Weener


Weener is a town in the district of Leer, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Ems. The town's population is at 15,654, making it the largest town of the region Rheiderland. It has a railway and autobahn connection to Groningen, Netherlands, Emden and Bremen.
The city was first mentioned in a monastery's records in 951.
WWW Official Site

Town

Division of the town

The town of Weener consists of 9 districts:
  • Weener
  • Kirchborgum
  • Diele
  • Vellage / Halte
  • Stapelmoor
  • Holthusen
  • Weenermoor / Möhlenwarf
  • St. Georgiwold
  • Beschotenweg

Neighbouring communities

In the district of Leer:
In the district of Emsland:

Politics

Mayor

  • 2006–2014: Wilhelm Dreesmann
  • 2014–2021: Ludwig Sonnenberg
  • 2021–incumbent: Heiko Abbas

Town Council

The composition of the town council for the 2021-2026 electoral period is:
  • SPD = 15 seats
  • CDU = 8 seats
  • UWG = 2 seats
  • Grüne = 3 seats
  • AfD = 1 seat
  • Ratsmitglied Junker = 1 seat
  • Ratsmitglied S. Hinderks = 1 seat
  • Bürgermeister Abbas = 1 seat

International relations

Weener is twinned with:

Demographics

Statistics are as of December 31 of each year:
  • 1980 – 14.115
  • 1985 – 14.245
  • 1990 – 14.320
  • 1995 – 14.831
  • 2000 – 15.338
  • 2001 – 15.406
  • 2002 – 15.534
  • 2003 – 15.625
  • 2004 – 15.666
  • 2005 – 15.602
  • 2018 – 16.276

Climate

Weener is in a temperate climate zone, influenced by the North Sea. During the summer, the temperatures are lower than those in the rest of Germany. In winter, the temperatures are higher than the other regions.

Previous residents

Recent findings published in the academic periodical Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft by the German historian Jürgen Matthäus, show that Jakobus Onnen, a German citizen born in the adjoining hamlet of Tichelwarf and is erroneously listed as a war victim on the memorial located at the Heimatverein Rheiderland museum in Weener is the perpetrator photographed in "The Last Jew in Vinnitsa" This massacre was most likely carried out on 28 July 1941 in Berdychiv by the Einsatzgruppe C, a mobile death squad of the Nazi SS, of which Jakobus Onnen was a member.