Lohne (Oldenburg) (Northern Low Saxon: Lohn) is a town in the district of Vechta, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located approximately 8 km south-west of Vechta. The town lies on the A1 freeway between Bremen and Osnabrück.

Lohne (Oldenburg)
Churches of Saint Gertrud (left) and Saint Joseph (right)
Churches of Saint Gertrud (left) and Saint Joseph (right)
Coat of arms of Lohne (Oldenburg)
Location of Lohne (Oldenburg) within Vechta district
North Rhine-WestphaliaCloppenburg (district)Diepholz (district)Oldenburg (district)Osnabrück (district)BakumDamme (Dümmer)DinklageGoldenstedtHoldorfLohneNeuenkirchen-VördenSteinfeldVechtaVisbek
Lohne (Oldenburg) is located in Germany
Lohne (Oldenburg)
Lohne (Oldenburg)
Lohne (Oldenburg) is located in Lower Saxony
Lohne (Oldenburg)
Lohne (Oldenburg)
Coordinates: 52°40′0″N 08°14′19″E / 52.66667°N 8.23861°E / 52.66667; 8.23861
CountryGermany
StateLower Saxony
DistrictVechta
Subdivisions19 districts
Government
 • MayorHenrike Voet (CDU)
Area
 • Total90.78 km2 (35.05 sq mi)
Elevation
44 m (144 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[1]
 • Total27,814
 • Density310/km2 (790/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
49393
Dialling codes04442
Vehicle registrationVEC
Websitewww.lohne.de

Geography

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Geographical position

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Lohne lies in the Oldenburg Münsterland between Oldenburg to the north and Osnabrück to the south. Through the city goes the Weser-Ems-watershed from north to south. In the east is the catchment area of the Hunte and in the west the catchment area of the Hase, which lies on a Geest, part of the Dammer Berge.

To the east of Lohne lies the Großes Moor, a raised bog. To the west lies the "Dinklager Becken", a great lowland. Drainage occurs by the rivulets "Hopener Mühlenbach" and "Bokerner Bach" into the Hase and "Dadau" into the Hunte.

In the east, next to the "Großes Moor" lie two more raised bogs, the "Brägeler Moor" and the "Südlohner Moor". The "Südlohner Moor" is a protected landscape.[2][3] A small part of the "Steinfelder Moor" is protected too.[4] It lies in Kroge-Ehrendorf, south of the federal road B214.

Districts

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  • Bokern
  • Brägel
  • Brettberg
  • Brockdorf
  • Hamberg
  • Hopen
  • Krimpenfort
  • Kroge-Ehrendorf
  • Lerchental
  • Lohnerwiesen
  • Märschendorf
  • Meyerfelde
  • Moorkamp
  • Mühlenkamp
  • Nordlohne
  • Rießel
  • Schellohne
  • Südlohne
  • Voßberg
  • Vulhop
  • Wichel
  • Zentrum
  • Zerhusen

Neighbourship of Lohne

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The neighbourship of Lohne, clockwise, start in the north:

Bakum (9 km) Vechta (8 km) Barnstorf (18 km)
Dinklage (8 km)   Drebber (13 km)
Holdorf (11 km) Steinfeld (9 km) Diepholz (12 km)

The distance is town center to town center.

Twin towns – sister cities

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Lohne is twinned with:[5]

Economy

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As a "city of special industries", Lohne has also made a name for itself nationwide. As early as 1900, Lohne had an injection moulding factory, a machine factory, two paintbrush and one brush factories, a mechanical weaving mill, a sausage factory, several brickworks including cement industry, a peat factory, a cardboard packaging factory and a large number of other production facilities. Lohne's industry was characterized less by size than by its specialization. Since the 1950s, the plastics industry has been the mainstay of the Lohner economy. Today, metalworking companies, machinery and equipment manufacturers, packaging and cartonboard companies, cork manufacturers, as well as the food industry, agriculture and the construction trades ensure that there is a wide variety of industries in Lohne.

The fact that Lohne, as a middle center, is in the same order as the middle center of Vechta, the capital of the district, is shown by the fact, that most of the professional schools in the district are located in Lohne.

Every Thursday and Saturday there is a weekly market on the "Alter Markt", occasionally also on the "Rixheimer Platz".

