Terborg is a small village in the region of

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 ...

, in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

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 ...

. Administratively, it is an ''

Ortsteil A village is a human settlement or Residential community, community, larger than a hamlet (place), hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located ...

'' of the municipality of

Moormerland Moormerland is a municipality in the Leer (district), Leer District, in Lower Saxony, northwestern Germany. History Moormerland was created on January 1, 1973 by uniting eleven independent municipalities. The eleven constituent Ortschaft, Ortsc ...

. Located on the north bank of the river

Ems Ems or EMS may refer to: Places and rivers * Domat/Ems, a Swiss municipality in the canton of Grisons * Ems (river) (Eems), a river in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands that discharges in the Dollart Bay * Ems (Eder), a river o ...

, Terborg is approximately 8 kilometers to the northwest of

Leer Leer may refer to: * Leer, Lower Saxony, town in Germany ** Leer (district), containing the town in Lower Saxony, Germany ** Leer (Ostfriesland) railway station * Leer, South Sudan, town in South Sudan ** Leer County, an administrative division ...

. It has a population of 105.

Etymology

Terborg was first mentioned as ''Burchum'' in 1357. In 1564 it was mentioned as ''Neyeborg'' on a topographic map. Other early names are ''Torborch'' (1684), ''Ter-Borg'' (1735) and ''Terborg'' and ''Ferstenborg'' (1787). Three explanations are possible for the interpretation of the place name. For example, with the prefix ''ter-'', the preposition and the article ''to der'' (

East Frisian Low Saxon East Frisian Low Saxon, East Frisian Low German or simply called East Frisian is a Northern Low Saxon dialect spoken in the East Frisian peninsula of northwestern Lower Saxony. East Frisian Low Saxon remains in everyday use among segments of t ...

: ''zu der'') could have merged to form ''ter-''. According to Petra Spekker, the syllable '' -borg'' could mean not only "castle" but also "place of refuge" on the

Ubbo Emmius Ubbo Emmius (5 December 15479 December 1625) was a German historian and geographer. Early life Ubbo Emmius was born on 5 December 1547 in Greetsiel, East Frisia. From the ages of 9 to 18 Emmius studied in a Latin school, before having to leave o ...

, however, interpreted the name as "tri borgi", as "three castles", because in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

the castles Terborg, Mittelsterborg, and Woltersterborg were lined up in Terborg on the Kleiweg from

Oldersum Oldersum is a village in the region of East Frisia, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Administratively, it is an ''Ortsteil'' of the municipality of Moormerland. Located on the north bank of the Ems estuary, Oldersum is to the southeast of Emden and the no ...

to Neermoor. Petra Spekker does not consider this explanation to be unlikely, as Terborg was also referred to as ''Ferstenborg'', which means "foremost castle".

History

Terborg probably arose around 1000 AD as a farming and fishing village on a ''

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 and ...

'' on the Ems. In contrast to its neighboring villages Oldersum and Neermoor, Terborg never developed into an important place. In the Middle Ages, the place initially belonged to the Emsgau, later to the Moormerland under the rule of the

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 ...

to the Leerort district, after its dissolution in 1817 to the Leer district, from which the Leer district emerged in 1885.

Gallery

File:Diana Terborg (Ostfriesland)-msu-.jpg, ''Diana Terborg'' File:Pegel Terborg (Ostfriesland)-msu-8582.jpg,

Stream gauge A stream gauge, streamgage or stream gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface elevation (" stage") and/or v ...

File:SchöpfwerkTerborg-msu-2021-0207-.jpg, Aerial view of the pumping station

References

External links

{{Authority control Moormerland Villages in Lower Saxony Towns and villages in East Frisia