Meppen

Meppen
Town
Town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Meppen within Emsland district
Stadtteile and 13 villages
Government
• Mayor (2021–26)	Helmut Knurbein[1] (Ind.)
Area
• Total	188.48 km2 (72.77 sq mi)
Elevation	14 m (46 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	36,117
• Density	190/km2 (500/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	49716
Dialling codes	05931
Vehicle registration	EL
Website	www.meppen.de

Meppen (German pronunciation: [ˈmɛpm̩] ^ⓘ; Northern Low Saxon: Möppen) is a town in and the seat of the Emsland district of Lower Saxony, Germany, at the confluence of the Ems, Hase, and Nordradde rivers and the Dortmund–Ems Canal (DEK). The name stems from the word Mappe, meaning "delta".

Geography

The town lying on the mouth of the Hase into the Ems in the central part of the Emsland between the cities of

Meppen, formerly a fortified town, boasts 12 centuries of history. The first documented mention of Meppen dates from 834, in a deed of donation by

945 --

1762—at the end of the Seven Years' War, the fortifications are demolished. Some walls remain standing today, however.

1803—Resolutions of the

1813–1814—Occupation by Prussia.

1814–1815—Resolutions of the

1871—Part of the German Empire.

Mass grave of POWs of various nationalities

Monument to local Jewish victims of the Kristallnacht

1938—Kristallnacht: the German police and SA broke down into Jewish houses and carried out mass arrests, beatings and tortures of Jews. Germans burned down the synagogue and destroyed Jewish homes and enterprises. Some Jews were deported to the Oranienburg concentration camp.^[3]

1939—German prisoner-of-war camp Stalag VI-B established in Meppen-Versen, in which initially around 5,000 Polish prisoners of war were held after the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II, and then from 1940 to 1942 French, Belgian, Polish, Soviet and other POWs were held there.^[4]

1943—Italian prisoners of war brought by the Germans to the Stalag VI-B.^[4]

1944—Stalag VI-B converted into a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp.^[4][5] Over 1,700 men were imprisoned there and used as forced labour,^[5] and over 20% of them died.^[6]

1945—Prisoners of the subcamp were evacuated by the Germans to Bremen, most in a death march, in which at least 50 prisoners died, sick ones by train, and then they were mostly transported to the Neuengamme concentration camp.^[5][6]

1946—The state of Prussia is abolished after the World War II. Meppen becomes part of the newly created Land of Lower Saxony.

1977—District reforms in Lower Saxony unite the former districts of Lingen, Meppen and Aschendorf-Hümmling in the district of Emsland, with Meppen as administrative seat.

Culture and sights

Theatre

Between September and April the Meppen Theatre Group (Theatergemeinde Meppen) offers a comprehensive programme. Productions take place in the Meppen Theatre and Concert Hall, which was designed by Eberhard Kulenkampff and completed in 1959. It also acts as a school hall for the Windthorst Gymnasium. The programme includes both touring theatre productions as well as musical events of various genres.

From May to September, the Emsland Open Air Stage at Meppen (Emsländische Freilichtbühne Meppen) offers visitors a family musical and an evening event, mostly based on musical productions. More than 30,000 visitors come each year to the open air theatre in Esterfeld Forest to see large musical performances involving casts of up to 100.

Museums

• Town Museum in the Arenberg Rentei in Obergerichtsstraße, built by August Reinking
• Exhibition Centre for the Archaeology of the Emsland on Koppelschleuse street
• Art exhibitions in the arts centre on Koppelschleuse street

