Wietmarschen

Wietmarschen
Coat of arms
Wietmarschen
Location of Wietmarschen within Grafschaft Bentheim district
Coordinates: 52°31′59″N 07°07′59″E / 52.53306°N 7.13306°E / 52.53306; 7.13306Coordinates: 52°31′59″N 07°07′59″E / 52.53306°N 7.13306°E / 52.53306; 7.13306
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Grafschaft Bentheim
Government
• Mayor	Alfons Eling (CDU)
Area
• Total	119.83 km2 (46.27 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
• Total	11,863
• Density	99/km2 (260/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	49835
Dialling codes	05908, 05925, 05946
Vehicle registration	NOH
Website	www.wietmarschen.de

Wietmarschen is a unitary community (Einheitsgemeinde) in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is split into the towns of Wietmarschen, Füchtenfeld, Schwartenpohl, Lohnerbruch, Nordlohne and Lohne with Lohne being the biggest and having the town hall while Wietmarschen, which is the second biggest, having the name.

Geography

Wietmarschen lies roughly 13 kilometres (8 mi) west of Lingen, and 10 kilometres (6 mi) northeast of Nordhorn. The community’s highest elevation is the Rupingberg in Lohne at 50 metres (160 ft) above sea level. There are plans to construct a viewing tower on it.

Constituent communities

The community is divided into six Ortsteile named Wietmarschen, Füchtenfeld, Schwartenpohl, Lohnerbruch, Nordlohne and Lohne.

Religion

The community of Wietmarschen diverges sharply from the rest of the district with regard to religion in that it has a largely Catholic character. In February 2006, the community’s religious affiliations broke down thus:

• 74.3% Roman Catholic
• 12.6% Evangelical Lutheran
• 3.9% Evangelical Reformed
• 9.2% other faiths, or no faith

Politics

Municipal council

Wietmarschen’s council is made up of 26 councillors.

• CDU 22 seats
• SPD 5 seats
• FDP 1 seat

(as of municipal election on 11 September 2011)

The town hall is in Lohne.

Mayor

The full-time mayor Alfons Eling was elected on 10 September 2006 with 83.48% of the vote.

Coat of arms

The community’s arms show a red field with a stylized lily in the upper half of the middle flanked by a golden bulrush on each side sprouting up from the bottom and tilting away from the lily, and each with a golden leaf.

Partnership

Mortagne-au-Perche, France became a partner community of Wietmarschen on 2 July 1989.

Culture and sightseeing

Museums

• Heimathaus Lohne (local museum)
• Heimathaus Wietmarschen, the so-called Packhaus (local museum)
• Treckermuseum Wietmarschen (tractor museum)

Buildings

• Stiftskirche Wietmarschen (nunnery church), restored historic nunnery area behind the church
• Stiftsbusch (nunnery copse) with chapels
• Sankt-Antonius-Kirche Lohne (church)
• Mühlenturm Wietmarschen (mill tower)
• Urbrecker (statue of a bog iron miner)
• Glockenturm Südlohne (belltower)
• Schafstall Moormann (sheep pen)

Sport venues

• 5 gymnasia
• 10 sport fields
• 4 beach volleyball fields
• 2 tennis courts
• 1 big riding centre
• 2 model aircraft fields
• 1 miniature car track
• 1 gliderport

Regular events

Yearly

• big shooting festival
• Urbreckerfest
• kermis
• pilgrimage

Economy and infrastructure

Public transport

• Bus line 161: Lingen — Nordlohne — Lohne — Lohnerbruch — Wietmarschen — Füchtenfeld
• Bus line 165: Lingen — Nordlohne — Lohne — Rükel — Südlohne — Klausheide — Nordhorn
• Nearest railway stations:
  • Lingen (Ems) for Meppen, Leer, Emden, Rheine, Münster
  • Intercity: Düsseldorf, Karlsruhe
  • Bad Bentheim for Rheine, Osnabrück, Bielefeld, Hengelo (Netherlands),
  • Intercity: Hanover, Berlin, Amsterdam (Schiphol)

Established businesses

• W.A.S, Ambulances and Security Vehicles
• Ewabo, cleaning agent and disinfectant manufacturer
• Wirtschaft Innovation Nordwest, business advisers and advertising agents
• Bauunternehmen Overberg, construction

Education

Marien-Schule Wietmarschen (elementary school and Hauptschule)

Grundschule Lohne (elementary school)

Schulzentrum Lohne (Hauptschule and Realschule)

Famous persons

• August Perk, German Resistance Fighter against the National Socialism, briefly Friendship with Erich Maria Remarque and had Influence on Remarques world-famous Novel "All Quiet on the Western Front", Grandfather of Johnny de Brest.
• Erich Maria Remarque, writer, worked as a teacher in Lohne in 1919
• Mattias Rosemann, deacon

References

External links

• Community’s website

Towns and municipalities in Grafschaft Bentheim (district)
Bad Bentheim Emlichheim Engden Esche Georgsdorf Getelo Gölenkamp Halle Hoogstede Isterberg Itterbeck Laar Lage Neuenhaus Nordhorn Ohne Osterwald Quendorf Ringe Samern Schüttorf Uelsen Wielen Wietmarschen Wilsum