Wietmarschen

Wietmarschen is a unitary municipality in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is split into the villages of Wietmarschen, Füchtenfeld, Schwartenpohl, Lohnerbruch, Nordlohne and Lohne with Lohne being the biggest and having the town hall while Wietmarschen, which is the second biggest, having the name.

WWW Official Site

Geography

Wietmarschen lies roughly west of Lingen, and northeast of Nordhorn. The community's highest elevation is the Rupingberg in Lohne at above sea level. There are plans to construct a viewing tower on it.

Constituent communities

The municipality is divided into six Ortsteile named Wietmarschen, Füchtenfeld, Schwartenpohl, Lohnerbruch, Nordlohne and Lohne.

Religion

The community of Wietmarschen diverges sharply from the rest of the district with regard to religion in that it has a largely Catholic character. In February 2006, the community's religious affiliations broke down thus:

74.3% Roman Catholic
12.6% Evangelical Lutheran
3.9% Evangelical Reformed
9.2% other faiths, or no faith

Politics

Municipal council

Wietmarschen's council is made up of 28 councillors.

CDU 22 seats
SPD 5 seats
FDP 1 seat

The town hall is in Lohne.

Mayor

The full-time mayor Manfred Wellen was elected on 25 May 2014 with 64.25% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2021.

Coat of arms

The community's arms show a red field with a stylized lily in the upper half of the middle flanked by a golden bulrush on each side sprouting up from the bottom and tilting away from the lily, and each with a golden leaf.

Partnership

Wietmarschen is twinned with:

Mortagne-au-Perche, France since 2 July 1989

Culture and sightseeing

Museums

Heimathaus Lohne
Heimathaus Wietmarschen, the so-called Packhaus
Treckermuseum Wietmarschen

Buildings

Stiftskirche Wietmarschen, restored historic nunnery area behind the church
Stiftsbusch with chapels
Sankt-Antonius-Kirche Lohne
Mühlenturm Wietmarschen
Urbrecker
Glockenturm Südlohne
Schafstall Moormann

Sport venues

5 gymnasia
10 sport fields
4 beach volleyball fields
2 tennis courts
1 big riding centre
2 model aircraft fields
1 miniature car track
1 gliderport

Regular events

Yearly

Economy and infrastructure

Public transport

Bus line 161: Lingen — Nordlohne — Lohne — Lohnerbruch — Wietmarschen — Füchtenfeld
Bus line 165: Lingen — Nordlohne — Lohne — Rükel — Südlohne — Klausheide — Nordhorn
Nearest railway stations:
* Lingen for Meppen, Leer, Emden, Rheine, Münster
* Intercity: Düsseldorf, Karlsruhe
* Bad Bentheim for Rheine, Osnabrück, Bielefeld, Hengelo,
* Intercity: Hanover, Berlin, Amsterdam

Established businesses

W.A.S, Ambulances and Security Vehicles
Ewabo, cleaning agent and disinfectant manufacturer
Wirtschaft Innovation Nordwest, business advisers and advertising agents
Bauunternehmen Overberg, construction

Education

Marien-Schule Wietmarschen
Grundschule Lohne
Schulzentrum Lohne

Famous persons

August Perk, German Resistance Fighter against the National Socialism, briefly Friendship with Erich Maria Remarque and had Influence on Remarques world-famous Novel "All Quiet on the Western Front", Grandfather of Johnny de Brest.
Erich Maria Remarque, writer, worked as a teacher in Lohne in 1919
Mattias Rosemann, deacon