Brookmerland Municipality

Basic data
Existing period:	1969–
State :	Lower Saxony
County :	Aurich
Area :	77.25 km 2
Residents:	13,252 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	172 inhabitants per km 2
License plate :	AUR, NOR
Association key :	03 4 52 5401
Association structure:	6 municipalities
Association administration address ; :	Am Markt 10 ; 26529 Marienhafe
Website :	www.marienhafe.de
Samtgemeinde- ; mayor :	Gerhard Ihmels (SPD)
Location of the joint municipality Brookmerland in the district of Aurich

Marienkirche in Marienhafe

The Samtgemeinde Brookmerland is a community association in the district of Aurich in East Frisia . The integrated community consists of the member communities Marienhafe , Leezdorf , Osteel , Rechtsupweg , Upgant-Schott and Werdenum . The administrative seat is Marienhafe.

Brookmerland , as it is also known colloquially, has 13,252 inhabitants on 77.25 square kilometers. This results in a population density of 172 inhabitants per square kilometer, which is not only above the East Frisian (148.6), but also slightly above the comparison value in Lower Saxony (168), but below that of the Federal Republic (around 230).

The area of the municipality lies on part of the historic Brookmerland region , the name of which comes from the Old Frisian or Old Low German word brōk , which stands for a boggy landscape that was hardly populated in the past. This stretched from the western edge of the East Frisian Geestrück from the Ley ( Norder Tief ) to the Flumm ( Fehntjer Tief ).

The historical churches in Marienhafe and Osteel, including their organs, are part of the cultural heritage of the integrated community. There are also other historical buildings such as stone houses (former chieftain's castles ), Gulf courtyards and windmills.

Economically, the community is characterized by medium-sized businesses, mainly for local supplies. Tourism also plays an important role, with the area around Marienhafe being marketed as Störtebekerland as the former refuge of pirate Klaus Störtebeker . Agriculture plays an important role in land use. Overall, the Brookmerland community is a commuter community to the cities of Emden, Aurich and Norden, with Brookmerland in the middle.

geography

Position and extent

Overview of parts of Upgant-Schott (foreground), Marienhafe (right background, around the church tower) and Osteel (left background, around the church tower)

Brookmerland is located in the western part of the East Frisian peninsula in Lower Saxony, north-north-west of Emden and south-east of the north in the Aurich district . It borders directly on the city to the north and lies west of the district town of Aurich . The North Sea coast is only a few kilometers away, the shortest is to Leybucht , which is located west of the Samtgemeinde area.

Brookmerland is densely populated with 171 inhabitants per km² in comparison to inner-East Frisia and is therefore slightly above the population density of Lower Saxony (comparative figures: East Frisia 148, Lower Saxony 168), but below the national average of 230 inhabitants per km². However, the individual member communities have very different population densities: While Willum has a value of 69 inhabitants per km², the population density of 500 inhabitants per km² in the narrowly defined main town of Marienhafe is higher than in all other East Frisian municipalities , including cities such as Emden and Leer. The scattered settlements of Leezdorf and Rechtsupweg in the moor are also more heavily populated , while in addition to Willum, Upgant-Schott and Osteel are below the overall municipality average due to their large municipal areas and a high proportion of agricultural areas.

Geology and soils

The area of the joint community Brookmerland is geologically determined on the surface by layers of the Pleistocene and Holocene . The geologically older parts of the Pleistocene are the Geest areas in the north-east of the municipality, on which Holocene bog layers partially lie. The west and south of the municipality are in the marshland , also a Holocene layer.

Typical gley floor

The central municipality to Marienhafe, Osteel, Upgant-Schott, Leezdorf Rechtsupweg and sometimes has half-bog podzol - and Gley -Podsol floors in mostly humid location. The boggy areas have now largely been pitted after cultivation measures. The other subsoil consists of sand, some of which is slightly loamy, often over loam and clay . To the east of Leezdorf and Rechtsupweg, to a lesser extent, there are raised bog soils and very humus soils on areas that have meanwhile been pitted . To the west of an approximate line between Osteel and Siegelum are marshland. These are two narrow strips of articulated marsh soils that are free of lime to slightly calcareous. Further to the west, in the area of the former Leybucht, there are lime-rich sea marsh soils . The south of the municipality around Werdenum consists largely of sea marsh soils that were obtained after the Leybucht was dyed. There, too, narrow strips of bend-marsh soils adjoin in the east.

Layers of peat in the bog

The small raised bog areas in the east of the Samtgemeinde area consist of the higher lying white peat layer and a black peat layer underneath, which in turn rests on mineral rock. The age of the East Frisian raised bogs is generally estimated to be around 5000 years. After the lighter white peat had been cleared, the black peat was pressed into briquette-like blocks that served as heating material. The pitted area was later cultivated, which required various soil improvement measures. In principle, cultivated bog soils are more suitable than grassland due to their lack of nutrients.

The gley soils are characterized by high groundwater levels. The same applies to the podsole in a damp location, the transition formations to the gley. They too have to be drained in the entire municipality and are mostly used as grassland.

Sea marsh soils have a high lime content of four to twelve percent, which is important for agricultural use. Since they consist essentially of silt , about six percent are organic substances. High groundwater levels , especially in spring and autumn, make drainage through numerous drainage ditches (chimneys) necessary. A high lime content in the soil allows better agricultural yields. The young sea marsh bottoms mostly have a high to very high land value number . The kink and brackish marsh soils, which are somewhat further away from the coast, arose from the finer and therefore denser sediments that were driven inland in earlier times. Due to the higher density, the clayey soils are heavier and often show waterlogging. In addition, they are lower in calcium.

The sagging boggy and brackish marsh soils at Werdenum and Siegelum are below sea level. The highest points are the mostly peat high moor soils near Leezdorf and Rechtsupweg up to about four meters above sea level .

Waters

To the west of Marienhafe is the "source" of the Abelitz , a meandering river that flows through the municipality and flows into the Alte Greetsieler Sieltief south of Werdenum. This drains into the Ems via the Knockster Tief . At Marienhafe the Abelitz is fed by several drainage ditches, regionally called Schloot , and takes in further Schloote in its course. In addition to the Schlooten, the Abelitz flows into the Maar, which has its origins in the neighboring municipality of Südbrookmerland. Shortly before the confluence with the Alte Greetsieler Sieltief , the Abelitz takes on the Abelitz-Moordorf Canal , which originates in the Aurich district of Georgsfeld and flows partly canalised through the Südbrookmerland. The Abelitz thus drains a large part of the joint municipality of Brookmerland and the municipality of Südbrookmerland, for which the I. Drainage Association Emden , based in the Krummhorn capital, Pewsum , is responsible. The old Greetsieler Sieltief flows south of Werdenum through the area of the Samtgemeinde and takes up the Werdenumer Tief, a short canal that used to ensure the transport connection from Willum by boat to the Krummhörn and to Emden.

Land use

Land use 2011
use	Area in ha
Building and open space	740
including living space	536
of which commercial and industrial space	33
Operating area	22nd
of which mining areas	18th
Recreation area	61
including green area	40
traffic area	356
of which road, path, square	340
Agricultural area	6,284
of which moor	8th
of it heather	1
Water surface	176
Forest area	77
Areas of other use	9
including cemeteries	3
of it land	4th
total area	7,725

At 81.34 percent, the proportion of agricultural land in the total area is above the East Frisian average of 75 percent, which in turn is well above the national average of 52 percent. Nine hectares of this area can still be described as original moor or heather. The lion's share of the agricultural land is grassland. The Brookmerland is only sparsely forested - even within the poorly forested East Frisia, which has an extremely below-average forest area (around 2.5 percent) in comparison with the rest of the Federal Republic of Germany. There are only a few smaller afforested areas in the wild fields east of Upgant-Schott and in the high-moor areas northeast of Leezdorf and Rechtsupweg . The water areas in the territory of the velvet are a few small ponds and potholes aside, only lows, canals and drainage ditches.