Plastic industries

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Established plastic industries in Lohne are:

  • ATKA Kunststoffverarbeitung
  • delo Dettmer-Verpackungen
  • Franz Henke Kunststoffwerk & Werkzeugbau
  • Kronen-Hansa-Werk
  • Nowack
  • Polytec Rießelmann
  • Pöppelmann
  • RPC Bramlage

Other companies

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Lohne has a wide range of small, medium and large companies. These are for example:

  • EnviTec Biogas AG (producer for biogas plants)
  • PHW Group (biggest German poultry farmer and producer)
  • Würth

Transport

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Lohne lies on the A1 freeway (European route E 37) between Bremen and Osnabrück. It can be reached via the exit Lohne / Dinklage.

The train station lies on the Delmenhorst–Hesepe railway, which is operated by the NordWestBahn. Trains run every hour as RB 58 to Osnabrück and Bremen. Until 1999, a Lohne-Dinklage narrow-gauge railway was in operation; passenger transport ended in 1954. Meanwhile, most of the tracks have been converted into a bike path. In November 2013, the call bus system "Moobilplus Vechta" was put into operation in the district of Vechta, in which Lohne is involved. Every hour a bus operates between Dinklage, Lohne and the Lohner municipality Märschendorf.

Other buses run, including "Weser-Ems-Buses", for example to Damme and Diepholz.

From the 1920s there were plans to build a channel called "Hansakanal". It would pass through the middle of Lohne, and would connect the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region with the seaports of Bremen and Hamburg. In 1950 the plan was finally abandoned.

The nearest international airports are Bremen Airport (80 km north) and Münster Osnabrück Airport (80 km south).

Lohne has a fast charging station from Tesla, the Tesla Supercharger.

Population development

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Year 1933 1939 1950 1977 1980 1990 2005 2008 2013 2016 2017
Residents 7.611 8.254 11.993 18.211 19.194 20.219 26.053 26.499 27.127 28,157 28,513

Religion

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Denominational Statistics

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According to the 2011 Census, 67.6% of the population were Roman Catholic, 15.8% were Evangelical, and 16.7% were either non-religious, belonged to other religious communities, or did not specify their affiliation.[6] In early 2022, 55.7% of the residents were Catholic, 13.4% were Evangelical, and 30.9% were non-religious or belonged to other faith communities.[7] In early 2023, 53.7% of the people in Lohne were Catholic, and 13% were Evangelical.[8] Other religions and non-religious individuals together accounted for 33%.

The number of Protestants and Catholics has decreased during the observed period.

Catholic Churches

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Lohne and its districts have the following Catholic churches:

 
Catholic churches St. Gertrud (left) and St. Josef (right), viewed from the observation tower
  • Parish Church St. Gertrud, the namesake of the corresponding church community
  • Filial Church St. Josef
  • Filial Church St. Maria-Goretti (Brockdorf)
  • Pilgrimage and Chapel of Grace St. Anna Klus
  • Filial Church Herz Jesu (Kroge/Ehrendorf)
  • Chapel Rießel

Evangelical Churches

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Catholic Cemetery and Evangelical Church St. Michael
  • St. Michael's Church, the namesake of the corresponding church community[9]

Mosques

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Culture and sights

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Theatre

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  • Freilichtbühne Lohne
  • Musical AG of the Lohner high school
  • Theatregroup of the Schützenverein Bokern-Märschendorf
  • Theaterring Lohne e. V.

Notable places

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  • Lohne Museum of Industry (opened in March 2000)
  • St.-Gertrud-Church with impressive high altar
  • St.-Anna-Klus (pilgrimage church) with healing spring
  • "Patoratsmühle" (historical water mill at the city park)[11]
  • Windmill „Elbers Mühle“[12]
  • Outlook tower at the forest park[13]
  • Moated castle Hopen
  • Urban Villas (Villa Clodius, Villa Taphorn, Villa Trenkamp, Villa Trenkamp and Bohmann, Haus Uptmoor)

Outdoor artwork

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  • Bronze sculpture „Gänseliesel“ (Hans-Gerd Ruwe, 1978)
  • Bronze sculpture „Begegnung“ (Holger Voigts, 1986)
  • Fountain sculpture „EGOLOHNE 88“ (Jürgen Goertz, 1988)
  • Bronze sculpture „Mantelmadonna“ (Judith von Eßen, 1991)
  • Acacia wood sculpture „Gestern – Heute – Morgen“ (Jacques Muhlenbach, 1992)
  • Dimension stone sculpture „Zwei Stühle-Thron“ (Rudolf Kaiser, 1992)
  • Diabase sculpture „Lohner Wasserstein“ (Wolf Bröll, 1992)
  • Bronze fountain sculpture „Das tapfere Schneiderlein“ (Bernhard Kleinhans, 1992)
  • Clay sculpture „Befreite Formen“ and marble sculpture „Magisches Quadrat“ (Wolfgang Roßdeutscher, 1992 and 1993)
  • Bronze sculpture „Disput“ (Bernd Altenstein, 2009)
  • Steel sculpture „Jede Menge Leute“ (Werner Berges, 2012)
  • Steel sculpture at the „Lohneum“ (Alfred Bullermann, 2018)[14]
  • other sculptures throughout the city

