Vechta (;
Northern Low Saxon
Northern Low Saxon (in Standard German, Standard High German: ', also ', lit. ''North(ern) Low Saxon/German''; in Dutch language, Standard Dutch: ') is a subgroup of Low Saxon dialects of Low German. As such, it covers a great part of the West ...
: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the
Vechta district 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 ...
. It is home to the
University of Vechta.
It is known for the 'Stoppelmarkt' fair, which takes place every summer and has a history dating back to 1298. With an attendance of 800,000 visitors it is one of the biggest annual fairs in north-western Germany.
In the recent past, the town was known as a centre of far-northern German
Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
.
Town subdivisions
Vechta consists of the following 15 boroughs.
* Vechta Stadt
* Bergstrup
* Calveslage
* Deindrup
* Hagen I
* Hagen II
* Holtrup
* Holzhausen
* Langförden
* Oythe
* Spreda
* Stoppelmarkt
* Stukenborg
* Telbrake
* Vardel
Transport and infrastructure
The
A1, also known as the ''Hansalinie'', passes by Vechta. There are three interchanges: Vechta-West/Bakum, Vechta-Langförden/Emstek, Vechta-Nord/Ahlhorn . Also, the
B69 runs through the city of Vechta.
Transport
Vechta lies on the
Delmenhorst-Hesepe railway and offers connections to
Osnabrück
Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...
and
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
.
Population development
Vechta has become a very rich city with a high quality of living, so Vechta is one of the rare German towns that still has a growing population.
In addition, Vechta with nearby
Cloppenburg
Cloppenburg (; ; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, in north-western Germany, capital of Cloppenburg District and part of Oldenburg Münsterland. It lies 38 km south-south-west of Oldenburg in the Weser-Ems region between Bremen and the Dutch ...
have both the highest fertility rates and lowest median ages in Germany, due to the large Catholic population.
Theatre
Vechta is a fixed venue for the Landesbühne Niedersachsen Nord, founded in 1952. The headquarter is located in Wilhelmshaven, which stages annually up to ten performances at the Metropoltheater. The theatre offers 272 seats.
Stoppelmarkt
Stoppelmarkt was first mentioned as a market in 1298. In earlier times, it was held in the streets of the city within the fortress walls. Even then, merchants from many European countries came to Vechta. In 1577 the city of Vechta was hit by the plague. Therefore, the market had to be moved to an open field outside the city walls. Since the stubble remains of the last harvest were still standing on the field, the market was henceforth called Stoppelmarkt. In 2020 and 2021 the market was cancelled because of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Climate
The climate in Vechta is a moderate sea climate, influenced by wet northwest winds from the North Sea. The long term average air temperature reaches 8.5 to 9.0 °C and about 700 millimeters of rainfall per year. Between May and August, an average of 20–25 summer days (climatological term for days with the maximum temperature exceeds 25 °C) are calculated.
Twin towns – sister cities
Vechta is
twinned with:
*
Le Cellier, France
*
Jászberény
Jászberény is a city and market centre in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in Hungary.
Location
Jászberény is located in central Hungary, on the Zagyva River, a tributary of the Tisza River. It is about from Budapest.
History
The oldes ...
, Hungary
*
Saint-Pol-de-Léon
Saint-Pol-de-Léon (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department in Brittany in north-western France, located on the coast.
It is noted for its 13th-century cathedral on the site of the original founded by Saint Paul Aurelian in the 6th cen ...
, France
Sport
Vechta is the home of the
Rasta Vechta
Sports Club Rasta Vechta is a German basketball club based in Vechta, Lower Saxony. The club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), following their promotion from the ProA in 2022–23.
Founded in 1979, the club has spent the majority of its ...
basketball club, which plays in the German
Basketball Bundesliga
The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...
.
Notable people

*
Conrad of Vechta
Conrad of Vechta (Czech ''Konrád z Vechty''; German ''Konrad von Vechta'') (born , possibly in Bremen; died 24 December 1431 in Roudnice nad Labem) was Diocese of Verden, Bishop of Verden (1400–1402/1407), Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Olomouc, ...
(ca 1370 - 1431),
Bishop of Verden
This is a list of bishops, prince-bishops, and administrators of Verden. The Catholic Diocese of Verden (), was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mainz. From the 12th century, the Bishop of Verden was also, ''ex officio'', a prince of the Holy R ...
(1400–1402/1407),
Bishop of Olomouc (1408–1413),
Archbishop of Prague
The following is a list of bishops and archbishops of Prague. The bishopric of Prague was established in 973, and elevated to an archbishopric on 30 April 1344. The current Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague is the continual successor of the bi ...
(1413–1421) and Chancellor of the
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...
, (1405–1412).
*
Maria Johanna von Aachen (1755–1845), a
Westphalia
Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...
n writer and noblewoman
*
Andreas Romberg
Andreas Jakob Romberg (27 April 1767 – 10 November 1821) was a German violinist and composer.
Romberg was born in Vechta, in the Duchy of Oldenburg. He learned the violin from his musician father Gerhard Heinrich Romberg and first performed ...
(1767–1821), composer and violin player
*
Rolf Dieter Brinkmann (1940–1975), writer of poems, short stories, essays, letters and diaries.
*
Martin Welzel
Martin Welzel (born November 11, 1972, in Vechta) is a German organist, musicologist, and pedagogue.
Biography
Martin Welzel received his first musical training in Bremen, where Käte van Tricht (a former student of Karl Straube) was one of h ...
(born 1972), musician, associate organist at
Munich Cathedral 2021–2022
*
Katja Suding (born 1975), politician (FDP), member of the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
from 2017 to 2021.
*
Alexander Bartz (born 1984), politician (SPD), member of the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
since November 2022.
Sport
*
Ansgar Brinkmann (born 1969), footballer, played 426 games
*
Alparslan Erdem (born 1988), footballer, played over 200 games
*
Luc Van Slooten (born 2002), a professional basketball player
See also
*
University of Vechta
References
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
Vechta (district)