The Artland lies in the North German district of

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

in the state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

and covers an area of around 180 km² that, today, includes the collective municipality of

Artland is a Japanese animation studio. It has produced numerous noted anime series, including the award-winning ''Mushishi'' and epic ''Legend of the Galactic Heroes''. It is also well known for producing the anime adaptation of '' Katekyō Hitman Re ...

(which in turn consist of the municipalities of

Quakenbrück Quakenbrück (Northern Low Saxon: ''Quokenbrügge'') is a town in the Osnabrück (district), district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hase. It is part of the ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") of Ar ...

Badbergen Badbergen is a municipality in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It lies on the River Hase The Hase is a long river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ems, but part of its flow goes to the Else, th ...

Menslage Menslage is a municipality in the Osnabrück (district), district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is part of the Samtgemeinde Artland (the "collective community" of Artland). References

Osnabrück (district) {{Osnabrück-ge ...

and

Nortrup Nortrup is a municipality in the Osnabrück (district), district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Mayor Leonhard Renze was elected in April 1993. He was the successor of Reinhold Gieseke. Renze was in office till 2016. Since 2016 Karl-Hei ...

) as well as the municipality of

Gehrde Gehrde is a municipality in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...

. When one refers to the Artland as a single landscape unit, it lies within an arc of

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

end moraine A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...

that today forms the

Damme Damme () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, six kilometres northeast of Brugge (Bruges). The municipality comprises the city of Damme proper and the villages of Hoeke, Lapscheure, Moerkerke, Oostkerke, S ...

and Bippen Hills. The Artland was never a political unit; its

church parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es did not belong to the same '' Ämter'' in the

Bishopric of Osnabrück In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. Rather it was economic, cultural and family ties that made the Artland a single entity. In the sparsely populated region today, between the

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

s, fields and hedge-covered embankments (''Wallhecken'') typical of North German

geest Geest is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outwash plai ...

land, bushes and copses, there are more than 700, often protected, isolated,

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

farms. The designation Artland for this countryside was first used in the year 1309.Kohnen: ''Die Herkunft des Namens Art-Land.'' In: Osnabrücker Land 1974, p. 49f.

History

After the end of the

the region of the present Artland became a vast

glacial meltwater Meltwater is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing. Meltwater can b ...

basin that was filled with alluvial sand by the local river, the

Hase The Hase is a long river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ems, but part of its flow goes to the Else, that is part of the Weser basin. Its source is in the Teutoburg Forest, south-east of Osnabrück, on the north slope ...

and its predecessor. This produced a rich farmland that has dominated the countryside for centuries up to the present day. The first record of name of this region as the ''Artland'' is in 1309. It continued to be used over the centuries but it never had a clear and permanent boundary. A prerequisite for the

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

independence of the Artland were its good

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...

al conditions and the highly fertile soil in the Quakenbrück Basin. The gentle gradient of the river Hase in the lowlands below

Bersenbrück Bersenbrück (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Bessenbrügge'') is a town in the Osnabrück (district), district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hase, approx. 30 km north of Osnabrück. Bersenbrück is the seat of ...

facilitated the deposition of fertile alluvial sands from the Osnabrück Upland, resulting in very fertile farmland. The higher-lying ''Esch'' terrain was improved by

fertilizing Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Proce ...

it with

plaggen Plaggen soil or plaggic anthrosol is a type of soil created in parts of northwest Europe in the Middle Ages, as a result of so-called "plaggen" agriculture on marginal podzol soils. In order to fertilize the fields, pieces of heath or grass includ ...

soils taken from the rich pastures. Alongside the keeping of

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

, which was the dominant form of farming throughout the

Osnabrück Land Osnabrück Land (german: Osnabrücker Land) is a region in southwest Lower Saxony in Germany, which extends into the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Its centre is the city of Osnabrück. The region is dominated by the Teutoburg Forest and the Ri ...

until the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

arable farming Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...

has always been carried out in the Artland which, in addition to

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...

and

rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

, also supported the more demanding and sought-after

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

crops. Nowadays, however, the cultivation of maize is pre-eminent, as it is in the rest of the Weser-Ems region. This fertile arable soil, which contrasted with that of the rest of the Osnabrück Land where there were often shortages of grain, led in the "Corn chamber of the Bishopric of Osnabrück" to the development of a wealthy, landed upper class with numerous individual farmsteads which, together with hedges, copses and oak groves (''Hofeichenkämpen''), resulted in a park-like countryside. The collective municipality of Artland, founded in 1972, covered Quakenbrück, Menslage and Badbergen, which represented only a part of the original heartland of the region, to which Gehrde also belonged and which, like Menslage, Quakenbrück and Badbergen, benefited from the fertile lowlands of the Hase river. Nortrup, by contrast, was not part of the Artland heartland. It first became politically and ecclesiastically independent of Ankum in the early 20th century, the first

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parish being founded in 1908. Even Ankum is often counted as part of the Artland ( Artland Cathedral), the village was however the centre point of the Farngau for centuries, to which Nortrup also belonged.

