The history of East Frisia developed rather independently from the rest of Germany because the region was relatively isolated for centuries by large stretches of bog to the south, while at the same time its people were oriented towards the

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

. Thus in East FrisiaThis article focusses on the historic region of East Frisia, which today comprises the town of Emden as well as the counties of Aurich, Leer and Wittmund; see the definition of the East Frisian landscape
Statute of the East Frisian Landscape
Article I (Principles), Paragraph 2: "East Frisia includes the municipalities of Aurich, Leer and Wittmund as well as town of Emden." in the Middle Ages there was little

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

, instead a system of fellowship under the so-called

Friesian Freedom Frisian freedom ( fy, Fryske frijheid; ; ) was the absence of feudalism and serfdom in Frisia, the area that was originally inhabited by the Frisians. Historical Frisia included the modern provinces of Friesland and Groningen, and the area of We ...

emerged. It was not until 1464, that the House of

Cirksena The House of Cirksena () was the name of the ruling family of East Frisia, Ostfriesland. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel. East Frisia In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, t ...

was

enfeoffed In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...

with the Imperial County of East Frisia. Nevertheless absolutism had been, and continued to be, unknown in East Frisia. In the two centuries after about 1500, the influence of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

is discernable - politically, economically and culturally. In 1744, the county lost its independence within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

and became part 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 ...

. Following the

Vienna Congress The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

of 1815, it was transferred to the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Ha ...

, in 1866 it went back to Prussia and, from 1946, it has been part of 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 ...

. Also prominent in East Frisia's history is its centuries old struggle against flooding 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 ...

. Man began to settle in the lowlands on the coast around the year 1000 A.D., laying out

warft A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides an ...

s and dykes as protection against flooding. However, the land was repeatedly devastated by storm surges that led to the dykes being breached, widespread flooding and loss of land. Advances in agriculture may be seen in the improved melioration of

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

land and the systematic

reclamation Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back". It may refer to: * Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds * Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid ...

of the bogs (from 1633). Trade, especially maritime trade, has played an important role at almost all periods of history. Thus the town of Emden was one of the leading ports in Europe by around 1600, and at the same time developed into a stronghold of

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

. Agriculture and fishing have been the most important sectors of industry for centuries and industrialization took place relatively late.

References

Literature

* Jan Wybren Buma (ed.): ''Die Brokmer Rechtshandschriften''. Nijhoff, The Hague, 1949 (Oudfriese Taal- en Rechtsbronnen 5). * Karl Cramer, ''Die Geschichte Ostfrieslands – Ein Überblick.'' Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg, 2003, . * Walter Deeters: ''Kleine Geschichte Ostfrieslands''. Verlag Schuster, Leer, 1992, . * ''Geschichte des Rheiderlandes''. Risius, Weener, 2006ff. * Heiko Heikes, ''Die Ukena''. In: ''Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst und vaterländische Altertümer zu Emden''. Vol. 34, 1954, , pp. 15–52. * Onno Klopp: ''Geschichte Ostfrieslands''. 3 vols. Rümpler, Hanover, 1854–1858. * Hajo van Lengen: ''Bauernfreiheit und Häuptlingsherrschaft''. In: Karl-Ernst Behre / Hajo van Lengen: ''Ostfriesland. Geschichte und Gestalt einer Kulturlandschaft''. Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich, 1995, , pp. 113–134. * Hajo van Lengen (ed.): ''Die Friesische Freiheit des Mittelalters – Leben und Legende''. Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich, 2003, . * Almuth Salomon: ''Friesische Geschichtsbilder, Historisches Ereignis und kollektives Gedächtnis im mittelalterlichen Friesland''. Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Aurich, 2000, (Abhandlungen und Vorträge zur Geschichte Ostfrieslands, Vol. 78). * Heinrich Tjaden: ''Illustrierte Ostfriesische Geschichte''. Verlag Schwalbe, Emden, 1913 (with a map of the Rheiderland before it was flooded).

External links

{{Wikisource, Ostfriesland, East Frisia
Biographical Lexicon for East Frisia
* Other information on the history o
East Frisia
a
Monuments Online
* Ernst Friedländer, Ostfriesisches Urkundenbuch, Vols. I and I
digitalised
Kingdom of Hanover Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle