History Nordhorn
market square nordhorn
the still functioning ancient in centre
st.augustinus chuch viewed riverside
timber framing house
the vechte 167 km (104 mi) long , in middle ages emptied directly sea: flowed zwolle zuider zee, @ time had not yet been cut off north sea , centre of dutch sea trade. since modern land reclamation projects have been put in place, river flows north of zwolle zwarte water, empties ijsselmeer, lake arose old zuider zee once afsluitdijk completed.
already 1160, first loads of bentheim sandstone being shipped netherlands. 1,200 freight cranes, scows , barges lay each year @ anchor , brought goods holland. steinmaate (street) became staple market. like-named street still recalls today bentheim sandstone shipped here many other countries. built stately buildings such royal palace in amsterdam, many mills, churches, locks, town halls , other public buildings. returning ships brought spices, textiles, paper , foods luxury articles such coffee, tea, cacao , tobacco. trade, crafts , agriculture region s economic foundations until mid 19th century. shipping on vechte , canals (the ems-vechte-kanal, nordhorn-almelo-kanal, süd-nord-kanal , coevorden-piccardie-kanal) transported goods formed important source of earnings @ time, when town home wealthy merchants, shipowners , mariners.
on ninth day after whitsunday in 1379, count bernhard granted nordhorn town rights, , in 1416 gave privilege. small settlement between arms of vechte had grown important bentheim counts goods handling centre. economic upswing, cultural life reached high point in these years. augustinian canons established marienwolde monastery in frenswegen in 1394. through endowments , donations monastery became known westphalia s paradise beyond borders. after secularization in 1806, brought napoleon, monastic properties passed bentheim counts’ ownership. settlement spanning thousands of years , town s far 628-year history have left behind little in way of buildings, besides marienwolde monastery, witness earlier times.
in imitation of late romanesque churches in neighbouring westphalia, churches built in 13th century out of bentheim sandstone. artwork preserved time baptismal font in brandlecht. bearing witness 15th century alte kirche ( old church ) @ market. built in late gothic style under dutch influence , honour saint ludger, founded town s first church, , in name newer church consecrated. 3 generations worked on impressive three-naved hall church. originally, tower 102 m tall , fell under town council s stewardship watchtower , firetower. violent storm toppled steeple, came down in marketplace before building. new steeple considerably shorter – 70 m – , designed let wind pass through it. during restoration work inside church in 1967, paintings uncovered in sanctuary, nordhorner apostelbilder ( nordhorn apostle pictures ). show twelve apostles , various biblical scenes. paintings preserved because not agreed should done them, since calvinist church order of reformed creed introduced count arnold ii @ bentheim in 1588 forbade pictures , adornment in church rooms. during more restoration work in late 1990s, these pictures rediscovered, , church council decided cover pictures on rice paper, seemed valuable paint over.
sharply decimated war , epidemics, town had deal several occupations , troop movements in 17th , 18th centuries. in eighty years war waged dutch against spaniards, nordhorn way station spanish troops because neighbouring county of lingen spanish territory. said once, duke of parma camped around nordhorn 6,000 soldiers.
during thirty years war, swedes, hessians, lüneburg troops , imperial forces passed through nordhorn on old flemish army , trade road. wanted feed on scanty crop yields. harried town, however, left hardly time recover war s ravages. few years later, warlike bishop christoph bernhard count of galen münster waged war against dutch on plains outside nordhorn, brought end in 1666 peace of nordhorn.
in napoleonic times there once again afoot in nordhorn. in these years, trading place on vechte grew , 2 harbours defined town s image. napoleon s continental blockade against british trade made nordhorn smuggling centre 1806. broad moors , heaths abetted lucrative trade.
as result of europe s new political landscape in wake of congress of vienna in 1814 , 1815, hitherto flourishing transit trade in nordhorn once again disrupted. border became customs barrier, stripping nordhorn of trading, had been oriented towards west. in years followed, town became poorer. because vechte not upgraded , modernized, , because silted up, shipping disrupted. townsfolk turned farming small plots , traders , shippers left town. home weaving still afforded earnings. whole families emigrated new world.
it said 1839 year when nordhorn s textile industry founded. first mechanized weaving mill, established willem stroink enschede, sprang on trade road. here, cotton processed , calico , watertwist woven. later mills founded in 1864 jan van delden , in 1851 josef povel , hermann kistemaker. textile manufacturing came set pace languishing economy. progress came gradual industrialization. groundwork town s growth 1 of germany s biggest textile-producing towns had been laid.
the town s mayor between 1843 , 1872 apothecary , chemical manufacturer ernst firnhaber, house on main street stood in middle of town s business life. classicist building elements last architectural example of stately townsman s house 18th century. after apothecary came germany s first quinine plant. in 1843, 32,403 pfund – 16 metric tons – of cinchona processed , exported. manufacturers ludwig povel, bernhard rawe, bernhard niehues , friedrich dütting founded further textile businesses in years 1872 1897, of still supplying domestic , international markets in 21st century.
in 1890s, nordhorn incorporated network of man-made waterways. through river ems, dortmund-ems canal , ems-vechte canal, coal transported ruhr area up-and-coming textile centre. nordhorn-almelo canal saw town connected dutch inland waterways, , north-south canal spurred peat trade. if today these canals have no further use shipping, can still prized worth sources of leisure.
the bentheim railway brought rail connection international network in 1896. 1,500 people working in various textile companies in these years. great depression in 1920s led many jobseekers on germany nordhorn. 1939, population had reached 23,457, , worth noting under third of people had been born in town. unusual economic upswing earned nordhorn nickname klein amerika – little america .
even third reich left mark on nordhorn. small jewish community annihilated. synagogue utterly destroyed, event recalled memorial plaque on street still called synagogenstraße. old flemish trade road used german troops, on 10 may 1940 marched netherlands, military road. of townsfolk lived through time mixed feelings – not, thought, bound dutch neighbours friendship , blood? these bonds upon seeking fight persecution , nazi régime build. adolf pazdera , ferdinand kobitzki, nordhorn kpd functionaries , trade union secretaries, persecuted many times , in 1943 , 1944 respectively, murdered in concentration camps.
after second world war ended, ten thousand people germany s lost eastern territories poured nordhorn, found new home, bringing town s population more 40,000. there arose new community within town housing 13,000 inhabitants, called die blanke.
non-commercial housing building companies , private initiatives made nordhorn town of privately owned home . enormous building accomplishments called municipal administration expanded , modernized. thus, nordhorn built new town hall, , buildings district administration, employment office , amt court arose on town s ring road. court stands on seilerbahn.
northwest germany s first indoor swimming pool after 1945 dedicated, new schools, sport halls , fields, concert , theatre hall , town park led townscape s revival.
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