Emden

Emden
Emden
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Urban district
Lord Mayor	Alwin Brinkmann (SPD)
Basic statistics
Area	112.33 km2 (43.37 sq mi)
Elevation	1 m  (3 ft)
Population	51,692  (30 June 2006)
- Density	460 /km2 (1,192 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	EMD
Postal codes	26721, 26723, 26725
Area codes	04921, 04927 (Knock)
Website	www.emden.de Coordinates: 53°22′20″N 07°12′24″E / 53.37222°N 7.20667°E / 53.37222; 7.20667

Emden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692.

History

The New Church in Emden (1648).

The exact founding date of Emden is unknown, but it has existed at least since the 8th century. Older names for Emden are Amuthon, Embda, Emda, Embden. City rights and the city's coat of arms, the "Engelke up de Muer" was granted by Emperor Maximilian I in 1495.

Emden was a very rich city during the 17th century, due to large numbers of Dutch immigrants such as Diederik Jansz. Graeff. It was a center of reformed Protestantism at that time, producing the first Bible translation in Dutch. During the Napoleonic French era, Emden and the surrounding lands of East Frisia were part of the short-lived Kingdom of Holland.

Industrialization started at around 1870, with a paper mill and a somewhat bigger shipyard. At the end of the 19th century, a big canal, the Dortmund-Ems Canal was constructed, which connected Emden with the Ruhr area. This made Emden the "seaport of the Ruhr area" - which lasted until the 1970s. Coal from the south was transported to the North Sea port, and imported iron ore was shipped via the canal towards Rhine and Ruhr. The last iron ore freighter was moored in Emdens port in 1986.

In 1903, a big shipyard (Nordseewerke, "North Sea Works") was founded which still exists.

The main city was almost completely wiped out during allied bombing raids during the Second World War, destroying nearly all historic buildings. The most severe bombing took place on September 6, 1944, when roughly 80 percent of all houses in the inner city were destroyed. In the collective memory of the city, this date still plays an important role. Of note is the fact that the shipyard area was largely untouched: The British targeted the civilian areas, which is believed by the locals to have been revenge for a bombing of an English city by the Luftwaffe. The reconstructed town was opened on 6 September 1962, exactly 18 years after the bombing.

Economy

Retired light vessel Amrumbank in front of Emden town hall.

The main industries in Emden are automobile production and shipbuilding. Volkswagen runs a large factory building the VW Passat car, where around 10,000 people are employed. Also, Emden is one of the three main ports for car transportation in Europe (together with Zeebrugge in Belgium and Bremerhaven in Germany). In 2005, more than 850,000 cars were imported and exported. The Nordseewerke shipyard, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp, employs around 1,400 dockers and is specialized in conventional submarines. Furthermore, it produces different kinds of cargo ships as well as ships for special purposes such as icebreakers, dredgers and the like.

Another important economic factor is tourism, mainly as a day trip target for the tourists in the surrounding villages on the North Sea coastline.

In 1973, a university of applied sciences (Fachhochschule) was opened. At present, around 3500 students are enrolled, most of them in technical degrees.

Sports

Satellite image of the Ems estuary showing Emden (right bank, center right)

The highest playing football (soccer) club is BSV Kickers Emden in the Third German League. The club was founded by Gustav Pluennecke & friends. The capacity of the stadium is 7,200, due to safety objections of the German Football Association. In 1994, some 12,000 spectators followed a match against the reserves squad of Hamburger SV, which still is the record. In that season, Kickers Emden became the champion of the 3rd League, but failed to be promoted to the Second League since the team lost the promotion round.

Since Emden is not only located close to the North Sea, but also to the river Ems and various small rivers and canals, boat sports are very popular among inhabitants and tourists.

Famous people from Emden

• Henri Nannen
• Wolfgang Petersen
• Otto Waalkes
• Jacob Emden
• Ferydoon Zandi
• Johannes Althusius

The Town Hall (Rathaus)

Ships and others named after the city

Emden (upper left) is near the North Sea, west of Hamburg, northwest of Bremen and Hannover.

Three German light cruisers were named after the city, two of which served in World War I and the third in World War II. Today, the fifth Navy ship named after the city is in service.

• SMS Emden (1906), a light cruiser in the Kaiserliche Marine, Bay of Bengal, Battle of Cocos
• SMS Emden (1915), a light cruiser in the Kaiserliche Marine
• Emden (1925), a light cruiser in the Kriegsmarine, Operation Weserübung
• F210 Emden (1979), Bremen class frigate of the German Navy

A deep sea spot in the Pacific Ocean close to the Philippines is named after the "second" Emden ship, and is therefore called Emdentief in German. The spot (10,400 m deep) was sounded in the 1920s (in 1920, 1923 or 1928 - sources vary).

In addition, the village of Emden, Illinois in the United States was named after Emden [1]due to the large number of emigrants from Emden to the village in northwestern Logan County, Illinois.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Emden is twinned with:

• London Borough of Hillingdon, England
• Archangelsk, Russia
• Prenzlau, Brandenburg

External links

• City homepage
• Kunsthalle Emden
• Johannes a Lasco Library
• Kickers Emden
• Chess
• Cruisers EMDEN, Frigates EMDEN - 5 warships named EMDEN until today (German language only)

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