Bentheim

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Grafschaft Bentheim
Map of Lower Saxony highlighting the district Grafschaft Bentheim
State	Lower Saxony
County seat	Nordhorn
Adm. region	Weser-Ems
Area	981 km²
Population	133,300 (2004)
Pop. density	136 inh./km²
Car identification	NOH
Web page	http://www.grafschaft.de

Bentheim (German: Grafschaft Bentheim; English: County of Bentheim) is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the Dutch provinces Overijssel and Drenthe, the district of Emsland, and the districts Steinfurt and Borken in North Rhine-Westphalia.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Coat of arms
4 Towns and municipalities
5 External link

[edit] History

Main article: County of Bentheim

Bentheim was a small medieval county. The district was once full of fens, just as the neighbouring Emsland. The small Vechte river offered the opportunity to found settlements along the banks. Bentheim became an earldom as early as 1050. In the following centuries it became a regional power by annexing the neighbouring earldoms of Steinfurt and Tecklenburg. Sandstone was the major export article in medieval times, ensuring the wealth of the earldom.

[edit] Geography

The small district of Bentheim is protruding into Dutch territory. The Vechte River (Dutch Vecht) crosses the district from south to north and leaves to the Netherlands. All major towns are situated along that river.

The district is roughly identical with the medieval earldom of Bentheim, but excluding Steinfurt and Tecklenburg.

[edit] Coat of arms

The arms are identical to the arms of the medieval earldom of Bentheim. The origin of these arms is unknown.

[edit] Towns and municipalities

Towns	Samtgemeinden	Free municipalities
Bad Bentheim Nordhorn	Emlichheim Neuenhaus¹ Schüttorf¹ Uelsen	Wietmarschen

¹ including town of the same name

[edit] External link

Official website (German)

	Urban and rural districts in the Federal State of Lower Saxony in Germany
Region	Hanover
Urban districts	Brunswick \| Delmenhorst \| Emden \| Oldenburg \| Osnabrück \| Salzgitter \| Wilhelmshaven \| Wolfsburg
Rural districts	Ammerland \| Aurich \| Grafschaft Bentheim \| Celle \| Cloppenburg \| Cuxhaven \| Diepholz \| Emsland \| Friesland \| Gifhorn \| Goslar \| Göttingen \| Hamelin-Pyrmont \| Harburg \| Helmstedt \| Hildesheim \| Holzminden \| Leer \| Lüchow-Dannenberg \| Lüneburg \| Nienburg \| Northeim \| Oldenburg \| Osnabrück \| Osterholz \| Osterode \| Peine \| Rotenburg \| Schaumburg \| Soltau-Fallingbostel \| Stade \| Uelzen \| Vechta \| Verden \| Wesermarsch \| Wittmund \| Wolfenbüttel