Gallery

File:KultArt Langen.JPG, Farmhouse in Langen File:KultArt Vehs.JPG, Farmhouse in Vehs File:KultArt Grönloh.JPG, Courtyard in Grönloh File:KultArt Lechterke.jpg, Courtyard in Lechterke File:KultArt Wulften 2.JPG, Knaggen on a farmhouse in Wulften File:KultArt Vehs 2.JPG, Hall of a farmhouse in Vehs File:KultArt Wulften.JPG, Farm garden in a courtyard in Wulften

Tourism

Not until the 1990s did the features of Artland culture and countryside begin slowly to appear. To support the economy and tourism of the region the Artland Economic Agency (''Wirtschaftsagentur Artland'', WAAL) and ''ARTour'' (Artland Touristik) were founded. Every year on the "Open Day" (

Tag des offenen Denkmals The Tag des offenen Denkmals (Day of Open Monuments) is an annual event all over Germany. The day of action has been coordinated by the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz since 1993. Historic monuments are open to the public free of charge. It takes ...

) (second weekend in September) many farms and other buildings in Artland may be visited. In Quakenbrück the 142-kilometre-long

holiday road "Holiday Road" is a 1983 single composed and recorded by American guitarist/singer Lindsey Buckingham. Written for the 1983 film ''National Lampoon's Vacation'', it was also used in the film's sequels National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), ...

, the Artland Route, begins and ends. The sights of the Artland may also be enjoyed on special cycleways, the Gable Tour (''Giebeltour''), the Art Tour (''Kunsttour'') and the Garden Tour (''Gartentour'').

Sport

The name of the Quakenbrück

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team is the

Artland Dragons QTSV Quakenbrück, representing its professional team as Artland Dragons, is a basketball club based in Quakenbrück, Germany. Their home arena was the Artland Arena, which has room for 3,000 spectators. From 2003 till 2015 the club played in the ...

, named after the characteristic - and unique to the Artland Region - tradition of dragon head carvings on oak house beams and old decorative furniture.

Literature

* Rolf Berner: ''Siedlungs-, Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte des Artlandes bis zum Ausgang des Mittelalters.'' Kreisheimatbund Bersenbrück, 1965. * Heinrich Böning, Heiko Bockstiegel: ''Das Artland im Bild. Badbergen, Menslage, Nortrup und Quakenbrück stellen sich vor''. Published by the Quakenbrück Municipal Museum. Thoben, Quakenbrück 2006, 144 pages, (text in German, English and French) * Hermann Dettmer: ''Volkstümliche Möbel aus dem Artland und den angrenzenden Gebieten''. 4 volumes (text, coloured photos, sketches, maps). Cloppenburg, Museumsdorf, 1982- 1998, series: Materialien zur Volkskultur nordwestliches Niedersachsen, ed. by Helmut Ottenjann. * Marie-Luise Hopf-Droste: ''Das bäuerliche Tagebuch. Fest und Alltag auf einem Artländer Bauernhof. 1873 - 1919''. Materialien zur Volkskultur nordwestliches Niedersachsen (Issue 3). Dissertation (University of Münster). 2nd edition, Schuster, Leer 1982, 203 pages. * Gudrun Kuhlmann: ''Das Artland und die Stadt Quakenbrück in ihrer historischen Entwicklung''. Isensee, Oldenburg, 2004, 430 pages., * Christoph Reinders-Düselder: ''Das Artland. Demographische, soziale und politisch-herrschaftliche Entwicklungen zwischen 1650 und 1850 in einer Region des Osnabrücker Nordlandes''. Materialien und Studien zur Alltagsgeschichte und Volkskultur Niedersachsens (Issue 32). Museumsdorf Cloppenburg, Cloppenburg, 2000, 238 pages., * Petra Reinken/Jutta Böning: ''Kulturschatz Artland.'' CulturCon, 2009. * Claudia und Christian Wüst: ''Das Artland. Kulturschatz im Nordwesten. Entdecken & erleben. Badbergen, Menslage, Nortrup, Stadt Quakenbrück. Reiseführer''. Artland Atelier, Quakenbrück, 2006, 130 pages., or

Film

* ''Artland''. From the series ''Landpartie - Im Norden unterwegs''. German television documentary by Achim Tacke with Heike Götz, NDR 2008, 90 minutes

References

External links

Cultural treasures of ArtlandThe Artland Cycle TourCoat of arms
{{coord missing, Lower Saxony Osnabrück (district) Regions of Lower Saxony