Structure of the integrated community

The Brookmerland Joint Congregation consists of six member congregations. In addition to the main town and administrative seat Marienhafe, these are the communities Leezdorf , Osteel , Rechtsupweg , Upgant-Schott and Werdenum . There are also other localities that belong to the territory of the respective member municipality. Tjüche and Siegelsum formed independent communities until shortly before the community reform and were incorporated into Marienhafe and Upgant-Schott, respectively . Other smaller towns and places to live, especially in the communities of Osteel and Werdenum , can be traced back to earlier new systems after dikes , such as Osteeler Altendeich and Werdenumer Altendeich .

Neighboring communities

The Brookmerland borders in the north and northwest on the city north, in the northeast on the Samtgemeinde Hage , in the east on the municipality Großheide , in the southeast on the municipality Südbrookmerland , in the southwest on the municipality Krummhörn and in the extreme south on the municipality Hinte .

climate

The Brookmerland lies in the temperate climate zone, mainly in the direct influence of the North Sea . In summer the daytime temperatures are lower, in winter often higher than in the further inland. The climate is generally characterized by the Central European west wind zone.

According to the effective climate classification of Köppen , the municipality is in the classification Cfb . C stands for a warm-temperate climate, Cf for a humid-temperate climate with warm summers b .

The closest weather station on the East Frisian mainland is in Emden (see there for further information).

Protected areas

There is a nature reserve in the area of the municipality . This is the Bahnkolk Upgant-Schott in the district of the same name, which consists of a lake that was created at the beginning of the First World War through sand mining and the adjacent bank areas. The NSG is 8.7 hectares and has been under protection since 1973. The lowland area of Bollandswater near Siegelsum has been a protected landscape area since 2007 (size: 17.3 hectares). There is also a pond on Schiffsleidingsweg in the Upgant-Schott district and a pond in Upgant-Schott, which have been under protection since 1987, as well as remaining raised bog areas in Leezdorf and Rechtsupweg (since 1989), all of which are designated as natural monuments.

history

Prehistory and early history

Finds from prehistoric times have not yet been discovered in the area of the Samtgemeinde. In 2004, however, a club was discovered in the area of Berumerfehn, a moor colony in the neighboring community of Großheide, which is directly adjacent to Leezdorf and Rechtsupweg. Its age dates back to about 2700 BC. Is estimated. It is about 70 centimeters long club made of yew wood, which is assigned to the Neolithic Age . At least for the Geest and moor areas in the transition from the integrated municipality to the neighboring municipality to the east, the presence of people during this period is confirmed.

middle Ages

To the early Middle Ages, the Brookmerland was largely uninhabited and provided a natural boundary between the spring and the Emsgau (about tonight's area Emden / Hinte / Krummhörn ) and the clans Norditi ( Norderland ) and Östringen . Even church historically this boundary separating the territory of the Diocese of Münster (Federgau and Emsgau) from that of the Archdiocese of Bremen (Norderland and Östringen).

Archaeological finds indicate a thin settlement in the period around 800, the latest from 1100, possibly as early as 10/11. Century increased. The Cuppargent mentioned in the land records of the Werden monastery was identified as today's Upgant , from which it is assumed that it originated as early as the 9th century and is thus the oldest documented village of the integrated municipality area. There are finds in churches in the southern Brookmerland from the 11th and 12th, but also from the 9th / 10th. Century, so in Wiegboldsbur , which is also mentioned as Uuibodasholta in the Werdener Urbaren and is the oldest documented place of the Südbrookmerland. The finds include cloth, a sarcophagus lid and a shard from this period. A ceramic find from Upgant is only roughly dated to AD 700 to 1000.

Since the researchers agree that almost all stone church buildings had wooden predecessors, the settlement of the area must have started before the stone church building, which for northern Brookmerland is dated to the 13th century. Since churches were only built after enough settlers had come together in a peasantry, the settlement of Brookmerland can be assumed much earlier than the oldest churches suggest. The Brokmerland was reclaimed by settlers from the marshland, mainly along the Ems.

The settlement in row villages resulted from the geological conditions that the settlers found. In Brookmerland at that time the raised bogs reached up to the Geestrand. In order to make them usable, the settlers built their villages in rows and drained the moors by creating parallel drainage ditches. Each settler was entitled to a strip of bog of an agreed width. The length of the bog to be colonized was basically unlimited, but it was limited due to the technical means available. The use of the moors was therefore initially limited to the edge zones. The result were row villages with their upstreeks .

“The internal colonization in East Friesland took place on 10./11. Century used in the form of an island-like settlement. In the 12./13. It will have peaked in the 19th century and slowly fade away in the 14th century. The settlement thus extended over a period of about four centuries. In Brookmerland as the catchment area of Ems- and Federgau, it took a more rapid course due to the higher population pressure prevailing there, so that here an extensive conclusion can be expected as early as the end of the 13th century, a century earlier than in the rest of the study area [(southern ) Eastern East Frisia]. "

- Ekkehard Wassermann : Aufstrecksiedlungen in East Friesland. A contribution to the study of medieval bog colonization. P. 135.

The brokmer were first mentioned in the Östringer (Rasteder) Chronicle of 1148, which suggests that they already had a certain importance at that time. From 1251 the Brokmänner appeared as an independent state municipality Brookmerland. It was initially divided into three central districts with two main churches each, Marienhafe and Engerhafe , Wiegsboldsbur and Burhafe (today individual farms in the Victorburer-Marsch), Bedekaspel and Südwolde (Blaukirchen). The church districts belonged to the diocese of Münster. The main meeting place of the Brokmannen was probably the Wiegboldsbur church at first .

The church at Marienhafe during the demolition in 1829

In the 13th century, Brookmerland had its first heyday, when the construction of the large churches fell, of which the (formerly three-aisled) Marienhafe Church is the largest. At that time it was the largest church in northwestern Germany and in 1462 Pope Pius II granted indulgences for visiting the church, for donating furnishings and for donations to maintain the curia beate Marie church . The Bishop of Münster paid tribute to the area's growing importance by making it a separate district in the middle of the 13th century . Before that she belonged to the deaneries Uttum and Hinte.

According to Ekkehard Wassermann, the development of the market place Marienhafe coincides with the expansion of the Leybucht by storm surges. Unlike earlier authors, he assumes that the storm surges of the 12th century created a spur that reached as far as Marienhafe and thus gave the town access to the sea for trade. This is indicated by the fact that there were hardly any farmers in Marienhafe, but there were traders. The construction of the church from 1240 onwards also required “the accumulation of a not inconsiderable sum of money”. Wassermann's connection to the Leybucht and thus to the open sea "probably" dates back to the Julian flood in 1164. After Wassermann, this rise in Marienhafe was accompanied by a relocation of the political center from today's southern Brookmerland (namely Wiegboldsbur) to Marienhafe.

Around 1240, the Premonstratensians from Steinfeld founded the Aland monastery . It was first mentioned in documents in 1255 as a nunnery and called Ripa beatae Maria Virginis or prepositus de Insula . The Leybucht reached up to the monastery in the Middle Ages. It is possible that the estuary of a river flowed around it, which made it an island. After the heavy North Sea storm flood of January 1, 1287, 90 nuns are said to have lived there. The economic basis of the monastery was its property, which is said to have covered up to 400 hectares. These lands were in the immediate vicinity of the monastery. The convent also had properties in neighboring Uppigen and in Osteel .

According to the consulate constitution, the consuls and judges in the Frisian municipalities were elected by the people for a year. The possessing population thus held political leadership and jurisdiction. Meetings of the representatives of the seven Frisian Zealand countries took place every year. The Upstalsboom is a well-known meeting place from this time. Brookmerland had its own jurisdiction and with the Brokmerbrief also its own constitution. This reports as the most detailed Frisian legal source of the state and judicial constitution of the Brookmerland, whose law was based on the will of the assembled people.

At the end of the 13th century, the Auricherland joined the Brokmerland and formed the fourth quarter of the state community. After the reign of the chief family tom Brok came to an end around 1450, the Auricherland separated again from the Brokmerland.

