East Frisia (German : Ost-Friesland; East Frisian Low Saxon : Oost-Freesland) is a collective term for all traditionally Frisian areas in Lower Saxony, Germany, which are primarily located on a peninsula between the Dollart and the Jade Bight. Along with West Frisia and North Frisia, it is one of the most commonly used subdivisions of Frisia.
It is distinct from Ostfriesland – also translated to English as "East Frisia" – which refers to a historic region that occupies the western half of the peninsula (Aurich, Leer, Wittmund and Emden). Besides Ostfriesland, East Frisia includes Landkreis Friesland and Wilhelmshaven (Oldenburger Friesland), and in a broader sense also Saterland, the Butjadingen peninsula (Rüstringen) and Land Wursten.
Because the spelling of the German terms for the geographic and historic regions is so similar – Ost-Friesland refers to the peninsular and Ostfriesland to the historic region – Germans living outside the area often incorrectly call the whole peninsula Ostfriesland. Because the rather artificial spelling of Ost-Friesland does not go down well in the region itself and its use is becoming rarer, the regional media increasingly use the term ostfriesische Halbinsel or East Frisian peninsula instead of Ost-Friesland.
Ostfriesland covers the territory of the former County of East Frisia, which roughly corresponds to the present-day districts ( Landkreise ) of Aurich, Leer and Wittmund and the town of Emden. By contrast, Ost-Friesland includes, as a rule, the other traditionally Frisian parts of the peninsula: the town of Wilhelmshaven and the Oldenburg district of Friesland (Jeverland and Friesische Wehde).
Rather more rarely, the term Ost-Friesland also includes Saterland, home to the Saterland Frisians. One occasionally comes across Ost-Friesland being used only to refer to these three areas (Landkreis Friesland, Wilhelmshaven and Saterland), but this is not correct. The publishing house of Brune-Mettcker from Wittmund uses the term Ost-Friesland for the circulation area of its three daily papers, which cover eastern East Frisia, the northern part of Friesland district and the town of Wilhelmshaven. [1]
In its broadest definition, Ost-Friesland can be used to embrace all the Frisian parts of the German state of Lower Saxony, i.e. those areas which represent the "East Section" of the Interfrisian Council (which include the former Rüstringen (Butjadingen etc.), Land Wursten and sometimes other areas).
In spoken German, to emphasise that Ost-Friesland is meant and not Ostfriesland, the stress is placed on the prefix Ost instead of on the syllable fries.
According to popular belief, the term Ostfriesland is purely geographical and includes the district of Friesland and the town of Wilhelmshaven. [2] [3] [4] [5] However, this is not the local view. The residents of East Frisia (i.e. districts of Aurich, Leer, Wittmund and the town of Emden) are the only ones who call themselves fully East Frisian. In the district of Frisia and town of Wilhelmshaven, however, they hardly, if ever, refer to themselves as East Frisian. If the inhabitants of these two areas do not call themselves Frieslanders (Friesländer or, more rarely, Frisians) or Wilhelmshaveners, then they tend to be known as Oldenburgisch.
The modern district of "Friesland" owes its name to its location in the north of Oldenburg Land – i.e. the Frisian part of Oldenburg. This leads to the fact that the district of Friesland is located east of East Frisia, a fact which is sometimes confusing to those from outside the region.
The dividing line between East Frisia and the Oldenburg district of Friesland is also the historic border between the former Principality of East Frisia and the County of Oldenburg, and is called the Golden Line. An attempt to bridge this "golden line" was undertaken in the 1970s as part of the Lower Saxon district reforms. At that time part of the Oldenburg district of Friesland was merged with the East Frisian district of Wittmund, under the name of Friesland district with its seat in Wittmund. After successful lawsuits were taken to the Lower Saxony State Court in Bückeburg this reform was reversed and the districts split again. Only the old Amt of Göden, i.e. the villages of Göden, Neustadtgöden and Dykhusen, remained in the Frisian municipality of Sande after the restoration of the old districts, and thereby left a piece of East Frisia in the district of Friesland.
The difference between historical-political and geographical view of East Frisia has left the island of Wangerooge with an "ambiguous" situation. On the one hand it is counted geographically as one of the East Frisian Islands. On the other hand, it has belonged, politically and historically, to Jeverland for centuries and hence, since 1818, to Oldenburg, and today to the district of Friesland. It is in a sense the only part of "Oldenburg" in the (inhabited) East Frisian Islands.
The Saterland has a special role to play. Its historical culture and language makes it part of East Frisia, but due to its isolation, it came under the influence of the Diocese of Münster early on, whilst the East Frisian area was placed under the Diocese of Bremen. This separation from the late Middle Ages has left its imprint today: the Saterland now belongs to the district of Cloppenburg. Thanks to its isolation, Saterland Frisian is the only version of the East Frisian language to survive today, while East Frisian dialects of West Low German are spoken in the rest of the region (the so-called East Frisian Low Saxon or Ostfriesisches Platt).
Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. Wider definitions of "Frisia" may include the island of Rem and the other Danish Wadden Sea Islands. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Germanic ethnic group.
Aurich is a district (Landkreis) in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the North Sea, the districts of Wittmund and Leer, and the city of Emden.
