Oldenburg (city) explained

Type:City
German Name:Ollnborg (Northern Low Saxon)
Image Coa:DEU Oldenburg COA.svg
Coordinates:53.1439°N 8.2139°W
State:Niedersachsen
District:urban
Elevation:4
Area:102.96
Postal Code:26001–26135
Area Code:0441
Licence:OL
Gemeindeschlüssel:03 4 03 000
Divisions:33 boroughs, separated into nine census tracts
Mayor:Jürgen Krogmann[1]
Leader Term:2021 - 26
Bürgermeistertitel:Oberbürgermeister
Party:SPD

Oldenburg (pronounced as /de/; Northern Low Saxon: Ollnborg) is an independent city in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. The city is officially named Oldenburg (Oldb) (Oldenburg in Oldenburg) to distinguish from Oldenburg in Holstein.

During the French annexation (1811–1813) in the wake of the Napoleonic war against Britain, it was also known as Le Vieux-Bourg in French. The city is at the rivers Hunte and Haaren, in the northwestern region between the cities of Bremen in the east and Groningen (Netherlands) in the west. It has a population of 170,000 (November 2019).[2] Oldenburg is part of the Northwest Metropolitan Region, with 2.37 million people.

The city is the place of origin of the House of Oldenburg. Before the end of the German Empire (1918), it was the administrative centre and residence of the monarchs of Oldenburg.

History

Archaeological finds point to a settlement dating back to the 8th century. The first documentary evidence, in 1108, referenced Aldenburg in connection with Elimar I (also known as Egilmar I) who is now commonly seen as the first count of Oldenburg. The town gained importance due to its location at a ford of the navigable Hunte river. Oldenburg became the capital of the County of Oldenburg (later a Duchy (1774 - 1810), Grand Duchy (1815–1918), and Free State (1918–1946)), a small state in the shadow of the much more powerful Hanseatic city of Bremen.

In the 17th century Oldenburg was a wealthy town in a time of war and turmoil and its population and power grew considerably. In 1667, the town was struck by a disastrous plague epidemic and, shortly after, a fire destroyed Oldenburg. The Danish kings, who were also counts of Oldenburg at the time, had little interest in the condition of the town and it lost most of its former importance. In 1773, Danish rule ended. Only then were the destroyed buildings in the city rebuilt in a neoclassicist style. (German-speakers usually call the "neoclassicist style" of that period German: klassizistisch, while German: neoklassizistisch specifically refers to the classicist style of the early 20th century.)

After the German government announced the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II (9 November 1918) following the exhaustion and defeat of the German Empire in World War I, monarchic rule ended in Oldenburg as well with the abdication of Grand Duke Frederick Augustus II of Oldenburg (German: Friedrich August II von Oldenburg) on 11 November 1918. The Grand Duchy now became the Free State of Oldenburg (German: Freistaat Oldenburg), with the city remaining the capital.

In the 1928 city elections, the Nazi Party received 9.8% of the vote, enough for a seat on the Oldenburg city council. In the September 1930 Oldenburg state elections, the Nazi Party's share of the vote rose to 27.3%, and on May 29, 1932, the Nazi Party received 48.4% in the state election, enough to put the Nazi party in charge of forming a state government and, significantly, making Oldenburg the first state in the country to put the Nazis in power based on electoral turnout. By that autumn, a campaign of Aryanization began, forcing the sale of formerly Jewish-owned properties at steep discounts.[3]

In 1945, after World War II, the State of Oldenburg became part of the British zone of occupation. The British military government of the Oldenburg region resided in the city. Several displaced-persons camps were set up in the city that had suffered only 1.4% destruction during the bombing campaigns of World War II.[4] About 42,000 refugees migrated into Oldenburg, which raised the number of residents to over 100,000. In 1946 the Free State of Oldenburg was dissolved and the area became the 'Administrative District' of Oldenburg (German: Verwaltungsbezirk Oldenburg) within the newly formed federal German state of Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen). The city was now capital of the district. In 1978 the district was dissolved and succeeded by the newly formed Weser-Ems administrative region (German: [[Regierungsbezirk]] Weser-Ems), again with the city as administrative capital. The state of Lower Saxony dissolved all of the German: Regierungsbezirke by the end of 2004 in the course of administrative reforms.