Chief time

Brokmerland in East Frisia in the 14th century

The consulate constitution lasted until the middle of the 14th century. It was then gradually replaced when powerful families took over the chieftainship . In Brookmerland, it was the Kenesma family who became chiefs in the second half of the 14th century. Then she renamed herself tom Brok and built Brooke Castle next to the already existing episcopal castle in Oldeborg. The tom Brok later built a second castle in Aurich.

The capital Marienhafe developed into an important trading center during this time. After severe storm surges in 1374 and 1377, it became a seaport. This made it possible to transport goods from Brookmerland to Münsterland by water. The mudflats of Leybucht and Kuipersand in front of Marienhafe take their names from the old three-aisled Marienhafer church. Its roof was covered on the north side with copper (Kuiper = Frisian-Dutch for copper) and on the south side with slate (Ley = old German for slate), so that the church from the sea through the alternating view of the copper and the slate side to the initiated an indication even at low tide passable permanent creeks were and other areas of water. Without this knowledge, the place and its tide-dependent port were practically impregnable from the sea.

Klaus Störtebeker memorial

At the end of the 14th century, the pirates known as Likedeel found shelter in Marienhafe. There is no documentary evidence of whether the notorious Klaus Störtebeker was also among them. Widzel tom Brok had opened the then still young port to the Likedeelern or Vitalienbrüdern. They used the place as protection, to stack the stolen goods and also to sell them. For this they returned the favor in the battle of the chiefs of Brookmerland for supremacy in East Frisia. This was finally stopped by several punitive expeditions by the Hanseatic City of Hamburg , which they undertook against the pirates and the chiefs who sympathized with them. Marienhafe was saved from destruction due to its safe harbor. Faldern and Larrelt near Emden and other East Frisian buildings, however, were razed .

Ocko tom Brok is captured in front of Focko Ukena after the battle in the wild fields. Romanticizing history painting by Tjarko Meyer Cramer, 1803

The tom Brok had initially tried successfully to establish sovereignty over the Friesland on both sides of the Ems. Ocko II finally inherited such large territories that he could call himself chief of East Friesland. In the following period, however, there were disputes between Focko Ukena and Ocko tom Brok, which escalated into open acts of war. After Ukena's first victory over Ocko II near Detern in 1426, Focko allied himself with the Bishop of Münster and numerous East Frisian chiefs against Ocko, who had withdrawn to Brokmerland, and finally defeated him on October 28 in the wild fields near Upgant-Schott. He was taken to Leer and was imprisoned for four years. In 1435 he died powerless as the last of his family in the north .

The subsequent rule of Focko Ukena in Brookmerland was only a short interlude. After the people had just escaped the yoke of tom Brok , many felt betrayed by the new rulers, as they, like tom Brok , seemed to betray Frisian freedom . After the conquest of Oldersum and Aurich, the East Frisian regional associations and the smaller chiefs concluded the Freedom League of the Seven East Frisia on November 14, 1430 under the leadership of Chief Edzard Cirksena from Greetsiel . Around 1440 the Cirksena became judges and guardians , chiefs of the Brookmerland and Auricherland and, after the interlude of the Ukena, became the inheritance of tom Brok. However, they had to take into account the freedom of municipalities and state law. The state parishes were newly constituted. So there was again a Brookmerland, an Auricherland and in the southwest of the Auricherland a separate southern region (Bangstede, Ochtelbur, Riepe and Simonswolde).

Under the Cirksena (1464–1744)

When the Cirksena was raised to the status of imperial count in 1464, they made the areas ruled by their castles into offices: the Brookmerland, like the Auricherland, from then on belonged to the Aurich office and consisted of the Nordbrookmer Vogtei with Osteel, Marienhafe and Siegelum and the Südbrookmer Vogtei with the parishes Engerhafe, Victorbur, Wiegboldsbur, Bedekaspel and Forlitz-Blaukirchen. This division still exists today with the Samtgemeinde Brookmerland on the one hand and the municipality Südbrookmerland on the other.

Under Count Edzard the Great (painting from around 1520/30 by Jacob Cornelisz. Van Oostsanen ), the planned embankment of the Leybucht began.

In 1498, on the orders of Count Edzard the Great, the planned embankment of parts of the Leybucht began. In the process, a dike was built from Werdenum in the direction of Marienhafe, which cut off both the large southern extension of the Leybucht and the arm of the sea at Marienhafe from the sea. However, a storm surge destroyed the plant in the same year. It was only under the reign of Countess Anna that a new attempt was made to build the dyke line even further towards the sea and thus dyke the new land in Willum. The count's house claimed the increase; domains were created there that were leased to farmers willing to settle . In 1585, the new land in Osteel was also diked, the last poldering in what is now the municipality. Due to the dike in the new Willum land, individual routes were shortened considerably. After the drainage, the passage from the north / Marienhafe via Werdenum to Emden or around the rest of Leybucht to Greetsiel was possible faster than before.

The religious talk to which Countess Anna invited on May 10th 1552 at the instigation of the Emden preachers Gellius Faber and Hermann Brassius was important for the history of the East Frisian church . There, the dispute between several pastors in Northern North about the interpretation of the Lord's Supper should be settled. Two of them, Wilhelm Lemsius and Johann Forstius, followed the Lutheran view more, while Adolph Fusipedius tended towards the Reformed view. All three therefore met with Faber and Brassius in Willum. The result of the conversation was the Formula Wirumana , which was developed under Faber's lead. It reads: "We confess, according to the scriptures, that Christ, our Lord, true God and man, is at the Lord's Supper, and was truly there, and implies and gives us his true body and blood, and nothing else, but the same, that is sacrificed on the gallows of the cross, with all the gifts that he has earned with it, which nevertheless cannot otherwise be useful to receive and enjoy bliss, because through faith. ”It goes on to say:“ But who have unrepentant hearts and believe, enjoy the worthy Sacrament and go to it, they are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, and they themselves eat the judgment, so that they do not distinguish the body of the Lord. ”She was not granted any lasting success. As a result, East Frisia split into a Reformed West and a Lutheran East.

Under Prussian rule (1744–1806 / 15)

Reclamation edict

When the last prince of East Friesland died childless, the principality came to Prussia through an prospectus in 1744. For fiscal reasons, the Prussian King Friedrich II was very interested in the further development of the country in his new province. To this end, new polders were diked and, after the reclamation edict was passed in 1765, around 80 new peatland colonies were settled in East Frisia. One of them was Rechtsupweg , where new settlers had stayed since 1771. The neighboring Leezdorf bog colony is somewhat older . A first settler named Johann Hinrichs is documented as early as 1706; he settled on the Leetze, a watercourse that flowed from the moor towards the Osteel. However, it was not until 1756 that more people entered the new colony. At the behest of Friedrich Leezdorf was recognized as a village in 1767. The number of inhabitants in the new bog colonies increased significantly in the following decades. In 1810 there were already 146 residents in Leezdorf. Since the settlers did not settle on planned and specially dug canals, as was the case in feudal settlements, but the settlement was unplanned, Leezdorf and Rechtsupweg remained scattered settlements until the middle / late 20th century. Village centers emerged only late after the Second World War.

The agricultural basis of the bog colonies was the bog fire culture. Small trenches were dug in the summer to drain a piece of bog. In autumn, the Moor was chopped into flakes, which by freezing in winter and the following spring harrowed were. In the late spring, the colonists set fire to the marshes that had been worked on in this way and placed seeds, mostly buckwheat , a knotweed plant , in the ashes. Buckwheat grows very quickly, could be harvested after a few weeks and was then processed. Potatoes, rye and oats were also grown. However, the bog soil was depleted after a few years due to this form of cultivation, so that the yields fell. Leezdorf and Rechtsupweg therefore shared the fate of many other East Frisian bog colonies of those days: the villages became impoverished, as happened in the neighboring Südbrookmerland in Moordorf .

The market town of Marienhafe was the economic center of northern Brookmerland in the middle of the 18th century. This is indicated by statistics of the occupational groups from 1769. According to this, “only three farmers and 14 day laborers, but eleven weavers, ten shoemakers, eight tailors, six carpenters, five bakers, five merchants, three coopers, two turners, two blacksmiths and one saddler each, groats maker, Rossmüller, Krüger, Brauer, Fuhrmann, Glasmacher, Rademacher ”, as well as a surgeon who was also the governor of the Fleckens.

