Greetsiel is a small

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

on the bight of Leybucht in western

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

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, that was first documented in letters from the year 1388. Since 1972, Greetsiel has been part of the municipality of Krummhörn, which has its administrative seat in Pewsum. The nearest railway station is at

Emden Emden () is an Independent city (Germany), independent town and seaport in Lower Saxony in the north-west of Germany and lies on the River Ems (river), Ems, close to the Germany–Netherlands border, Netherlands border. It is the main town in t ...

, about away, and the two towns are linked by a bus service. Although originally just a small but picturesque fishing village, Greetsiel has become a major tourist attraction. In December 2006, it had 1,534 inhabitants, but the number of people living in the village significantly increases during the summer months and over the Christmas holidays.

Geography

Greetsiel is situated on the Leybucht, a small bay on the East Frisian coast. Over time, large parts of the bay were reclaimed behind dykes, so that Greetsiel is the only port in the bay today. In the 1990s, the ''Leybuchthörn'' was completed. This structure extends as a spit out into the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( ; ; or ; ; ; ) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of low-lying Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tida ...

. Within the ''Leybuchthörn'' is a reservoir and the approach channel from the North Sea into Greetsiel Harbour (''Greetsieler Hafen''). Between the port and the open sea is a lock. Since the completion of the structure, Greetsiel Harbour has been accessible from the sea, irrespective of the

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

. The distance to the nearest towns of

and Norden is to the north and south respectively.

History

Greetsiel is first mentioned in the records in letters dating to the year 1388 ( Ocko I tom Brok). At that time,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

s lay at

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

in the port of Greetsiel and had to pay

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

s. The place was founded by the Domain of Appingen under the chiefs of

Cirksena The House of Cirksena was the ruling family of East Frisia (). 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, the town of Emden was first ...

. While Appingen increasingly lost its importance, Greetsiel became the seat of the chief. In 1462 Count Edzard the Great was born at the Cirksenaburg; under his rule East Frisia extended from the River Weser as far as

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. In 1547 Ubbo Emmius was born here. On old Dutch maps the town is marked as ''Grietjezijl''. In creating the municipality of Krummhörn in 1972, a debate erupted over whether the administrative headquarters should be Pewsum or Greetsiel. Because Greetsiel was a more isolated location, Pewsum was preferred.

Culture and points of interest

Buildings

Of all the East Frisian ''Siel'' villages (a ''Siel'' is a sluice in a dyke), Greetsiel has the best preserved old fishermen's cottages. In its picturesque fishing harbour there are still 28 shrimp cutters (''Krabbenkutter''). Other notable buildings are: *'' Greetsiel Church'', an Evangelical Reformed church. The rectangular,

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

aisleless church An aisleless church () is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways on either side of the nave and separated from the nave by col ...

(''Saalkirche'') was built between 1380 and 1410 as the private church of the chief, Haro Edzardsna, in two stages. In 1401, long before its final completion, it was to be consecrated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. The building is crowned by a small flèche (''Dachreiter'') decorated with a clock. This is adorned by a 1730 weather vane in the shape of a ship. The actual clock tower stands off to one side. The simple interior, which at one time had a flat ceiling, has been covered by a slightly vaulted wooden ceiling since 1852. The

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

was completely renovated in 1963, but its

case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

is from 1738; the pulpit, however, had already been made in 1669. *''Steinhaus'', the former seat of the Cirksena family. The brick building at the end of the high street (''Hohe Straße'') was built about 1600 on the foundations of a previous building erected around 1390. In the interior the original hall has been restored in the course of renovation work. *''Houses''. Among the most famous photographic motifs in Greetsiel is the row of houses on ''Sielstraße'' flanking the harbour. The houses at ''No. 11'' and ''No. 15'', with their bell-shaped gables based on Dutch designs, are particularly striking. While the former is dated 1741, No. 15 was built in 1792. The ''Poppingas Old Bakery'' (''Poppingas Alte Bäckerei''), No. 21, from the 19th century is also found on ''Sielstraße'' and is used now as a museum, cafe and gallery; its interior has been preserved unchanged. Near the church is the so-called High House (''Hohes Haus'') at 1, ''Hohe Straße'', a two-storey, sideways-on, brick building, which once served as the seat of the treasurer or ''Rentmeister''. According to the

anchor plate An anchor plate, floor plate or wall washer is a large plate or washer (hardware), washer connected to a tie rod or Screw, bolt. Anchor plates are used on exterior walls of masonry buildings, for structural reinforcement against lateral bowing. ...

on the gable it dates to "1696", but is thought to have already been in decline by the middle of the 16th century. Today the building, whose street façade is covered with an ashlar facing, houses a hotel. The ''Amtmannshaus'' on ''Neuer Deich'' is probably from the same period, but was extensively renovated during the 19th century. In the latest renovation the exterior appearance of the house and its associated Gulf barn was changed significantly by the addition of modern dormers. In ''Mühlenstraße'' is ''Haus von Halem'', built in 1794 and one of the most important residential examples of

neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...

in East Frisia. The two-storey brick building with a

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including Tented roof, tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other ve ...

is divided by a huge

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

. The portal has a richly carved

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

s in the late

rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style.