Wittmund is a Landkreis (district) in the northwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in East Frisia, on the North Sea coast. Neighboring districts are Friesland, Leer and Aurich.
Friesland is a district (Landkreis) in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Wesermarsch, Ammerland, Leer and Wittmund, and by the North Sea. The city of Wilhelmshaven is enclosed by—but not part of—the district.
Leer is a district (Landkreis) in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Emden, the districts of Aurich, Wittmund, Friesland, Ammerland, Cloppenburg and Emsland, and by the Netherlands.
East Frisia or East Friesland is a historic region in modern Lower Saxony, Germany. The modern province is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the west of Landkreis Friesland but is known to have extended much further inland before modern representations of the territory. Administratively, East Frisia consists of the districts Aurich, Leer and Wittmund and the city of Emden. It has a population of approximately 469,000 people and an area of 3,142 square kilometres (1,213 sq mi).
Aurich is a town in the East Frisian region of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Aurich and is the second largest City in East Frisia, both in population, after Emden, and in area, after Wittmund.
Saterland Frisian, also known as Sater Frisian, Saterfrisian or Saterlandic, spoken in the Saterland municipality of Lower Saxony in Germany, is the last living dialect of the East Frisian language. It is closely related to the other Frisian languages: North Frisian, spoken in Germany as well, and West Frisian, spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland.
East Frisian is one of the Frisian languages. Its last surviving dialect is Saterland Frisian spoken in Saterland in Germany.
Wittmund is a town and capital of the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany.
Ems-Oriental was a department of the First French Empire in present-day Germany. It was formed in 1810, when the Kingdom of Holland was annexed by France. Its territory is part of the present-day German region of East Frisia in Lower Saxony. Its capital was Aurich. The department was subdivided into the following arrondissements and cantons :
Jümme is a collective municipality (Samtgemeinde) in the district of Leer in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is named after the River Jümme which flows through all three constituent communities. It has an area of 82.34 km2 and a population of 6,421. It is situated in the region of East Frisia. Along with the Samtgemeinde of Hesel, it is one of two in the district. It was formed in the wake of local government reform in 1973. Filsum serves as the administrative centre.
The County of East Frisia was a county in the region of East Frisia in the northwest of the present-day German state of Lower Saxony.
The tom Brok family were a powerful East Frisian line of chieftains, originally from the Norderland on the North Sea coast of Germany. From the second half of the 14th century, the tom Broks tried to gain control of East Frisia over the other chieftain families. The line of tom Brok died out in 1435.
The history of East Frisia developed rather independently from the rest of Germany because the region was relatively isolated for centuries by large stretches of bog to the south, while at the same time its people were oriented towards the sea. Thus in East Frisia in the Middle Ages there was little feudalism, instead a system of fellowship under the so-called Friesian Freedom emerged. It was not until 1464, that the House of Cirksena was enfeoffed with the Imperial County of East Frisia. Nevertheless absolutism had been, and continued to be, unknown in East Frisia. In the two centuries after about 1500, the influence of the Netherlands is discernable - politically, economically and culturally. In 1744, the county lost its independence within the Holy Roman Empire and became part of Prussia. Following the Vienna Congress of 1815, it was transferred to the Kingdom of Hanover, in 1866 it went back to Prussia and, from 1946, it has been part of the German state of Lower Saxony.
The flags of Frisia are the flags that are used to represent Frisia, a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Some designs are in official use on a local or provincial level, while others are used unofficially on a regional, linguistic or international level.
The Saxon feud was a military conflict in the years 1514–1517 between the East Frisian Count Edzard I, 'West Frisian' rebels, the city of Groningen, and Charles II, Duke of Guelders on the one hand and the Imperial Frisian hereditary governor George, Duke of Saxony – replaced by Charles V of Habsburg in 1515 – and 24 German princes. The war took place predominantly on East Frisian soil and destroyed large parts of the region.
Norden is a railway station located in Norden in East Frisia, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a junction station situated on the Emsland Railway line, with train services provided by Deutsche Bahn, and the historic Ostfriesische Küstenbahn. The latter is operated by a heritage train on Sundays from June to October.
The Interfrisian Council is a geopolitical organization that represents the common interests of the Frisians. The organization consists of three regional councils or "sections": North Frisia, East Frisia and West Frisia. Every three years, the presidency of the Interfrisian Council is handed over to another section. The council was established in 1956.
With more than 90 important organs from six centuries, the Organ landscape East Frisia is one of the richest organ landscapes in the world. The term organ landscape alone refers to the historically determined regional characteristics of the organs. 60 of the East Frisian organs date from before 1850. In addition, there are 15 historical Prospekt, behind which new Werke are installed. While Dutch organ building was influential for East Frisia in the 15th and 16th centuries, influences from Hamburg and Westphalia were added in the 17th and 18th centuries. East Frisian organ building in the 19th century was conservative until around 1870 and created instruments according to Baroque building principles. As relatively few new organs were built between 1870 and 1950, many historical instruments were preserved. Almost all of the original instruments have been restored in an exemplary manner over the last 50 years, bringing them back to their original sound and providing impetus for restoration practice and organ building worldwide. In recent decades, the public has become increasingly aware of the value of these instruments and the organ landscape of East Frisia has been made accessible to organ builders and organists from all over the world, as well as to the general public.