Hanoverian Period and Empire (1815–1918)

Marienhafe had a total of 408 inhabitants around 1820, Siegelsum 192, the moor colony Neu-Siegelsum 85, Tjüche 118, Upgant and Schott together 795, Werdenum 613 and Rechtsupweg 297. There were also many farms, especially in the polder areas in the eastern and southern part of Brookmerland At that time, Willumer Neuland had 83 inhabitants. In the Hanoverian era, today's joint municipality area was divided into three offices: While Werdenum and the surrounding area belonged to the Greetsieler and Osteel to the Norder office, the remaining part of the area belonged to the Aurich office.

In the 1840s, the construction of stone roads began in East Frisia. Brookmerland was connected to this road network in 1848 when the road from Aurich and Emden via Georgsheil to the north was completed. It was the forerunner of Bundesstrasse 72 .

While Marienhafe retained its character as a supply point for the surrounding area in the 19th century, the surrounding villages were still clearly characterized by agriculture. This applied to both the bog colonies and the old Geestort Osteel: in 1867 there were 285 horses, 974 cattle and 770 sheep for every 1306 inhabitants. A family had an average of three cows, two sheep and one horse. In the bog colonies, the economic conditions were much more modest: In the same year Leezdorf had 500 inhabitants with 50 horses, 199 head of cattle and 209 sheep. There was not even a horse for every two families, and on average a family did not even have two cows or sheep.

In 1869, at the request of the residents, Leezdorf was separated from the mother community of Osteel and has since formed an independent community. When the Prussian government abolished the old office structure in favor of districts in 1885 , Brookmerland was added to the district of Norden .

The construction of the coastal railway in 1883 meant the railway connection. Stops were created in Marienhafe and Osteel. Only in 1892 was there a road connection from Marienhafe via Rechtsupweg in the direction of Moorhusen . The Moorthunweg, the connection from Osteel to Leezdorf, was expanded as a country road in 1907/08. This gave the moor colony a paved road more than 100 years after it was founded and 60 years later as Marienhafe, Osteel and Upgant-Schott. Other paths in the village, such as in Rechtsupweg, remained unpaved for decades.

Weimar Republic and National Socialism

The Social Democrats played an important role in the individual localities in the early years of the Weimar Republic. However, as in many other communities in East Frisia, the National Socialists overtook them by 1928 at the latest. As in the entire north-west of Lower Saxony, the rural people's movement was given a boost in the Weimar Republic after a bad harvest occurred in 1927 and the farmers were increasingly in dire straits. However, by focusing on quantities rather than quality, the problems were partly homemade. As in other parts of the country, the black flag, symbol of Florian Geyer's black crowd in the Peasants' War , fluttered as a sign of protest. The National Socialists, with their blood-and-soil ideology, saw themselves as ideal administrators of the needs of farmers and found appropriate support in many communities. In March 1933, three quarters of the residents of Leezdorf voted for the NSDAP. The situation was different in the marshland village of Werdenum, with a high proportion of farm workers who traditionally voted for the left-wing parties SPD and KPD: Here the Social Democrats won an absolute majority of the votes in the 1928 Reichstag election alone, and the SPD came out in the Reichstag election in March 1933 and KPD together to exactly the same vote as the extreme right parties NSDAP and DNVP together: 48.5 percent each.

The farmers in the area were in joint community Reich into line . The passing of the Reichserbhofgesetz met with protests from many farmers, as they felt that their economic freedom of choice was limited. In the bog colonies such as Leezdorf and Rechtsupweg there was also the fact that the agricultural properties were often too small to represent a full-time farm. The ban on selling hereditary farms therefore hit those businesses with the lower size limit of a hereditary farm of 7.5 hectares in particular. Although there were many judicial judgments in favor of the plaintiff smallholders, the proportion of hereditary farms in the region remained above the national average.

In the past centuries, Jews had settled in Marienhafe, where they found sufficient opportunities to earn a living as traders. In 1925 they made up four percent of the population. In the local elections in March 1933, a Jewish citizen with the Schönthal list managed to be elected to the local council. However, after protests he was forced to resign. After the seizure of power, Jews also faced persecution in Marienhafe and had to sell their businesses. They all perished in concentration camps during the Nazi era or died while fleeing.

During the Second World War, the Todt organization set up an alternative camp near Osterupgant for bombed-out families from Emden . The camp had some comfort; the barracks had their own vegetable gardens for self-catering. During the war, the area was little affected by acts of war. Leezdorf was hit by a few bombs. In December 1941, two planes crashed there. In the individual places there were several prisoner of war camps, the inmates of which were almost entirely used in agriculture. Shortly before the end of the war, anti-tank barriers were erected in the Marienhafe area. However, with protests, the residents managed to have them demolished and the place could be handed over to the approaching Allied troops (Canadians and Poles) at the beginning of May 1945 without a fight. After the end of the war, all of East Frisia north of the Ems-Jade Canal , including the Brookmerland, served as an internment area for German soldiers. In Leezdorf alone, around 1,700 soldiers were interned at short notice and housed there in tents and on farms. Most of them were released towards the end of 1945.

post war period

In the years after 1945, the places of today's integrated municipality area accepted refugees from the eastern areas of the German Reich. The number fluctuated greatly: in the Leezdorf bog colony with its already very cramped living conditions, it was only 9.2 percent in 1946 and 7.5 percent in 1950. In the other bog colony, Rechtsupweg, the numbers were also very low at 6.8 percent (1946) and 8.1 percent (1950). In the Marienhafe area, however, it was 25.7 and 27.2 percent. The marshland town of Willum, located in an agriculturally very productive area, recorded a refugee share of 22.2 percent in 1946 and 22.8 percent of the total population four years later.

A destination for commuters from Brookmerland: the VW plant in Emden

The increasing mechanization in agriculture in the following decades led to more and more people looking for work in other sectors, which in the industrial and commercial poor Brookmerland mostly meant commuting. In Leezdorf, for example, 68 percent of all employed people were still working in agriculture in 1950, only three percent commuted to a job outside the town. Ten years later, there were already more out-commuters than those employed in agriculture (47 to 42 percent). In addition to the district town of Norden, the destination of the out-commuters was Emden: The then large shipyard Nordseewerke attracted many workers from the surrounding area, and since 1964 also the Volkswagenwerk Emden , which is still very important as an employer for the Brookmerland. Significantly, even before the opening of other lines, the first regular bus lines ran from Leezdorf as factory traffic to Emden.

The Brookmerland Congregation was founded on August 1, 1969 and initially consisted of seven member congregations. 1971 became the eighth addition. In order to be able to maintain the status as a joint municipality, it became necessary for the two smallest municipalities Tjüche and Siegelsum to join larger municipalities. Tjüche came to Marienhafe in 1972, and Siegelsum to Upgant-Schott in the same year. Since then, the Brookmerland community has consisted of six member communities. Together with the other municipalities in the north district , Brookmerland came to the Aurich district in the course of the district reform in Lower Saxony in 1977 .

Since the 1950s and 1960s, the local infrastructure has been greatly expanded. Paths were paved and widened, and large parts of the entire municipality were gradually connected to the sewer system. The federal road (then B 70, today after renaming the B 72) was given a bypass in 1978, which is led around Marienhafe on a dam. This relieved the town center, which had previously been heavily affected by through traffic towards the coast.

The infrastructure in the cultural and sporting area has also been expanded over the past few decades. The entire community has also discovered tourism as an additional pillar, which culminated in the appointment of Marienhafe as a state-recognized resort in 2006 .

Development of the community name

The area of the municipality lies on part of the historic Brookmerland region, the name of which comes from the Old Frisian or Old Low German word brōk , which stands for a boggy landscape that was hardly populated in the past. This stretched from the western edge of the East Frisian Geestrücke from the Ley (Norder Tief) to the Flumm ( Fehntjer Tief ) and was interspersed with a series of shallow inland lakes, from the Great Sea to Sandwater . In addition, there is an overly worn man with the origin tag er . Brookmerland means nothing else than "land of the men from the moor".

politics

The town hall of the Samtgemeinde Brookmerland in Marienhafe

East Frisia in its entirety is a traditional stronghold of the SPD. Within this region, the Altkreis Norden , to which the Brookmerland also belongs, belongs, along with Emden, to the areas in which social democracy has been most clearly rooted for several decades. This has been true especially for the marshland since the Weimar Republic, sometimes for a longer time.

