Dinklage

Dinklage is a town in the district of Vechta, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 13 km southwest of Vechta, and 45 km north of Osnabrück.HistoryDinklage Castle was built by the counts of the Dersagau of Calvelage around 980; the name Dinklage was first officially recorded in 1231 . In 1080, the castle was given to the Herren von Dinklage, who became the noble family of Dincklage. They tried to establish their own rule in 1372, but were defeated by the bishop of Münster and the castle was destroyed.After the lords of Dinklage lost influence, the reconstructed castle was bought in 1667 by Christoph Bernhard, Graf von Galen, who was bishop of Münster at that time. In 1826, Matthias, Graf von Galen signed a contract which made Dinklage, which had formally belonged to the diocese of Münster, a part of the Großherzogtum . The lands of the diocese had been secularized after the war against Napoleon.The name "Dinklage" comes from the Old Norse word "thing", which means a place of assembly such as for a parliament or a judicial court. The name is as old as the office of "Gaugraf" ; "Gaugrafen" were local counts who exercised jurisdiction over a district, ruling from an assembly called a "Thing", that traditionally met under a linden tree. The name "Thinclage" appears in a document dated 1231. With the loss of the "th" sound in German, the spelling changed over the years to "Dinclage", and finally to "Dinklage".