Neuenhaus

Neuenhaus is a town in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony, and is the seat of a like-named collective municipality Neuenhaus. Neuenhaus lies on the river Vechte near the border with the Netherlands and is roughly 10 km northwest of Nordhorn, and 30 km north of Enschede.HistoryNeuenhaus was founded in 1317 on the trade road between Münster and Amsterdam by Bentheim’s Count Johannes II, who also had a castle built for its security. The quickly growing new town was granted town rights in 1369. The town had at its disposal an Amt court and other authorities that were moved to the district seat of Nordhorn after the Second World War. Today’s town of Neuenhaus was enlarged in 1970 through the amalgamation of the formerly autonomous communities of Grasdorf, Hilten and Veldhausen, the last of which had already existed as early as the 10th century. By building two weirs on the Vechte and another on the river Dinkel, the flooding that had so often beset Neuenhaus in earlier years was brought under control.The main street through Neuenhaus’s inner town has been dismantled since 2005 after a southwest bypass was built around the town.