In the 1949 federal election, the SPD achieved a majority in seven of the then eight municipalities in the integrated municipality area, with the right-wing German party only in the lead in Siegelum . In Rechtsupweg, Upgant-Schott and Osteel, the Social Democrats won between 40 and 50 percent of the vote, in Leezdorf, Marienhafe, Tjüche and Willum between 30 and 40 percent of the votes. The CDU, which took organizational foothold only late in East Friesland, was between ten and twenty percent only in Osteel and Tjüche and did not exceed ten percent in any of the other communities. In the Bundestag election in 1953, it won a relative majority in the commercial capital Marienhafe, and in all other municipalities the SPD received a relative or even absolute majority of the votes. In the following decade and a half, the CDU was able to catch up, but never catch up with the SPD. In the 1969 Bundestag election, the Christian Democrats in Leezdorf, Marienhafe and Siegelum achieved an absolute majority, while the SPD continued to dominate in the other districts. In the "Willy Brandt election" in 1972, the Social Democrats achieved their best result to date and won a relative majority of votes in Marienhafe and an absolute majority in all other districts, with the majority with the exception of Siegelum in the remaining districts being more than 60 Percent of the vote lay.

As in the federal elections, the SPD always provided the directly elected MPs in the state electoral districts to which Brookmerland belonged. Brookmerland is also usually a stronghold of the SPD at the district and municipal level. It is only represented less dominantly in individual municipal councils in the member municipalities, and in the most recent municipal elections in September 2011 it again achieved an absolute majority of the votes at the joint municipality level.

This is not least due to a high proportion of commuters in Brookmerland who are employed as workers in the Emden Volkswagen factory and are largely unionized. T. Schmidt noticed this in his study of voting behavior in federal elections up to 1972.

In 2009 a debate began in Brookmerland about the merging of the six member congregations of the integrated congregation into a unified congregation .

Joint council

The Council of brookmerland consists of 30 women and Council councilors. In addition, there is a voting member by virtue of the office of the mayor of the municipality, currently Gerhard Ihmels (SPD). Three parties and two communities of voters are represented in the council. The 30 council members are elected for five years each by local elections. The current term of office began on November 1, 2016 and ends on October 31, 2021.

The last local election on September 11, 2016 resulted in the following:

Political party	percent	Seats
SPD	51.9%	16
CDU	17.1%	5
BWG	20.2%	6th
Alliance 90 / The Greens	5.7%	2
Social unit list Brookmerland (SEB)	3.3%	1
FDP	1.9%	0
mayor		1 seat

The turnout in the 2016 local elections was 54.3%, slightly below the Lower Saxony average of 55.5%.

Since the Brookmerland joint congregation consists of six member congregations, there are no local councils there, as in many unified congregations. The purely local function that the local councils have in unified congregations is assumed by the member congregations. For the election results in the member municipalities, see the articles on the member municipalities. The entire community has the administrative apparatus that not only takes on the tasks set out in the NKomVG and the main statute , but also takes on the administrative business for the member communities. The member communities - with the exception of the community of Willum - therefore have no administration of their own.

Joint mayor of the municipality

The full-time Mayor of the Joint Community of Brookmerland is Gerhard Ihmels (SPD). In the last joint mayoral election on May 25, 2014, the previous incumbent Ihmels ran again without opposing candidates and was re-elected with 84.03% of the votes. The turnout was 42.65%. He began his further term in office on November 1, 2014.

Representatives in the Landtag and Bundestag

A member of the constituency 86 Aurich (Aurich, Südbrookmerland, Ihlow, Großefehn, Brookmerland, Großheide) is represented in the Lower Saxony state parliament (legislative period until 2022) . The direct mandate won in the 2017 election of the Aurich social democrat Wiard Siebels . He stood for the first time in the state elections in 2008. No other politician from the constituency entered the state parliament via the parties' list.

Brookmerland is part of the Aurich - Emden constituency . This includes the city of Emden and the district of Aurich. In the 2013 federal election , the social democrat Johann Saathoff was directly elected. Heiko Schmelzle moved into the Bundestag for the CDU from the constituency via the parties' list . The Brookmerlanders voted with an absolute majority for Saathoff in the first votes and for the SPD in the second votes.

coat of arms

Blazon : In blue a golden eagle with golden crowns on its head and the two tips of the wings, each with a six-pointed golden spur wheel in the base of the shield .

Both the spur wheels and the colors blue and yellow symbolize that Brookmerland belongs to the former district of the north . Blue and yellow are the colors of the north city. The spur wheels are a motif of the local coat of arms, which was taken from the coat of arms of the chief family Idzinga, who dominated the north until the 15th century.

Partnerships

The parish's twin town is Melksham , a small trading town in England (23,000 inhabitants) on the banks of the River Avon in west Wiltshire .

religion

The Brookmerland is predominantly Lutheran, but is located at the transition to the clearly reformed Krummhörn . The five Lutheran churches in Marienhafe, Osteel, Leezdorf, Rechtsupweg and Siegelsum have been part of the north parish since 2013 (previously: Emden parish). The parish in Werdenum, however, is reformed. There has also been a New Apostolic congregation in Marienhafe since 1929 and in Leezdorf since 1934. Their churches were consecrated in 1994 and 1980 respectively.

Culture and sights

Churches and organs

South view of the Warnfried Church in Osteel

Holy organ in Marienhafe (1713)

View from the north-west of the Willum Church

Of the four historic churches in Brookmerland, St. Mary's Church is the oldest and most important. The former Sendkirche was built in the middle of the 13th century in the French early Gothic style and was the largest church in the coastal area of the North Sea until it was partially demolished in 1829. The tower with its small, arched blind niches and sound arcades served as a navigation mark and was named after Klaus Störtebeker , who found shelter here at the end of the 14th century. From the former three-aisled basilica complex with transept and six-story tower, the torso of the shortened and lowered main nave and the four-story tower have been preserved. The rectangular one-room church created in this way is now closed with a wooden vaulted ceiling instead of the original vaults . A rich sculptural building sculpture with mythical creatures and monsters in 48 niches, choir and transept and 200 sandstone reliefs adorned the eaves around the church, the remains of which are kept in the tower museum. The long sides are divided into three fields, each with two pointed arched windows, while the east wall is decorated with blind windows. Inside there are heavily profiled wall pillars and above the windows an overhang . The interior includes the Romanesque baptismal font made of Bentheim sandstone (beginning of the 13th century) and the baroque pulpit from the Cröpelin workshop (1669). The baroque organ by Gerhard von Holy (1710–1713) is a cultural monument of European importance. The two-manual work has 20 registers and has largely been preserved.

The Warnfried Church in Osteel also dates from the 13th century, was architecturally based on the Marienhafer Church and also shared its fate: of the original cruciform church with transept and choir, only the shortened nave remained after a partial demolition in 1830; half of the six-storey tower was demolished. As in Marienhafe, there was originally a walkway in the two-shell walls, while statues were placed outside in 47 niches. The most valuable piece of equipment is the renaissance organ from 1619 , for which Edo Evers used parts of the old case and some stops that were left over from the new building of the northern organ. The instrument of European standing is the second oldest organ in East Friesland. The 13 registers are almost completely original. The pulpit by Egbert Harmens Smit dates from 1699, above which there is a sound cover with a high structure and richly scrolled carving. A grave slab around 1700 commemorates the work of the pastor and astronomer David Fabricius . Other items of equipment such as the chairs, the altar table and the southern prehistory also date from this period .

