Emsland

Land: Lower Saxony

Situation and characteristics

The Emsland, an expanse of flat country with tracts of moorland, lies on both sides of the middle Ems, which here flows broadly parallel to the Dutch frontier. The river rises in the Senne Heath, is joined at Meppen by the Dortmund-Ems Canal and flows into the Dollart near Leer.

With its poor moorland and heath soil and its marginal situation, the Emsland was for centuries one of the least developed areas in Germany. Unsuccessful attempts at cultivating the land were made during the 18th and 19th centuries, but it was only after the First World War that the population began to increase. Under the Nazis, inmates from concentration camps in the area were used as forced