Pünte (Wiltshausen)
The Pünte in Wiltshausen , a district of Leer in East Friesland , is a small hand-operated inland ferry across the Jümme , close to its confluence with the Leda , which in turn joins the Ems after about eight kilometers at Leerort . It connects the towns of Amdorf and Wiltshausen and is the oldest hand-drawn ferry in Northern Europe.
The Pünte was mentioned for the first time in 1562 . It was last operated by the district until 1975 and then discontinued for cost reasons. When the closure was announced in 1974, a movement formed among the citizens to the “Association for the Promotion and Preservation of the Historic Pünte als Denkmal auf dem Wasser e. V. ” (Pünten Association) , which resumed ferry operations in 1988. In 2002 the Pünte was placed under monument protection.
From the beginning, the association had several hundred local members, and later more from all over the world. Even people who had never seen the Pünte used the reference to the ferry tickets of friends or relatives who had taken the Pünte while on vacation to join the club. Although the association is non-profit, it has been able to do without public subsidies since the 1980s.
The hand-operated, rope-guided ferry can transport up to three cars and around 30 passengers. The operating times May to September and Wednesday to Sunday show the Pünte today as being relatively strongly tourist-oriented. The Püntenseason traditionally begins on May 1st and is celebrated like a folk festival.
Nearby, the Pünte runs in Lehe (Emsland) across the Ems, primarily on weekends. Other Pünten in the district of Leer, in Halte, Hilkenborg, Esklum and Loga , were shut down before the Pünte in Wiltshausen.
Coordinates: 53 ° 13 ′ 24 ″ N , 7 ° 31 ′ 31 ″ E