The Werdenum church was built by monks around 1300 as a branch church of the Aland monastery. The simple Romanesque one-room hall rises above the rectangular floor plan. The ogival windows on the east side are original, while new windows on the long sides have been broken in and the original portals have been walled up. A bronze bell from 1581 hangs in the free-standing bell tower. The interior was radically redesigned in the 18th century: a wooden cove ceiling was drawn in, the west gallery was built in and the rood screen was erected in the east , on which the organ has found its place. Johann Reil from Heede in the Netherlands created the instrument in 1969 with ten registers. The interior is dominated by the pulpit by Hinrich Cröpelin from 1699. The mighty sound cover is richly decorated with tendrils and the pulpit with twisted columns, winged angel heads and carved flower hangings. A special feature is the walkway, which, like the entire pulpit, is provided with carved banners set in gold.

The Siegelsumer Church was rebuilt in 1822 after the previous building from the 13th century was damaged in the Thirty Years' War and became increasingly dilapidated. The small hall church is divided into two fields on the long sides by a pilaster and closed by a gable roof. The mighty west tower with its late Gothic keel arch portal was built in the 15th century . It also serves as a bell cage and as an entrance to the simply designed interior. The oldest piece of furniture is the Renaissance pulpit from 1613. The sculptor Ockels from Leer designed the altar with a crucifixion scene in 1887/88. In 1845, Arnold Rohlfs created a small side-arm balustrade organ with six registers, which has largely been preserved. Dummy pipes in the tendrils on the side make the instrument appear larger.

Profane structures

Ulferts Börg

Leezdorfer mill and old farmhouse

The Ulferts Börg is located in Upgant-Schott , a stone house within a spacious courtyard on Osterupganter Strasse, surrounded by a graft. The oldest part is a two-storey brick building with a vaulted cellar from the 15th century, supplemented by a baroque connecting wing from the 18th century to today's main house. The oldest part of the Haneburg castle dates back to 1597 and is also part of a large courtyard in Upgant-Schott. At the Bismarckhof in Werdenum there is an old stone house that was once the residential part of a farm. With the help of dendrochronology it was dated to the year 1517. It has a Gothic stepped gable , a pointed arch cover over the cross -frame window and brick decorative ribbons. Near Willum there are two terps that house the remains of the lost Beningaburg .

In addition to the Marienhafer Church and the cemetery, two adjacent historic houses (Dieker House and Weerts House) also belong to a listed group in the center of the village. Another group of listed buildings is the mill with storage buildings and the miller's house in the south of Marienhafe. The Marienhafer town center is also characterized by two other historical buildings, both of which serve as hotels: the “Zur Waage” and “Zur Post” buildings.

The Leezdorfer Mühle , a gallery Dutch built 1896–1897 , is a listed building along with the miller's house next to it. In addition, three farm workers' houses and a Gulfhof are listed in Leezdorf. Another gallery Dutchman is in Marienhafe. A special technical feature is the double-piston water pump mill from 1872, which is located in front of the Dreenhusen farm in Werdenum. It is only seven meters high and was used to drain the low-lying area until 1919 and later to fill a cattle trough. Decommissioned in 1919, it was restored from 1986 to 1988 and is now the only one of its kind in Germany to be functional again.

Large Gulf farms can be found in particular around Willum, but also west of Osteel .

Regular events

Every three years in summer, the Störtebeker open-air theater takes place in Marienhafe for three and a half weeks in the Low German language. For several weeks, the market square is decorated with medieval backdrops, seating stands for the spectators and a stage for the actors is specially built. The games are directed by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ostfriesisches Volkstheater eV . The content-related actions change with each new game year.

Another highlight in community life is the annual Störtebeker street festival . This takes place every year on the first Saturday of June on the shopping street and around the market square in Marienhafe. Numerous local associations take part. In the evening there is a music program with several live bands.

Since 2007 the “Schola Dei” pilgrimage route has led from the former Cistercian monastery Ihlow via Marienhafe to the north. Guided pilgrimages take place several times a year, sometimes at night or by bike.

language

Distribution area of the East Frisian Platt

East Frisian Platt is spoken in Brookmerland . The language is quite widespread among adults and is also used in official business such as official visits. The municipal administration supports the use of Low German through the “Plattdütsk bi d 'Arbeid” campaign.

Sports

In addition to sports fields and gyms at the schools, the community also has an indoor swimming pool and tennis facility. In Willum the community has a sports boat harbor with 24 berths, which is connected to the East Frisian waterway network and is primarily used by the members of the Willum water sports club "Baalk 8". There is a go-kart track in the commercial area on the main road in Upgant-Schott.

The Brookmerland Championships for amateur handball players are a regular major sporting event. More than 1000 athletes take part in it, not only from Brookmerland, but also from the wider area.

Economy and Infrastructure

Arable and grassland near Upgant-Schott

The Brookmerland community has hardly any industrial operations. Tourism and agriculture are important, and the Marienhafe area also serves as a shopping area for the surrounding towns. A variety of retail stores can be found there. In the municipality of Upgant-Schott are the two industrial areas of the joint municipality. In the Osterupgant district, there are mainly large-scale trading companies, while individual larger craft businesses and (few) manufacturing companies are located in an industrial area on the B 72.

Brookmerland is a commuter community . 3742 residents are employed subject to social security contributions, in the entire municipality there are 1078 positions subject to social security contributions. 873 inbound commuters from other municipalities are compared to 3537 outbound commuters to other municipalities, which results in a negative commuter balance of 2,664 (as of 2007). Marienhafe has a special position within the integrated community: All rural communities on the mainland of the Aurich district have a negative commuter balance. Among them, however, the patch has the best relative out-commuter-in-commuter ratio. In contrast, all of the other five member communities of the integrated community have a very significant excess of commuters.

Separate labor market data for Brookmerland are not collected. The combined community belongs to the north office within the Emden-Leer district of the Federal Employment Agency. In the Northern division, the unemployment rate in December 2015 was 9.8 percent. It was 3.9 percentage points above the Lower Saxony average. Two percent of employees work in the agricultural sector. The total number of people working in agriculture is, however, much higher, since the mostly self-employed farmers and their helping family members do not appear in these statistics. 20 percent of the employees subject to social security contributions find their livelihood in the manufacturing industry, 33 percent in trade, hospitality and transport. 45 percent of employees work in other service occupations (as of 2014).

Agriculture

Agriculture in the municipality is largely shaped by the dairy industry. In addition to grassland, there are also cultivation areas for forage crops such as maize. The district of Aurich is the eleventh largest milk producer district in Germany, to which the Brookmerland contributes to a certain extent, but less than the significantly larger municipalities of the district. Within the integrated municipality, it is above all the municipalities of Osteel, Upgant-Schott and Werdenum that contribute most to the production of milk due to their large area compared to the integrated municipality and at the same time a high proportion of grassland.

energy

Agricultural land is also used to generate renewable energy , including wind turbines and, more recently, photovoltaic systems . In July 2010, a 3.2 hectare photovoltaic system was put into operation in Osteel.

traffic

Traffic axes in East Friesland: The joint community of Brookmerland (southeast of the north) is accessed by the federal road 72 and the Emden-Norden railway line.

The federal road 72 runs through the municipality in a north-west-south-east direction . In the Marienhafe area, it has been led past the town center on a dam since the 1970s. This federal road connects the Brookmerland with the neighboring city of the north on the one hand and with the district town of Aurich on the other. In Georgsheil in the neighboring municipality of Südbrookmerland there is a connection to the federal road 210 , which connects the entire municipality with the city of Emden and thus with the federal motorway 31 . In the west, the area of the Samtgemeinde is traversed on a short section by the state road 4 ( north - Pewsum ). There the connection to the Krummhörn is ensured. From the L 4 at Grimersum , the L 26 branches off, which leads via Werdenum to Upgant-Schott, where it joins the B 72. The other main roads in the municipality are all district roads and municipal roads.

Brookmerland is the only exclusively rural municipality (i.e. without city rights) in the Aurich district with a long-distance train station that is still in operation. Trains on the regional express route Norddeich-Hannover stop in Marienhafe. This timing is every two hours. Since the railway line between Emden and the north is single-track, there is frequent encounter traffic at Marienhafer Bahnhof. Up until 1978 there was also a train station in Osteel, but this was shut down that year. The closest train stations with InterCity connections are those in Norden and Emden.