1992 Lohne organized a Sculptor symposium. Many sculptures in Lohne are the result of it.

In the area of the town are more than 100 Wayside crosses.

Notable people

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Honorary citizens

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Honorary citizenship is the highest honour Lohne has to offer. Only three citizens have received this award:

  • Helmut Göttke-Krogmann (1919–2008), former voluntary mayor (1972–1991)
  • Hans Diekmann (born 1938), former voluntary mayor (1991–2001)
  • Hans-Georg Niesel (born 1944), former town director (1979–2001) and full-time mayor (2001–2011)

Politics

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City council

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CDU 22 seats
SPD 6 seats
AFD 1 seat
Ratsgruppe LOHNER 2 seat
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen 2 seat
Die Linke 1 seat
Independent 1 seat

(as of 11 November 2016)

 
Mayor Tobias Gerdesmeyer

By German law, cities between 25,001 and 30,000 citizens must have 36 councillors (German Stadträte), Lohne has only 35. The party AFD won 2 seats for council, but only one candidate on their ticket. The 2nd seat was withdrawn. The legislative period is 5 years.

Mayor

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In 2011, Tobias Gerdesmeyer was elected as mayor (CDU). He was common representative for the mayor (2008–11) before he succeeded Hans Georg Niesel (mayor 2001–2011) as mayor.

Coat of arms

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On 3 January 1912, the grand duke of Oldenburg granted the coat of arms. The shield is divided into four quarters (party per quarterly). The upper left quarter shows gold and red fesses, the lower right quarter shows a golden cross on blue ground. They are the same as in the coat of arms of the grand duke. The upper right quarter shows a church on white ground. It displays the modest character of Lohne in union with the Catholic Church. The lower left square shows a wing on a crown. The crown is symbolic of wage and price of the bourgeois activity (Lohn und Preis der bürgerlichen Regsamkeit). The wing is symbolic of the significant feather industry in Lohne in the early 19th century.

References

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  1. ^ "LSN-Online Regionaldatenbank, Tabelle A100001G: Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes, Stand 31. Dezember 2022" (in German). Landesamt für Statistik Niedersachsen.
  2. ^ Landkreis Vechta: Übersicht der Naturschutzgebiete. Stand: 1. Januar 2009 Summary of protected landscapes (german)
  3. ^ Niedersächsischer Landesbetrieb für Wasserwirtschaft, Küsten- und Naturschutz: Naturschutzgebiet „Südlohner Moor“ Description of the protected landscape "Südlohner Moor" (german)
  4. ^ Niedersächsischer Landesbetrieb für Wasserwirtschaft, Küsten- und Naturschutz: Naturschutzgebiet „Steinfelder Moor“ Description of the protected landscape "Steinfelder Moor" (german)
  5. ^ "Partnerstädte" (in German). Lohne (Oldenburg). Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  6. ^ Stadt Lohne (Oldenburg) Religion, 2011 Census
  7. ^ Stadt Lohne Statistics 2022 Page 2, retrieved on April 4, 2022
  8. ^ 30000 Residents, retrieved on July 6, 2023
  9. ^ St. Michael Church Page of the church community. Retrieved on September 17, 2019.
  10. ^ Islamic Cultural Association Lohne e. V. Page of the cultural association. Retrieved on September 17, 2019.
  11. ^ Franz-Josef Tegenkamp: Mühlen in Lohne. In: Jahrbuch für das Oldenburger Münsterland 1989. Vechta 1988, p. 247–267
  12. ^ Mühlenvereinigung Niedersachsen-Bremen e.V Windühle „Moorkamper Mühle“, Lohne description of the windmill (german)
  13. ^ outlook tower at the forest park Website Nordkreis Vechta (german)
  14. ^ Sechs-Meter-Skulptur schmückt den Eingang der Mehrzweckhalle Nord-West-Zeitung 1. June 2018 (german)
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