Oldenburg Land (german: Oldenburger Land) is a region and regional association in the German 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 ...

in the area of the former

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (, also known as Holstein-Oldenburg) was a grand duchy within the German Confederation, North German Confederation and German Empire that consisted of three widely separated territories: Oldenburg, Eutin and Birk ...

(1815–1918), the later Free State of Oldenburg (1918–1946) and administrative district of Oldenburg (1946 to 1978), without its exclaves, along the rivers Hunte and

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 s ...

. In the region between Waterkant,

Dümmer The Dümmer () or officially Dümmer See is a large lake in southern Lower Saxony (Germany). It has a surface of 13.5 km2 and an average depth of one metre. Its elevation is 37 metres. Dümmer is a popular resort for water sports, but a ...

and Damme Hills some of the population still speak

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle ...

today and, in

Saterland Saterland (; Saterland Frisian: , ) is a municipality in the district of Cloppenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated between the cities of Leer, Cloppenburg, and Oldenburg. It is home to Saterland Frisians, who speak Frisian in add ...

also Saterland Frisian. The region is rich in old Lower Saxon customs such as ''

Schützenfest A Schützenfest (, '' marksmen's festival'') is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. At a Schützenfest, contestants compete based on their shootin ...

s'' or '' Kohlfahrten''. Typical country sports include '' Klootschießen'' and '' Boßeln''. The mainly Catholic southern part of the Oldenburg Land is known as

Oldenburg Münsterland The Oldenburg Münsterland, otherwise called Oldenburger Münsterland or Oldenburgisches Münsterland, is a region in Lower Saxony, Germany and the administrative area that comprises the federal districts of Cloppenburg and Vechta. Unofficiall ...

, the mainly Lutheran northern part is known as Oldenburg Land (''Old Oldenburg'') in its narrower sense. In terms of Germany's modern administrative

districts 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

, Oldenburg Land roughly corresponds to Ammerland, Cloppenburg, Delmenhorst,

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, Oldenburg (rural), Oldenburg (urban), Vechta,

Wesermarsch Wesermarsch is a '' Kreis'' (district) in the northwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. Neighboring are (from the east clockwise) the districts of Cuxhaven and Osterholz, the city of Bremen in the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, the urban ...

, and Wilhelmshaven. These 9 districts have a combined population of about 1.1 million (per the end of 2016) and an area of about 5,700 km2 (2,200 mi2). The borders of the Oldenburg Land are still clear today from the boundaries of institutions such the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg) is a Lutheran church in the German state of Lower Saxony. The seat of the church leaders is in Oldenburg, as is the preaching venue of its bishop at St ...

, the ''Offizialatsbezirk Vechta'' of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Münster The Diocese of Münster is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany.

and the ''Landessparkasse zu Oldenburg''.

Towns and villages

The largest towns, apart from the former state and district capital of Oldenburg with about 160,000 inhabitants are Wilhelmshaven (~ 83,000) and Delmenhorst (~75,000). Other large towns include:

Sources

*Gerhard Wietek: ''Oldenburger Land'' (Deutsche Lande – Deutsche Kunst). 2. Auflage, München/Berlin 1974 {{coord missing, Lower Saxony Geography of Oldenburg Regions of Lower Saxony