City government

Local elections take place every five years. The city council (Stadtrat) has 50 seats. The lord mayor (Oberbürgermeister) is elected directly by the citizens.

Election
year! width="12%"
SPDBündnis ’90/
Die Grünen
CDUDie LinkeFreie Wähler/
FW-BFO
FDPPiraten
Partei
NPDLKRAFD
200140.113.630.53.92.88.2
200632.721.226.07.25.46.3
201134.027.320.66.13.13.02.81.1
201632.6819.1322.219.881.534.841.170.621.194.76
Election
year! width="9%"
SPDGrüneCDULinkeFWFDPPiratenWFONPDLKRAFDTotal
seats
20012171521450
200616111343350
201117141032111150
20161610115121101250

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

The city centre of Oldenburg is surrounded by a ring of freeways (autobahns) consisting of A 28, A 29 and A 293. Because of this, Oldenburg is connected to the nationwide network of federal autobahns, as well as to the international E-road network (German: Europastraßen).

Oldenburg Central Station, Oldenburg (Oldb) Hauptbahnhof, is at the intersection of the railway lines Norddeich MoleLeer—Oldenburg—Bremen and Wilhelmshaven—Oldenburg—Osnabrück, with Intercity services to Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden and InterCityExpress services to Frankfurt and Munich.

Oldenburg is only about half an hour drive from Bremen Airport (about 50 km | 31 miles). Other international airports nearby are Hamburg Airport (160 km | 100 miles) and Hannover-Langenhagen Airport (170 km | 106 miles).

The small Hatten Airfield, (Flugplatz Oldenburg-Hatten ICAO airport code: EDWH), is located about 17 km south-west of Oldenburg. It serves to small aircraft (private planes, gliders, balloons, and helicopters). A flight training school is also located there, and small planes can be chartered. Scenic flights can be booked as well.

Oldenburg is connected to shipping through the Küstenkanal, a ship canal connecting the rivers Ems and Weser. With 1.6 million tons of goods annually, it is the most important non-coastal harbour in Lower Saxony.

Bicycles play a very important part in personal transport.

Agriculture

The city is surrounded by large agricultural areas, about 80% of which is grassland. There are farms near and even a few within city limits. Predominant agricultural activities of the region are the cultivation of livestock, especially dairy cows and other grazing animals, crops such as grains for food and animal feed, as well as asparagus, corn, and kale.

Industry

Sea salt production in the Oldenburg region has been used since the 15th century to supply the huge salt demand in the Baltic region. Peat extraction in the area continued for many centuries until it was replaced by coal mines.

Demographics

Residents by foreign citizenship[5]
NationalityPopulation (2020)
3,635
2,190
1,425
1,275
1,135
550
450
445
410

As of 31.12.2019 Oldenburg had 169,960 residents. 24.8% of the population were first or second generation immigrants.[6]

Cultural life

Recurring cultural events

Points of interest

Lutheran community

Oldenburg is the seat of administration and bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg, whose preaching venue is the St Lamberti Church.

Jewish community

The history of the Jewish community of Oldenburg dates back to the 14th century.[7] Towards and during the 19th century, the Jews in Oldenburg were always around 1% of the total population, and by that time had acquired their own synagogue, cemetery and school. Most of them were merchants and businessmen. On 1938 Kristallnacht, the town men were led to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, among them Leo Trepp, the community Rabbi who survived and later became an honorary citizen of Oldenburg and honored by a street named after him.[8] Since 1981 an annual commemoration walk (Erinnerungsgang) has been held by Oldenburg citizens in memory of the deportation of the Oldenburg Jews on November 10, 1938.[9] Those who remained after 1938 emigrated to Canada, USA, United Kingdom, Holland or Mandatory Palestine.

