Leer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 53°14′N 7°26′E

Leer
Coat of arms of Leer Location of Leer in Germany
Country Germany
State Lower Saxony
District Leer
Population 33,838 source (2005)
Area 70.28 km²
Population density 481 /km²
Elevation 1 m
Coordinates 53°14′ N 7°26′ E
Postal code 26789
Area code 0491
Licence plate code LER
Mayor Wolfgang Kellner
Website leer.de

Leer is a city in the district of Leer of northwestern Germany on the border with the Netherlands, located at the river Ems.

It has a railway and autobahn connection to Groningen, Netherlands, Emden, Bremen and the South (Rheine and the Ruhrpott industrial region).

Contents

Leer had been a settlement long before it was first mentioned in written documents. Originally the city was situated at a maeander near the mouth of the river Leda into the Ems, which is still the center of the town today. 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.

There are many traces of early settlements in the area, including crude flint tools that are dated back to the 3200 BC.

In 791 AD Saint Ludger built the first chapel in East Frisia at the western edge of the settlement Leer, then still named Hleri after feetlot, willow. This chapel is mentioned in a written document from 850 AD for the first time.

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. The town profited from the trade with the Hanse, and a fortress Leerort was built.

Remains of the Feste Leerort at the mouth of the Leda into the Ems river, 1453-1760
Remains of the Feste Leerort at the mouth of the Leda into the Ems river, 1453-1760

The right to have a market was obtained in 1508 by Count Edzard, which started the tradition of the "Gallimarkt" that is now an annual fair. In 1744 East Frisia fell to Prussia, then ruled by Frederick the Great. 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 has been 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:

Buildings:

City Hall in Leer

City Centre in Leer

Each 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 autobahns cross north of Leer, the A 28 (Leer - Bremen) and the A 31 (Emden - Oberhausen, Ruhr Area). The city itself has three junctions to the autobahns. Leer railway station is a relay station between Groningen, Holland and Bremen in West-East direction and the South and Emden harbour (with a large VW factory and shipping facilities) in the North. The airfield Leer-Papenburg north of the city offers limited passenger flights to nearby airfields, most notably the East Frisian Islands. The closest international airport is Bremen International Airport.

Leer is home to many German shipping companies — 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. Leer is home to a christian private school Freie Christliche Schule Ostfriesland that provides education from grade 1 up to grade 13. The town also offers education at two vocational schools.

Coat of arms
Cities and towns in Leer (district)

Borkum | Bunde | Hesel | Jemgum | Leer | Moormerland | Ostrhauderfehn | Rhauderfehn | Uplengen | Weener | Westoverledingen

 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/e/e/Leer.html"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.