Papenburg

Papenburg is a city in the district of Emsland in Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners.GeographyDistrictsPapenburg is subdivided into 6 urban districts, Papenburg-Untenende, Papenburg-Obenende, Herbrum, Tunxdorf-Nenndorf, Aschendorf and Bokel.HistoryIn the "Chronicle of the Frisians", written in the 16th century by the East-Frisian council Eggerik Benninga, the Papenburg is mentioned for the first time. In 1458, Hayo von Haren, called "von der Papenburch", confessed to be leaned with the Papenburg. The contract that was made because of this is the earliest verifiably documented mention of Papenburg.On 2 December 1630, the district administrator Dietrich von Velen purchased the manor for 1500 Reichsthaler from Friedrich von Schwarzenberg in order to found a settlement in the fen-surrounded region.On 4 April 1631, Bishop Ferdinand von Münster leased the then castle and manor Papenburg to Dietrich von Velen. This is considered to be the foundation of the city of Papenburg.From 1933 to 1945 a series of 15 moorland labor, punitive and POWs-camps were active in the districts of Emsland and Bentheim. The central administration was set in Papenburg where now a memorial of these camps, the Dokumentations- und Informationszentrum Emslandlager, is located.