After World War II, a group of survivors returned to the city and maintained a small community until it was dissolved during the 1970s. Nevertheless, due to Jewish emigration from the former USSR to Germany in the 1990s, a community of about 340 people is now maintaining its own synagogue, cemetery and other facilities. The old Jewish cemetery, which is no longer active after the opening of a new one, was desecrated twice in 2011 and 2013.[10]

Media

Print

Radio and television

Online

Education

Tertiary education

There are two public universities in Oldenburg:

Privately managed institutions of higher education:

Other:

Primary and secondary education

Sports

Oldenburg hosted the 2007 Fistball World Championship.

It has two football teams, VfB Oldenburg and VfL Oldenburg, who also have a handball section of the same name.

Moreover, Oldenburg is home to the basketball team EWE Baskets Oldenburg.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany. Oldenburg is twinned with:[14]

Notable people

See also: Counts, dukes and grand dukes of Oldenburg.

Public servants and public thinking

Arts

Science & business

Sport

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Stichwahlen zu Direktwahlen in Niedersachsen vom 26. September 2021. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://wahlen.statistik.niedersachsen.de/SW2021/reports/DW/DW_Uebersicht.pdf . 2022-10-09 . live. 13 October 2021. Landesamt für Statistik Niedersachsen.
  2. Web site: Einwohnerzahl steigt . 2019-11-06 . 2019-11-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191106132829/https://www.oldenburg.de/startseite/politik/verwaltung-finanzen/statistik/einwohnerzahl-steigt.html . dead .
  3. Book: Goldsmith . Martin . Alex's Wake: A Voyage of Betrayal and a Journey of Remembrance . 978-0306823220 . 2014 . 44–46 . Da Capo Press .
  4. Ulrich Schneider: Niedersachsen 1945, p. 95. Hannover 1985
  5. Web site: Ausländer nach Nationalität 2014 bis 2020 . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.oldenburg.de/fileadmin/oldenburg/Benutzer/PDF/40/402/Statistik/OK/0232-4-0232-5-2019.pdf . 2022-10-09 . live . 29 August 2021.
  6. Web site: Archived copy . 2021-08-29 . 2021-08-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210829121241/https://www.oldenburg.de/fileadmin/oldenburg/Benutzer/PDF/40/402/Statistik/OK/0232-0232-1-2019.pdf . dead .
  7. Web site: OLDENBURG - JewishEncyclopedia.com. www.jewishencyclopedia.com. 29 April 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170622031521/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11684-oldenburg. 22 June 2017.
  8. Web site: 1990: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Leo Trepp – Stadt Oldenburg. Stadt. Oldenburg. www.oldenburg.de. 29 April 2018.
  9. Web site: Erinnerungsgang -. Erinnerungsgang. 29 April 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171024165959/http://www.erinnerungsgang.de/. 24 October 2017.
  10. Web site: Антисемиты осквернили еврейское кладбище в Ольденбурге » Центральный Еврейский Ресурс SEM40. Израиль, Ближний восток, евреи . 2015-03-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125323/http://www.sem40.ru/index.php?newsid=239989 . 2015-04-02 .
  11. Web site: Statistics published on the CvO University's web site, retrieved in 2014. uni-oldenburg.de. 29 April 2018. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160702142318/http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/planung-entwicklung/akademisches-controlling/hochschulstatistik/zahlen-und-fakten/. 2 July 2016.
  12. Web site: VI. School of Medicine and Health Sciences. 25 April 2018. uni-oldenburg.de. 29 April 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171012044936/http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/en/medicine/. 12 October 2017.
  13. Web site: Statistics published on the Jade-Hochschule website, retrieved in January 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20100804163316/http://www.jade-hs.de/hochschule. dead. 4 August 2010. jade-hs.de. 29 April 2018.
  14. Web site: Oldenburgs Partnerkommunen. oldenburg.de. Oldenburg. de. 2022-08-23.
  15. Amalie, Marie Friederike . I . 1.
  16. Löwe, Sophie . X . 1 .