Saterland

Infobox German Location
Art = Gemeinde
Name = Saterland
Wappen = Saterland-Wappen.pnglat_deg = 53 |lat_min = 2
lon_deg = 7 |lon_min = 43
Lageplan =
Bundesland = Lower Saxony
Landkreis = Cloppenburg
Höhe = 5
Fläche = 123.62
Einwohner = 12896
Stand = 2005-06-30
PLZ = 26683
Vorwahl = 0 44 92 (Scharrel, Sedelsberg) 0 44 98 (Ramsloh, Strücklingen)
Kfz = CLP
Gemeindeschlüssel = 03 4 53 013
Gliederung = 4 districts
Straße = Hauptstraße 507
Website = [http://www.saterland.de/ www.saterland.de]
Bürgermeister = Hubert Frye
Partei = CDU

Saterland (Saterland Frisian: "Seelterlound") is a municipality in the district of Cloppenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated between the cities of Leer, Cloppenburg, and Oldenburg.

Division of the municipality

The municipality of Saterland was formed in 1974, when the smaller municipalities Strücklingen ("Strukelje" in Saterland Frisian), Ramsloh ("Roomelse"), Sedelsberg ("Seeidelsbierich") and Scharrel ("Schäddel") were merged.

History

In medieval times, Saterland was a sandy region occupying an area of about 15 km long by 1-4 km wide surrounded by marshes. It was settled between the 10th and 13th centuries by Frisians from East Frisia. Being relatively isolated, the inhabitants developed their own form of the East Frisian language, Saterland Frisian, which survives to this day. The "Saterfriesen"," as the speakers of this language are called in German, are the smallest minority recognized by the federal government.

Notable places

On the area of the municipality of Saterland is the VLF transmitter DHO38, a large VLF transmitter of the German Navy for sending commands to submarines.

External links

* [http://www.saterland.de Official site] de icon