Oldensburg Wilhelmshaven

Region Description

Oldenburg (Low German: Ollnborg) is an Independent City in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 158,341 (as of 2005) which makes it the fourth biggest in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig and Osnabrück. In German, the city is known officially as Oldenburg (Oldenburg) or Oldenburg (Oldb) to distinguish it from Oldenburg in Holstein.

Wilhelmshaven (IPA: [vɪlhɛlmsˈhaːfən]) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the western coast of the Jadebusen, which is a bay of the North Sea. Population: 83,238 (2006).As early as 1383, the Sibetsburg castle existed, which was owned by pirates and destroyed in 1433 by the Hanseatic League. Four centuries later the Kingdom of Prussia planned a fleet and a harbour at the North Sea. In 1853, Prince Adalbert of Prussia arranged the Jade Treaty (Jade-Vertrag) with the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, in which Prussia and the grand duchy entered into a contract: 3.13 km² of Oldenburgian territory at the Jadebusen should be ceded to Prussia. In 1869, Wilhelm I of Germany founded the town as part of the Province of Hanover for a naval base of Prussia’s developing fleet. The duchy of Oldenburg benefited as well from the port; adjacent to Wilhelmshaven the town of Rüstringen was founded on the Oldenburgian territory. Wilhelmshaven and Rüstringen merged in 1937.