Friesland is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

(''Landkreis'') in

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 ...

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, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is bounded by (from the southeast and clockwise) the districts of Wesermarsch,

Ammerland Ammerland is a districts of Germany, district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the city of Oldenburg (city), Oldenburg and the districts of Oldenburg (district), Oldenburg, Cloppenburg (district), Cloppen ...

, Leer and

Wittmund Wittmund is a town and capital of the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Wittmund is a town of 21,000 inhabitants located in Germany's historic coastal district of East Frisia, between the towns of Aurich and Jever. The ...

, and by the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

. The city of

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...

is enclosed by—but not part of—the district.

History

The Frisian region was ruled by local chieftains until the 15th century; see East Frisia for details. In 1438 in the northern part of today's Landkreis Friesland the Lordship of Jever was founded. East Frisia was from then on regarded as a hostile territory, and many skirmishes between Jever and East Frisia took place during the 15th and 16th centuries. The last ruler of Jever was Mary of Jever, who ruled until 1575. After her death Jever became a part of Oldenburg, but East Frisia made a claim for the territory as well. In the following decades East Frisia tried to block all roads between Jever and Oldenburg. It was not before the 17th century that the hostilities between East Frisia and Oldenburg ended. From 1667 to 1793 Jever was an exclave of

Anhalt-Zerbst Anhalt-Zerbst was a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts Potsdam-Mittelmark (Brandenburg) and Wittenberg, the city of Dessau and the districts of Köthen, Schönebeck and Jerichower ...

, and after Napoleonic occupation the westernmost exclave of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. In 1818 Jever became a part of Oldenburg again. The southern part of today's District of Friesland is the "Friesische Wehde" ("Frisian Woods"), which also was most of the time part of Oldenburg. This region later formed the District of Varel. The District was established in 1933 by merging the former districts of Jever and Varel under the name of "Friesland". In 1977 it was dissolved and divided between the neighbouring districts of

and

. The dissolution was declared unconstitutional in 1979 because it violated the rights of the former State of Oldenburg, and the District was re-established in its old boundaries in 1980. Friesland is also a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in the northwest of the Netherlands.

Geography

In the east the district is bounded by the

Jade Bight The Jade Bight (or ''Jade Bay''; german: Jadebusen) is a bight or bay on the North Sea coast of Germany. It was formerly known simply as ''Jade'' or ''Jahde''. Because of the very low input of freshwater, it is classified as a bay rather than an ...

, a shallow bay of the North Sea. The island of

Wangerooge Wangerooge is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea located close to the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. It is also a municipality in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany. Wangerooge is one of the East F ...

, one of the

East Frisian Islands The East Frisian Islands (German: ''Ostfriesische Inseln'', West Frisian: ''Eastfryske eilannen'', stq, Aastefräiske Ailounds) are a chain of islands in the North Sea, off the coast of East Frisia in Lower Saxony, Germany. The islands extend f ...

, is a part of Friesland. The inhabitants of Friesland insist that they are not a part of East Frisia. This is somewhat confusing, since Friesland is situated east of East Frisia, and geographers regard Friesland as a part of that region. The distinction has historical reasons: Friesland was an independent state from 1438 to 1575 (see above for details). Then and afterwards the region bore the name "Friesland", although this is also the German name for the entire Frisia. Part of the District is in the

Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park The Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park (german: Nationalpark Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer) was established in 1986 and embraces the East Frisian Islands, mudflats and salt marshes between the Bay of Dollart on the border with the Netherlands ...

Coat of arms

The lion is from the arms of the chieftains of Jever; it was the symbol of the Lordship of Jever. The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...

of the arms is: "Azure, a lion rampant Or, armed and langued Gules, and in chief two

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

History

Geography

Coat of arms

Cities and municipalities

References

External links