Leer
Leer is a city in the
Leer District of northwestern
Germany on the border with the
Netherlands, located at the river
Ems.
It has a
railway connection to
Groningen, Netherlands.
Leer had been a settlement long before it was first mentioned in written documents. Originally the city was situated close to the point where the river
Leda flows into the
Ems, but today the mouth of the Leda is part of the city. Even though Leer is some 30 km (19miles) away from the coast, it can be reached by large ships via the Ems. Leer lies close to the Dutch
border, the district of Leer shares a border with the Dutch
province of
Groningen.
In
791 AD Saint
Ludger built the first chapel in
East Frisia at the western edge of the
settlement Hleri/Leer. This chapel is mentioned in a written document from 850 AD for the first time. There are however many traces of earlier settlements in the area, including crude flint tools that are dated back to the second millennium BC.
During the
14th and
15th Century Leer was home town of the
Ukena family which was one most influential East-Frisian chieftain families of that time.
Town privileges were awarded in
1823 by
George IV,
King of
Hanover.
In
1854 Leer became connected to the "Hannoversche Westbahn" railway, which at that time connected
Emden and
Rheine in the Ruhr area. In
1856 the Westbahn became connected to the central German railway network.
Unlike Emden, Leer only suffered little damage by Allied bombings in
World War II. The city was occupied by Canadian Troops on April 28th, 1945.
On
1 October 1955 Leer got the
status of an independent city.
Religions:
Leer is a traditional Protestant city and home to both the
Lutheran and
Reformed churches. The German Reformed Church has its head office in Leer. Furthermore Leer offers an unusually large variety of smaller religious communities, especially
Baptists,
Mennonites,
Methodists,
Adventists and
Mormons. Even though Eastern Frisia is a mainly a Protestant region, there is a small
Roman Catholic community in Leer.
Since 1964 the city's government is led by the Social-Democratic Party
SPD. The major oppositional parties are the Christian Democratic Union Party
CDU, the
Green Party and the AWG, an independent local party.
Local council:
*
SPD: 42 % / 16 Seats
*
CDU: 26 % / 10 Seats
* AWG: 16 % / 6 Seats
*
Grüne: 11 % / 4 Seats
*
FDP: 5 % / 2 Seats
The mayor of Leer is Wolfgang Kellner.
Twin Towns:
*
Trowbridge (GB)
*
ElblÄ…g (PL)
Buildings:
*
Harderwykenburg *
Haneburg *
Evenburg *
Philippsburg*
Telecommunication tower "Leer-Nüttermoor" (
Height:160 meters)
Image:Rathaus Leer.jpg|City Hall in LeerImage:Leer city centre.JPG|City Centre in LeerEach year in autumn the
Gallimarkt is held. Traditionally a cattle-market, the Gallimarkt is now one of the largest fairs in Northwest
Germany. Since
2002 the
Open Air rockfestival "Rock am Deich" (Rock at the Dyke) is held annually in the city.
Two German
motorways cross north of Leer, the A 28 (Leer -
Bremen) and the A 31 (Emden -
Oberhausen). The city itself has three junctions to the motorways. Despite rumors of its forthcoming closure, Leer railway station is still in use. Leer is still connected to the German railway network and also offers trains to Groningen. The
airfield Leer-Papenburg north of the city offers limited passenger flights to nearby airfields. The closest international airport is Bremen International Airport.
Leer is home to many German shipping companies â€" about 20 per cent of the German
merchant fleet are registered in Leer. The
Bünting group [
1] is seated in Leer and is one of the city's main employers. Although Bünting owns several German supermarket chains the company is best known for their
tea, which is available all over Germany.
In Leer are seven primary
schools and numerous secondary schools. The two
gymnasiums ,
Teletta Gross Gymnasium and
Ubbo Emmius Gymnasium, educate more than 1,500 pupils each and are two of the largest gymnasiums in
Lower Saxony. Additionally Leer offers further education at two vocational schools.
*
Focko Ukena *
Ubbo Emmius -
Theologian,
historian from the
University of Groningen *
Wilhelmine Siefkes*
Bernhard Bavink*
Ernst Reuter*
Johann Ludwig Hinrichs *
Hans-Peter Geerdes (H.P. Baxxter)*
Karl Dall*
Friedel Grützmacher*
Hermann Kümmerlehn ("Kümmi")*
Official website of the city (German)
*
www.kappenberg.emsnet.de/lebendiges-leer.htm*
www.seefahrtschule-leer.de/*
www.bbs2leer.de/*
www.bbs1-leer.de/*
www.ueg-leer.de/*
www.tgg-leer.de/*
www.radio-ostfriesland.de/