Buildings

• Around 1461–62 the Priory Church of St. Vitus was built as a three-aisled late Gothic hall church. Whilst there were only wooden churches in the surrounding area, at this sport there was already a simple stone building as early as the 9th century. This was expanded in the 11th century; the heart of the present tower being one of the additions. Further expansion in the 13th century resulting in the Bridle and North Portals being built.
• The Residenz, which today houses the council and the headmaster's office of the Windthorst Gymnasium, was built between 1726 and 1729. Later, in 1743–46, the Gymnasium Church was built onto the Residenz under the Pater Superior, Karl Immendorf.
• The town hall (Rathaus), today the symbol of the town, was constructed in 1408 from glacial erratics. From 1601 to 1605 it was considerably expanded and an additional brick storey added. In order to increase the floor area for the upper storey, an open arched hall was erected in front of the building. The stepped gable with its semi-circular elements was heavily based on Münster prototypes at (Rothenburg 44, built 1583, and the Krameramtshaus of 1589). At the start of the 19th century the building appears to have fallen considerably into disrepair, because the Arenberg architect, Josef Niehaus, was invited by the town submit an assessment for its renovation. He recommended that the ruined tower was demolished and the ornamentation of the gable removed, but initially that came to nought. In 1885 the ornamentation was finally removed and the gable end furnished with a plain triangular gable. In addition the turret of the staircase tower at the side, added in 1611 was demolished due to its poor condition. In 1909 it was decided to rebuild the tower and gable in their present form. Inside the building is a 1605 sandstone fireplace.
• The armoury (Zeughaus) was built in 1752 on the site of the former castle, the Paulsburg (residence of the
  Prince-Elector Clemens August
  . It was to act as a store room for weapons, munitions, uniforms and battle equipment for soldiers studying at Meppen Fortress. In the 19th century the building was used for commercial purposes and survives today as a private residence, albeit with a number of structural alterations.
• The history of the Herrenmühle, a
  water mill on the Nordradde
  stream, goes back to the 16th century. It is used today for cultural events.
• Residential houses By contrast with
  classical building with pilasters and a mansard roof was built as a residence in 1805 by August Reinking for the merchant, Ferdindand Frye, and his wife, Josefine Mulert. From 1835, it was used as a finance office (Rentei), it now serves as a town museum. Four years later, based on plans by the same architect, the so-called Heyl'sche Haus was built at No. 3, Emsstraße. The owner was the Duchy of Arenberg
  's privy councillor (Kammerrat), Anton Heyl. While the house itself was demolished in 1977 in favour of a bank, the adjoining hall, with its remarkable ornamentation, was kept and restored. Next to the huge bank, it looks rather lost. The town community centre, built in 1816 by physician, Nicholas Vagedes, not far from the town hall, has housed the town council since 1936. Amongst the few remaining timber-framed buildings are the single-storey houses No. 24, Kuhstraße and No. 12, Im Sack. The former dates essentially to the 16th century and is one of the oldest buildings in the town. It has been expanded and extended several times. No. 12 Im Sack, by contrast, was built in 1797 and still has a gateway to the hall or threshing floor (Dielentor). Today, it houses the offices of the newspaper and the senior citizens' volunteer agency.
• The Koppelschleuse locks, built between 1826 and 1830, have survived in its original state as part of the old Ems–Hase Canal.
• The Hölting Mill (Höltingmühle), a
  River Hase
  . Inside the mill today is a café, which is open during summer weekends. Civil ceremonies also take place in the mill.
• On the 131-metre-high
  Guinness Book of Records, is the largest map of the world in the world. It was painted by the Swiss artist, Christoph Rihs
  .
• The Meppener Högerhaus, a former administrative building for the county of
  hipped roof. The entrance staircase on the southwest side is dominated by an archway
  .

• Levin Schücking (1814-1883), a German novelist.^[7]
• Karl Brandi (1868–1946), a German historian.
• Gerd Zacher (1929–2014), composer, organist and writer on music.
• Hermann Lause (1939-2005), film actor; appeared in more than seventy films
• Hermann Korte (1949-2020), academic specialising in German literature, language and linguistics.
• Richard Wiese (born 1953), German linguist who studies the phonology and morphology of German

Sport

• Maurits van Löben Sels (1876–1944), a Dutch épée, foil and sabre fencer; team bronze medallist at the 1906 Intercalated Games
• Alwin Schockemöhle (born 1937), former show-jumper, gold medallist at the 1976 Summer Olympics and team medallist at several other Olympics
• Thomas Bröker (born 1985), a retired footballer who played 349 games
• Jana Franziska Poll (born 1988), volleyball player, 87 caps with the Germany women's national volleyball team
• Nils Zumbeel (born 1990), footballer who played over 275 games

Sport clubs

• SV Meppen (football)
• SV Union Meppen (football, tennis, gymnastics, volleyball, table tennis, athletics)

Twin towns – sister cities

Meppen is twinned with:^[8]

• Ostrołęka, Poland

Gallery

• 
  Town hall
• 
  Gymnasium
• 
  A street in the town centre
• 
  Buildings in the town centre
• 
  Museum
• 
  Pedestrian zone on Bahnhofstraße
• 
  Meppen's old harbour
• 
  Vormeppen railway station
• 
  Ems River in Meppen
• 
  Installing the new lifting bridge in 2007

References