The community's waterways were of economic importance for the supply of the villages in earlier centuries and in some cases into the 20th century. In addition to drainage, they are now only used for excursion traffic.

The closest airfields are those in Emden and Norddeich , with the Norddeich airfield only offering island flights and sightseeing flights. The closest international airport with scheduled service is the one in Bremen .

Public facilities

Part of the Siegelsum waterworks

In addition to the municipal administration with its subordinate operations such as the building yard, the police station in Marienhafe should be mentioned. In Siegelsum there is a waterworks of the Oldenburg-East Frisian Water Association (OOWV).

media

The integrated community of Brookmerland is traditionally located in the catchment area of the daily newspaper Ostfriesischer Kurier , which appears in the north, and the Ostfriesen-Zeitung , which appears in Leer and is the only daily newspaper in East Friesland to appear across the region. The Aurich daily Ostfriesische Nachrichten has had an office in Marienhafe for a few years now . In addition, the published weekly Echo , a display sheet from the home of the East Frisian courier and twice weekly advertising paper from the house of Emden newspaper that Wednesday as Heimatblatt and Sunday as Sunday paper is released. The community radio broadcaster Radio Ostfriesland also reports from the joint community .

education

The IGS Marienhafe-Moorhusen is located in Marienhafe. This school emerged from the Brookmerland School Center, which it gradually replaced from 2009 to 2014. In 2015 a high school was set up in Marienhafe; the first Abitur was taken in 2018. There are primary schools in the districts of Osteel, Werdenum, Leezdorf, Rechtsupweg and Upgant-Schott. Because the number of pupils in Werdenum is too low, the pupils at the primary school there are taught in so-called combined classes: first and second graders as well as third and fourth graders each form a common class. There is no grammar school in the municipality, the closest are the Ulrichsgymnasium Norden and the Ulricianum in Aurich. Vocational schools are located in Aurich, Norden and Emden. The nearest university of applied sciences is also located in Emden; the nearest university is the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg .

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the integrated church

Fabricius monument

Among other things, three scientists and four politicians were born in the places of the (today's) joint community of Brookmerland. The theologian and director of the Wiedenest Bible School Johannes Warns (1874–1937) was born in Osteel, the theologian, missionary and religious scholar and Indologist Hilko Wiardo Schomerus (1879–1945) was born in Marienhafe. The engineering scientist Reint de Boer (1935-2010) came from Upgant-Schott.

From Osteel came the Reichstag deputy ( National Liberal Party ) Friedrich Vissering (1826-1885), from the Osteel district Schoonorth Jan Fegter (1852-1931), who belonged to the Reichstag for the FVP and the DDP and also worked as a peasant official. Also in the Osteel district, in Osteeler Altendeich, Dirk Agena (1889–1934) , a member of the Reichstag ( DNVP ) , was born . The SPD member of the Bundestag and district administrator for the north district, Georg Peters (1908–1992), came from Marienhafe .

In the field of sports and entertainment, the Low German author Gerd Constapel (* 1938 in Upgant-Schott), the actor Siemen Rühaak (* 1950 in Osteel) and probably the most famous son of the Samtgemeinde, the former professional footballer and today's coach Dieter Eilts (* 1964 in Upgant-Schott).

Personalities who have worked on site

David Fabricius (1564–1617) comes from Esens . He was a theologian , eminent amateur astronomer and cartographer and discovered the changeability of the star Mira . David Fabricius was the father of Johann Fabricius , who in 1611 was the first to publish a scientific treatise on sunspots . Fabricius senior was slain in a dispute in 1617 by an osteel resident. The music journalist , songwriter and East Frisian songwriter Hannes Flesner (1928–1984), who was born in Rahester Moor , spent his twilight years in Leezdorf.

literature

Rudolf Folkerts / Jakob Raveling offer a somewhat older and brief overall presentation: The land around the Störtebeker tower. History and pictures from Marienhafe and the Nordbrokmerland. Verlag SKN, Norden 1977, without ISBN.
Ekkehard Wassermann deals with the medieval settlement history of Osteel, Tjüche, Siegelsum and Upgant: Aufstrecksiedlungen in Ostfriesland. A contribution to the study of medieval bog colonization. (Treatises and lectures on the history of East Frisia, Volume 61; also Göttingen Geographical Treatises, Volume 80), Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1985.
Eberhard Rack provides a somewhat older representation of the settlement of the area: Siedlung und Besiedlung des Altkreis Norden , Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1967, without ISBN.
The agricultural development and parts of the history of Werdenum can be found in Jannes Ohling (ed.): The eight and their seven sluices. Cultural, water and agricultural development of an East Frisian coastal landscape . Drainage Association Emden, Pewsum 1963, without ISBN.

In addition, the following works, which deal with East Frisia in general, are also significant for the history and description of the integrated community insofar as they illuminate individual aspects:

Heinrich Schmidt: Political history of East Frisia . Rautenberg, Leer 1975 ( Ostfriesland in the protection of the dike , vol. 5), without ISBN.
Wolfgang Schwarz: The prehistory in Ostfriesland , Verlag Schuster, Leer 1995, ISBN 3-7963-0323-4 .
Karl-Heinz Sindowski et al .: Geology, Soils and Settlement of Ostfriesland (Ostfriesland im Schutz des Deiches, Vol. 1), Deichacht Krummhörn (Ed.), Self-published, Pewsum 1969, without ISBN.
Menno Smid: East Frisian Church History . Self-published, Pewsum 1974 ( Ostfriesland im Schutz des Deiches , Vol. 6), without ISBN
Harm Wiemann / Johannes Engelmann: Old ways and streets in East Frisia . Self-published, Pewsum 1974 ( East Frisia in the protection of the dyke , vol. 8), without ISBN.

Web links

Commons : Samtgemeinde Brookmerland - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Homepage of the joint community Brookmerland

Individual evidence

↑ State Office for Statistics Lower Saxony, LSN-Online regional database, Table 12411: Update of the population, as of December 31, 2019 ( help ).

↑ Information in this and the following paragraphs come from Heinz Voigt, Günter Roeschmann: Die Boden Ostfrieslands , in: Karl-Heinz Sindowski, Heinz Voigt, Günter Roeschmann, Peter Schmid, Waldemar Reinhardt, Harm Wiemann: Geologie, unless otherwise referenced . Soils and settlement of East Frisia. ( Ostfriesland im Schutz des Deiches , Vol. 1), Verlag Deichacht Krummhörn, Pewsum 1969, pp. 51–106, here p. 96 and cartographic supplement.

^ Theodor Janssen: Hydrology of East Frisia. Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1967, without ISBN, p. 211 ff.

^ Eberhard Rack: Small regional studies of Ostfriesland. Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg 1998, ISBN 3-89598-534-1 , p. 115.

↑ The information can be viewed on an interactive map at www.meine-umweltkarte-niedersachsen.de ( Memento from January 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).

↑ www.ostfriesenelandschaft.de: Find in Berumerfehn 2004 , accessed on October 23, 2011.

↑ Historically, the area is also known as Brokmerland, but today's spelling is used in this article.

^ Ekkehard Wassermann: Aufstrecksiedlungen in Ostfriesland. A contribution to the study of medieval bog colonization. (Treatises and lectures on the history of East Frisia, Volume 61; also Göttingen Geographical Treatises, Volume 80), Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1985, p. 111 ff.

^ Ekkehard Wassermann: Aufstrecksiedlungen in Ostfriesland. A contribution to the study of medieval bog colonization. (Treatises and lectures on the history of Ostfriesland, Volume 61; also Göttingen Geographical Treatises, Volume 80), Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1985, p. 119.

^ Ekkehard Wassermann: Aufstrecksiedlungen in Ostfriesland. A contribution to the study of medieval bog colonization. (Treatises and lectures on the history of Ostfriesland, Volume 61; also Göttingen geographical treatises, Volume 80), Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1985, pp. 159ff.

↑ Historical information on the community of Werdenum ( Memento of October 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). From: Rudolf Folkerts, Jakob Raveling: The land around the Störtebekerturm , ISBN 3-922365-33-7 .

