Edewecht

Edewecht
Edewecht
Municipality
	Church of Saint Nicholas
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Edewecht within Ammerland district <imagemap>File: Edewecht in WST.svg \| 240x240px poly 1272 609 1281 660 1303 684 1310 22 1028 6 1031 32 996 57 1099 186 1160 169 1215 243 1229 247 1239 263 1216 272 1261 384 1316 550 1290 576 1294 597 1271 613 1278 649 Wesermarsch poly 439 636 511 755 689 692 708 731 804 729 873 777 993 622 744 483 791 369 775 327 705 396 659 370 592 421 549 563 Bad Zwischenahn poly 318 701 434 637 498 753 687 695 949 776 756 1020 317 745 Edewecht poly 72 630 11 472 215 327 361 452 382 661 Apen poly 222 333 412 22 708 167 772 330 389 657 350 430 Westerstede poly 882 143 1018 10 1228 247 1310 554 1079 538 995 302 881 138 Rastede poly 713 164 794 54 914 96 872 137 940 318 1001 313 981 395 1078 533 990 621 741 477 794 370 Wiefelstede poly 71 94 109 93 109 64 71 66 Ammerland poly 13 14 13 257 272 254 272 15 Lower Saxony poly 0 618 256 634 338 690 315 741 761 1021 779 1042 0 1041 Cloppenburg (district) poly 925 853 1102 934 1304 696 1290 578 1080 538 926 845 Oldenburg poly 769 1021 806 919 1038 839 1036 902 1104 932 1217 896 1257 820 1304 692 1315 1042 782 1042 Oldenburg (district) poly 5 610 59 613 17 471 338 223 412 25 6 0 4 14 272 15 272 255 1 258 Leer (district) poly 403 4 1019 1 925 90 789 53 714 161 594 181 Friesland (district) desc bottom-right </imagemap>
	Edewecht Edewecht
	Coordinates: 53°07′33″N 07°58′57″E / 53.12583°N 7.98250°E
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Ammerland
Subdivisions	15 districts
Government
• Mayor (2021–26)	Petra Knetemann (Ind.)
Area
• Total	113.50 km2 (43.82 sq mi)
Elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	22,908
• Density	200/km2 (520/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	26188
Dialling codes	04405
Vehicle registration	WST
Website	www.edewecht.de

Edewecht (Low German: Erwech) is a municipality in the Ammerland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 kilometres (9 miles) west of Oldenburg.

Villages in the municipality and their population

Friedrichsfehn Nord 1,747
Friedrichsfehn Süd 3,185
Husbäke 1,005 (known for the bog bodies found there; see: List of bog bodies)
Jeddeloh I 1,101
Jeddeloh II 1,333
Kleefeld 439
Klein Scharrel 1,229
Nord Edewecht I 2,246
Nord Edewecht II 2,548
Osterscheps 1,604
Portsloge 1,962
Süddorf 608
Süd Edewecht 2,256
Westerscheps 554
Wildenloh 805
Wittenberge 386

total: 23,008

Edewecht only 7,050
Friedrichsfehn only 4,932

Source: website of the Edewecht Municipality.

Date: June 30, 2020.

The population figures include people, who have a second home in Edewecht besides to a dwelling elsewhere, and legally residing foreigners.

History

Edewecht was the scene of severe fights during the last weeks of the Second World War. Coming from Friesoythe in the south, on April 17, 1945, Canadian troops had to conquer Edewecht in fierce house-by-house fighting against fanatic German paratroopers and other soldiers. The famous German artist Joseph Beuys, who was a young man in these days, was one of the Wehrmacht paratroopers defending Edewecht, and got injured on April, 27 during battle.

This battle was the fifth time that Edewecht was destroyed in a war. The first four times were in the 15th and 16th centuries. Edewecht had been a border watch location between Eastern Frisia and the County of Oldenburg for many centuries.