i.e. in addition to the above-mentioned areas also the former Rüstringen (including Butjadingen ), the state of Wursten and sometimes others). Organizations from these regions form the "East Section" in the Inter-Frisian Council .
If it is to be emphasized in the linguistic usage that one speaks of “East Friesland” and not of “East Friesland”, then the “East” is emphasized, since the emphasis is normally on “Fries”.
Self-designation and demarcation
According to popular opinion, the term Ostfriesland is used purely geographically and already includes the district of Friesland and the city of Wilhelmshaven. However, this is incorrect from a “mutual” point of view. The residents of East Frisia (without a hyphen, i.e. districts Aurich, Leer and Wittmund as well as the city of Emden) are the only ones who call themselves East Frisians without reservation . In the district of Friesland and Wilhelmshaven, on the other hand, this self-designation is hardly or not at all used. If the residents of the two municipalities do not refer to themselves as Frieslanders (more rarely: Friesians) or Wilhelmshavener, then the emphasis is on the emphasis on Oldenburg.
The district of the same name owes its name Friesland to its location in the northern Oldenburger Land - i.e. in the Frisian part of Oldenburg. This leads to the fact, which is often confusing for outsiders, that the district of Friesland is east of East Friesland.
The dividing line between East Friesland and the Oldenburg district of Friesland is the historical border between the former Principality of East Friesland and the County of Oldenburg and is called the Golden Line . An attempt to bridge this golden line , as it were, was undertaken during the Lower Saxony district reform in the 1970s. At that time, parts of the Oldenburg district of Friesland were merged with the East Frisian district of Wittmund - under the name of the district of Friesland and based in Wittmund. After successful lawsuits before the Lower Saxony State Court in Bückeburg, this reform was reversed and the districts were divided again. Only the old office of Gödens, i.e. the places Gödens, Neustadtgödens and Dykhusen, remained with the Frisian municipality Sande after the creation of the old districts and thus represents a piece of East Friesland in the district of Friesland.
Wangerooge
The island of Wangerooge owes its “ambiguous” classification to the difference between the historical-political and the geographical definition of East Frisia : On the one hand, it is geographically counted among the East Frisian Islands . On the other hand, politically and historically, it has belonged to Jeverland for centuries and thus to the state of Oldenburg since 1818 , i.e. to the district of Friesland today. So it is to a certain extent the only “Oldenburg” among the (inhabited) East Frisian Islands.
Saterland
Saterland plays a special role . Although it belongs to East Frisia in terms of cultural history and linguistic history, due to its isolated location it came under the influence of the Münster diocese early on, while the East Frisian area was subordinate to the Bremen diocese. This separation from the time of the late Middle Ages has an impact up to the present day: Today, the Saterland belongs to the district of Cloppenburg . Thanks to the isolation, Sater Frisian was the only variety of the East Frisian language to survive to this day, while the rest of the East Frisian dialects of Lower Saxony are spoken ( East Frisian Platt ).
Cooperations
In the political and economic area, cooperation between cities and districts within East Friesland is now commonplace, as is cooperation with areas outside the East Frisian peninsula, such as the Emsland and the Ammerland .
The Chamber of Industry and Commerce is called " Chamber of Industry and Commerce for East Friesland and Papenburg " and includes the city of Emden and the districts of Aurich, Leer and Wittmund as well as the Emsland city of Papenburg , since the port companies there and the Meyer shipyard are better suited to this for economic and geographic reasons Coastal region of East Friesland are to be assigned - historically and politically Papenburg would otherwise be assigned to the Chamber of Commerce in Osnabrück , like the rest of the Emsland district. The district of Friesland and the city of Wilhelmshaven, on the other hand, are assigned to the Oldenburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry , following the old borders of the Oldenburg region.
The vocational academy Ost-Friesland located in Leer is - as evidenced by its name - a vocational academy that is supported by associations, companies and corporations from the entire East Frisian peninsula.
In the tourism sector, the Oldenburg Ammerland now advertises under the umbrella brand "Ostfriesland" - together with the Oldenburgische Friesland (district of Friesland, Wilhelmshaven) and Ostfriesland. There are similar collaborations, for example, with public transport . The so-called Ems-Axis growth region (East Frisia, districts Emsland and Grafschaft Bentheim ), which serves the economic cooperation of the regional authorities along the Ems, is an expression of cooperation between East Frisia and the surrounding districts. In the area of spatial planning and economic interlinking through cross-district cooperation, the district of Friesland and the city of Wilhelmshaven, on the other hand, belong to the metropolitan region of Northwest - East Friesland (and the Emsland) again do not. The Jade-Weser growth region, to which the city of Wilhelmshaven and the districts of Wittmund, Friesland and Wesermarsch belong, also overlap between the “Ems axis” and the metropolitan region (as well as from East Frisia and Oldenburg areas).
There are connections not only between East Frisia and other areas of Germany inhabited by Frisians, but also to Frisians on the other side of the German- Dutch border, in the context of the European region "Ems-Dollart-Region", the German East Frisia, the Emsland and the District of Cloppenburg, on the Dutch side the provinces of Friesland , Groningen and Drente belong.
See also: Portal: Ostfriesland
Coordinates: 53 ° 26 ' N , 7 ° 39' E
Individual evidence
- ↑ “The spatial expansion of the Regional Structural Conference East Friesland was taken wider than the spatial layout of the East Friesland Conference with the inclusion of the district of Friesland and the city of Wilhelmshaven. In order to express this, in connection with the Structural Conference Ost-Friesland, the term Ost-Friesland is divided into two parts and combined with a hyphen. ”(Gerdes, Dirk (1998): Regional Structural Conference Ost-Friesland. In: Mayer-Ries, Jörg-Friedrich ( Ed.): Cooperation in the Region - An Approach for Sustainable Development. Loccum 1998, pp. 226–235.)
- ^ Ostfriesland-Definition on Wissen.de ( Memento from November 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 20, 2011
- ^ Homepage of the Ems-Dollart region