Oost Friesland. Eastern-Friesland is a region in the far north west of Lower Saxony in Germany. It borders the WaddenZee in the north and the Dutch province Groningen in the west. There are also the East-Frisian Islands: Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Baltrum, Langeoog, Spiekeroog, Wangerooge, Lütje Hörn, Kachelotplate, Memmert, Minsener-Oldoog, Althe Mellum. The landscape is influenced by its proximity to the North Sea. The East Frisian Islands stretch for 90 kilometres along the coast. They offer dunes and sand beaches, though in their center they have grass and woods as well. The area between the islands and the coast is unique in the world: the tide leaves a broad stretch of mudflat with creeks that attract an extraordinary number of species, worms and crabs as well as birds or seals. For this reason, the UNESCO World Heritage Fund declared the Wadden Sea, which had already been a national park, a global heritage site Eastern Friesland has an area of 3142 km2 and more than 465,000 inhabitants (for comparison: the Dutch province of Friesland meet 3349 km² and has 645.000 inhabitants). The region is characterized by a landscape that is for Germany deviant, but for Dutch people fairly recognizable: flat with many meadows. The region has a turbulent history. In the early Middle Ages it belongs to residential area of Frisians from West-Friesland (the current province of North Holland) and the current Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen. In the 12th/13th century, Friesland consisted of small autonomous villages, without feudal domination. While in Friesland and Groningen self-appointed nobility controlled the area, in East-Friesland an early graves family (family Cirksena) brought the whole area among themselves. In 1464 Ulrich I was raised to the status of Count by Frederick III and East-Friesland became a county. A new situation was created with the appointment of George of Saxony as imperial stadtholder of Friesland by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. This appointment was the last attempt to unify all of Frisia under one ruler. Rebellions broke out, however, in Friesland and the Groninger Ommelanden. The conflict ended in 1517. After 1519 the Protestant Reformation made its way into East-Friesland. The power of the count was put under pressure in the 16th century, partially because of the Dutch Revolt. The city of Emden became a popular destination for Dutch Calvinists fleeing from religious persecution in the Netherlands. In 1602, count Enno attempted to drive out the Dutch with support from the Emperor and the Spanish king, but he was rebuffed. In a new treaty in 1603 he was forced to accept the Dutch occupation and religious consequences for an undetermined amount of time. The territory fell to Prussia in 1744. In 1807 it was annexed by France and added to the Kingdom of Holland as department East-Friesland. After France directly annexed the kingdom in 1810, the territory became part of the French Ems-Oriental department. In 1815 it was added to the Kingdom of Hannover. In present day it is part of the German state of Lower Saxony. The last count Charles Edzard died on May 25 1744 without children. The genuine language of East-Friesland was East Frisian which now is almost extinct, largely replaced by East Frisian Low Saxon. Today a modern variant of East Frisian can be found in the Saterland, a district near East-Friesland. In former times people from East-Friesland who left their homes under pressure had settled in that remote area surrounded by moors and kept their inherited language alive. This language which forms the smallest language-island in Europe is called Saterland Frisian or, by its own name, Seeltersk. It is spoken by about 1000 people. Eastern Friesland Low is a variant of Low German with many of its own features due to the Frisian substrate and some other influences originating in the varied history of East-Friesland. It is similar to the Gronings dialect spoken in the adjacent Netherlands province of Groningen. East-Friesland is noted for its consumption of tea (10 times higher as the rest of Germany) and its tea culture. Strong black tea is served whenever there are visitors to an East-Friesland home or other gathering, as well as with breakfast, mid-afternoon, and mid-evening. Tea is sweetened with kluntjes, a rock candy sugar that melts slowly, allowing multiple cups to be sweetened. Heavy cream is also used to flavour the tea. The tea is generally served in traditional small cups, with little cookies during the week and cake during special occasions or on weekends as a special treat. Brown rum, mixed with kluntjes and left for several months, is also added to black tea in the winter. The tea is alleged to cure headaches, stomach problems, and stress, among many other ailments. Another regional beverage is the “Kruiden”, a herbal bitter of 32% whichs almost applies as a medicine. Just like the East-Frisian language the kitchen also looks very similar to the Dutch. A speciality is for example kale stew. However not with potatoes like the Dutch one, but with onions, oat groats and bacon. Other dishes are Mehlpütt/Puffert (dough balls), white cabbage and kohlrabi stew. Sniertjebraa (with roast meat) and different soups like bean soup, plum soup and potato soup. Well-known East_Frisian sports are Boßeln (ball shooting), fierljeppen (far-leaping) and schaatsen (ice skating). Around 1900, many people left East-Friesland due to lack of jobs and emigrated to the United States or elsewhere. Today the region is again suffering from the loss of young educated people, who go away to find better employment in, for example, southern Germany.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 22:40:57 +0000