The formerly independent village of Wiegboldsbur ( East Frisian Frisio-Saxon: ''Wiebelsbur'') in

East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...

in North Germany has been part of the municipality of Südbrookmerland since the regional reform of 1972. Wiegboldsbur is a

ribbon development Ribbon development refers to the building of houses along the routes of communications radiating from a human settlement. The resulting linear settlements are clearly visible on land use maps and aerial photographs, giving cities and the countrysid ...

(''Reihensiedlung'') and lies on the Großes Meer about 10 km northwest of the sea port of

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

. The parish chair is Bernhard Behrends (SPD).

History

Wiegboldsbur is one of the oldest settlements in East Frisia. The name ''Wiboldesholte'' was mentioned in the abbey registers of

Werden Abbey Werden Abbey (german: Kloster Werden) was a Benedictine monastery in Essen-Werden (Germany), situated on the Ruhr. The foundation of the abbey Near Essen Saint Ludger founded a monastery in 799 and became its first abbot. The little church w ...

. Other old documents refer to the settlement as: ''Wilboldeswolde, Wibolduskeriken, Wibbodeshoff, Wiboldeshoff'' and ''Wibaldinga''. The name ''Wibelsburen'' is also found on a church baptismal vessel dating to the year 1496. In the ''Brokmerbrief'', a 13th-century law book for the ''Brocmanni'' tribe, i.e. the inhabitants of the area west of Aurich cultivated until the end of the 12th century, its says in the 218th section (''Küre''): ''"The Brok people pass this law: that there be no hired retinue within the parish of Wigboldsbur under penalty of 8 marks and forfeiture of the house."'' The ban on a hired retinue (''gedungenes Gefolge'' = mercenaries) implied that the parish of Wigboldsbur was a place under special protection. It can be presumed therefore that the court of

Brokmerland The Brokmerland is a landscape and an historic territory, located in western East Frisia, which covers the area in and around the present-day communities of Brookmerland and Südbrookmerland. The Brokmerland borders in the east on the Harlingerl ...

was located here. Because such courts were almost always located near churches, it is highly probable that justice was dispensed for the inhabitants of the Brokmerland in the immediate vicinity of the church. Today there is still a neck iron for the

pranger The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stoc ...

on the church wall.

Places of interest

The Wibadi Church was built around 1250 on a warf, an artificial dwelling hill, on foundations 1.15 m deep. A wooden church had previously stood on the same spot, but had burned down. The brick church belongs to the 7 "sending churches" (''Sendkirchen'') and therefore the oldest churches in the Brokmerland. The organ was built in 1818/19 by Wilhelm Eilert Schmid and has 8

stops Stop may refer to: Places *Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck dri ...

; it has been preserved almost in its original state. Since 1985 the old clock tower has once again had two church bells, after one had been melted down during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It is not known when the church was given its name or who ''Wibadus'' was. "Experience nature - understand nature" (''"Natur erleben - Natur verstehen"'') is the motto of

NABU Nabu ( akk, cuneiform: 𒀭𒀝 Nabû syr, ܢܵܒܼܘܼ\ܢܒܼܘܿ\ܢܵܒܼܘܿ Nāvū or Nvō or Nāvō) is the ancient Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom. Etymology and meaning The Akkadian "nab� ...

's educational farm at ''Woldenhof'' where, since 2002 school classes and youth groups have had the opportunity to experience for themselves, near-natural

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

on the East Frisian Gulf farmhouse, a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

from the year 1858. In the immediate neighbourhood of Woldenhof (''Wolde'' - East Frisian Frisio-Saxon for ''woel'' = "marsh") stands the Wiegboldsbur windmill, which is maintained by volunteers and may be seen every Friday afternoon free of charge. It is a three-storey tower mill (''Galerieholländer'') from 1812 with a

fantail Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as "f ...

and

spring sails Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails. Jib sails The jib sail is found in Mediterranean countries and consists of a simple triangle of cloth wound rou ...

(''Jalousieklappen'').

External links

Detailed article on Wiegboldsbur
(pdf file; 46 kB)

{{Coord, 53, 27, 16.40, N, 7, 20, 40.24, E, type:city_region:DE-NI, display=title Aurich (district) Towns and villages in East Frisia