Windmills

The twin windmills () of Greetsiel-West date from 1856 (green) and Greetsiel-Ost from 1706 (red, renovated in 1921 with parts of

Aurich Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', ) is a town in the East Frisian region of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Aurich and is the second largest City in East Frisia, both in popula ...

's ''Wallmühle'' mill of 1750). They are smock mills ().

Other places of interest

Other places of interest include the scoop wheel, the old ''Siel'' (1798), the new ''Siel'' (1887) and the Pilsum Lighthouse. Greetsiel also hosts the largest ship-in-a-bottle museum in Germany and Europe, with about 800 examples. Of all the places in the municipality of Krummhörn, Greetsiel has the highest influx of tourists.

Regular events

An annual painting and art exhibition, known as Greetsiel Week (
Greetsieler Woche
'), is of national prominence. It has been running for more than 30 years and exhibits a range of works including art, ceramics, goldsmiths' products and sculptures. Every two years, the

Imke Folkerts Prize for Fine Arts The Imke Folkerts Prize is a competition for artworks (genres: painting, graphic art, photography and/or sculpture). The Prize consists of 10,000 euros and a special exposition of the short-listed artworks within the Greetsiel Week (''Greetsieler ...

, worth 10,000 euros, is awarded at the event. Qualifying entries include works in the fields of art, graphics, photography and sculpture. There are also regular exhibitions in Greetsiel's twin windmills. Every year in mid-summer is the boat parade in which the majority of Greetsiel's cutters take part. The crews take guests on a roughly four-hour boat trip. The port also hosts a supporting programme of events with music and shrimp-shelling competitions.greetsiel.de: ''Kutterkorso''
, accessed on 2 June 2011

Transport

Greetsiel is linked by state roads to Norden and Emden and from there the A 31. At one time, the Emden-Pewsum-Greetsiel light railway linked Pewsum and Greetsiel with Emden. The operation of the gauge railway began in 1899 between Emden and Pewsum and, in 1906, the line was extended to Greetsiel. ''Kleinbahnstraße'' in Greetsiel recalls that period, along which there are still several railway buildings that are now used for other purposes. The narrow-gauge railway was closed in 1963, and passenger services have been taken over by buses since then. Today, Greetsiel is connected by bus with the former county town of Norden as well as Emden. Greetsiel can also be reached by smaller boats from Emden. The ''Alte Greetsieler Sieltief'' and the ''Neue Greetsieler Sieltief'' connect the port with the East Frisian inland waterways network.

Images

File:Greetsiel harbour.jpg, Greetsiel harbour File:Greetsiel landscape 2003 05.jpg, The landscape to the north of Greetsiel. File:Greetsieler Zwillingsmühlen 2010.jpg, The twin windmills, seen from the west File:Arnold Lüschwitz-Koreffski, "Am Deich, Greetsiel".jpg, A dyke at Greetsiel, 1923 File:Zwillingsmühlen von Greetsiel.jpg, The twin mills, Greetsiel-Ost in front File:port_greetsiel.jpg, Greetsiel Harbour File:emmius_geboortehuis.jpg, Birthplace of Ubbo Emmius in Greetsiel File:Greetsiel 04.jpg, Shrimp cutters in the harbour File:Greetsiel 13.jpg, ''Sielstraße'' File:Greetsiel 17.jpg, ''Sielstraße'' File:Greetsiel Skelettierter-Fisch 0334.jpg, Sculpture at the harbour exit File:Anker greetsiel.jpg, Old anchor File:Greetsiel Hafen.jpg, Cutters in the harbour File:Hafen Greetsiel.JPG, The harbour from Greetsiel File:GreetsielHafen1-28062009.JPG, Greetsiel Harbour (2009) File:GreetsielHafen2-28062009.JPG, Greetsiel Harbour (2009)

Notable people

* Ubbo Emmius (1547–1625), first

rector magnificus A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world, the rector is often the most senior official in a u ...

of the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

References

External links

Internet page for Greetsiel
{{Authority control Former municipalities in Lower Saxony Towns and villages in East Frisia Krummhörn