^ Hemmo Suur: History of the former monasteries in the province of East Friesland: An attempt . Hahn, Emden 1838, p. 100 (reprint of the edition from 1838, Verlag Martin Sendet, Niederwalluf 1971, ISBN 3-500-23690-1 ).

↑ Günter Leymann: Studies on the agricultural historical development of the areas of Werdenumer Neuland and Schoonorth , in: Jannes Ohling / Gerhard Steffens (ed.): The eight and their seven sluices. Cultural, water and agricultural development of an East Frisian coastal landscape . Second, ext. Edition, self-published by the Entässerungsverband Emden, Pewsum 1987, pp. 299-590, here pp. 299-316.

↑ The next polder west of the Osteeler Neulands is the Südercharlottenpolder, which today belongs to the city of Norden, the next to the west of the Willumer Neuland is the village of Schoonorth , which today belongs to the municipality of Krummhörn.

↑ Harm Wiemann / Johannes Engelmann: Old ways and roads in East Frisia . Self-published by Deichacht Krummhörn, Pewsum 1974 ( Ostfriesland im Schutz des Deiches , vol. 8), p. 143 and cartographic appendix, map 2.

^ Ortschronisten der Ostfriesische Landschaft: Werdenum, Samtgemeinde Brookmerland, District Aurich (PDF; 59 kB), accessed on May 3, 2013.

↑ Helmut Sanders: Wiesmoor - His cultivation and settlement from the peripheral communities . Verlag Mettcker & Söhne, Jever 1990, ISBN 3-87542-006-3 , p. 22 ff.

↑ Harm Bents / Peter Seidel (Ortschronisten der Ostfriesische Landschaft): Marienhafe , PDF file, p. 8, accessed on October 23, 2011.

↑ Fridrich Arends: Erdbeschreibung des Fürstenthums Ostfriesland and Harlingerlandes , Emden 1824. Online in the Google Book Search, pp. 127 ff and 363 ff., Accessed on February 3, 2013.

↑ Peter Seidel (local chronicle of the East Frisian landscape): Osteel , PDF file, p. 8, accessed on January 6, 2013.

↑ Peter Seidel (local chronicle of the East Frisian landscape): Osteel , PDF file, p. 3, accessed on January 6, 2013.

↑ Beatrix Heilemann: The East Frisian Agriculture in National Socialism. In: Emder Yearbook for Historical Regional Studies Ostfriesland , Vol. 81 (2001), pp. 205–216, here: pp. 205f.

^ Ortschronisten der Ostfriesischen Landschaft: Werdenum , PDF file, p. 6, accessed on July 7, 2013.

↑ Beatrix Heilemann: The East Frisian Agriculture in National Socialism. In: Emder Yearbook for Historical Regional Studies Ostfriesland , Vol. 81 (2001), pp. 205–216, here: pp. 209f.

↑ Harm Bents / Peter Seidel (Ortschronisten der Ostfriesische Landschaft): Marienhafe , PDF file, p. 2, accessed on October 23, 2011.

^ Bernhard Parisius : Many looked for their own home. Refugees and displaced people in western Lower Saxony . Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 2004, ISBN 3-932206-42-8 , p. 42 ff.

↑ Peter Seidel (local chronicle of the East Frisian landscape): Leezdorf , PDF file, 9 pages, p. 2, accessed on July 7, 2013.

↑ Peter Seidel (local chronicle of the East Frisian landscape): Leezdorf , PDF file, 9 pages, p. 6, accessed on January 5, 2013.

^ Arend Remmers : From Aaltukerei to Zwischenmooren. The settlement names between Dollart and Jade . Schuster, Leer 2004, ISBN 3-7963-0359-5 .

↑ Klaus von Beyme : The political system of the Federal Republic of Germany: An introduction , VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-531-33426-3 , p. 100, limited preview in the Google book search, May 22, 2011.

^ Theodor Schmidt: Analysis of the statistics and relevant sources on the federal elections in East Frisia 1949-1972 . Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1978, p. 52/53, for the following statistical information on the Bundestag elections up to 1972 see the cartographic appendix there.

↑ Bernd-Volker Brahms: Debate about unity community started , in: Ostfriesen-Zeitung, November 4, 2009, accessed on July 10, 2011.

↑ ^a ^b www.leer.de: Samtgemeindewahl 11.09.2016 , accessed on December 28, 2016

↑ The CDU gets the most votes nationwide. September 12, 2016, accessed December 28, 2016 .

↑ Bernd-Volker Brahms: Debate about unity community started , in: Ostfriesen-Zeitung, November 4, 2009, accessed on July 10, 2011.

↑ Joint community Brookmerland - overall result of joint mayor election May 25, 2014 , accessed on November 6, 2014

^ Result of the state election 2017 , accessed on October 20, 2017.

↑ Bundestag election 2013, constituency 24: Aurich / Emden . The Federal Returning Officer. Archived from the original on September 25, 2013. 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. Retrieved December 9, 2009. @1@ 2

↑ wahlen.kdo.de: Bundestag election , accessed on September 23, 2013.

↑ Gottfried Kiesow: Architectural Guide Ostfriesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 223 f .

↑ www.nomine.net (North German organ music culture in Lower Saxony and Europe): Organ in Marienhafe , seen July 11, 2011.

↑ Gottfried Kiesow: Architectural Guide Ostfriesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 230 .

↑ Peter Seidel (local chronicler of the East Frisian landscape ): Osteel (PDF file; 150 kB), viewed July 11, 2011.

↑ Gottfried Kiesow: Architectural Guide Ostfriesland . Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 103 .

↑ Village chronicle "Warfendorf Werdenum": 700 years of church walls - protection from floods and religious house (PDF file; 4.74 MB), pp. 91–96, viewed July 11, 2011.

↑ www.ostfriesland-Brookmerland.de: Historical information on the former community of Siegelsum , as seen on July 11, 2011.

↑ www.nomine.net: Organ in Siegelsum , seen July 11, 2011.

^ Gottfried Kiesow : Architekturführer Ostfriesland , Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 222 f.

^ Gottfried Kiesow : Architekturführer Ostfriesland , Verlag Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86795-021-3 , p. 102.

↑ www.marienhafe.de: menu item Die Samtgemeinde / Werdenum , accessed on July 10, 2011.

↑ www.marienhafe.de: menu item Ostfriesland-Pilgerweg , accessed on July 10, 2011.

↑ Störtebeker Sportbad ( Memento from November 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

↑ It all started with seven boat berths , in: Ostfriesen-Zeitung, May 24, 2011, accessed on October 30, 2011.

↑ Bernd-Volker Brahms: Record number of participants in the hobby handball tournament , Ostfriesen-Zeitung, December 21, 2009, accessed on October 30, 2011.

↑ Statistics of the Federal Employment Agency, Excel file, lines 2070, 2072, 2075, 2076, 2078, 2080. Figures aggregated at the level of the municipality .

↑ Map of the Emden-Leer agency district. (PDF) Retrieved May 18, 2015 .

↑ Labor market report, Employment Agency Emden-Leer, December 2015 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 22 (PDF file; 1.38 MB).@1@ 2

↑ www.komsis.de: Brookmerland location profile , accessed on February 1, 2016.

↑ Source: Lower Saxony State Office for Statistics, quoted in: Ostfriesischer Kurier, August 14, 2008, p. 12.

↑ Tatjana Gettkowski: Outdoor photovoltaic system is on the grid , in: Ostfriesen-Zeitung, July 1, 2010, accessed on October 30, 2011.

↑ Peter Seidel (local chronicle of the East Frisian landscape): Osteel , PDF file, p. 8, accessed on January 6, 2013.

↑ https://www.igs-marienhafe.de/seite/337780/%C3%BCber-uns.html

↑ Tatjana Gettkowski: Don't be afraid of combined classes in Werdenum , in: Ostfriesen-Zeitung, January 20, 2010, accessed on October 30, 2011.

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on July 20, 2013 in this version .

[Metadaten_Einwohnerzahl_DE-NI-1] State Office for Statistics Lower Saxony, LSN-Online regional database, Table 12411: Update of the population, as of December 31, 2019 ( help ).