Editing Emsland (section)

== History ==
[[File:Boergermoor KZ-Gedenkstein 01.jpg|thumb|left|Memorial at the site of the entrance to the former Börgermoor concentration camp]]
[[File:Tr noerdliche kurve02.jpg|thumb|left|Transrapid test track]]

For a long time the region of the Emsland was extremely sparsely populated, due to the [[fen]]s on both sides of the river. Small villages were established in medieval times along the river and on the [[Hümmling]]. In the 13th century the bishops of [[Prince-Bishopric of Münster|Münster]] gained control over the region; the Emsland remained property of the bishop [[Reichsdeputationshauptschluss|until 1803]], when the clerical states [[German mediatisation|were dissolved]]. It came under the rule of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] and [[Arenberg]], but after the [[Napoleonic Wars]] the [[Congress of Vienna]] decided to hand the territory over to the [[Kingdom of Hanover]]. The Duchy of Arenberg continued to exist as a fief of the Hanoverian kings. When Hanover was annexed by Prussia (1866), the dukes were deposed soon after (1875).

The now Prussian Province of Hanover was subdivided into districts in 1885; four districts were established on the territory of what is now the Landkreis Emsland. The districts were merged in 1977 to form the present district.

Under [[Nazi Germany|Nazi rule]], [[Nazi concentration camps|labour camps]] known as the ''Emslandlager''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Esterwegen.html |title=Esterwegen Labor Camp |website=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref> ("Emsland camps") held thousands of political opponents of the [[Nazi Party]], located outside [[Börgermoor]], now part of the commune [[Surwold]], not far from [[Papenburg]]. A memorial of these camps, the Dokumentations- und Informationszentrum (DIZ) Emslandlager, is located at Papenburg. The well known resistance song "[[Peat Bog Soldiers]]" was composed by political prisoners at one of these camps.

In 1950 a governmental plan for the development of Emsland was adopted. Its aim was to turn the region into an industrial location. This was accomplished by draining the fens and establishing projects like the test track of the [[Maglev (transport)|maglev]] "[[Transrapid]]" and several large [[shipyard]]s such as the [[Meyer-Werft]] in [[Papenburg]]. Although the Landkreis Emsland lost much of its original character, some areas retain their natural character, for example the Hümmling.

The 1977 district reforms in Lower Saxony united the former districts of [[Lingen (district)|Lingen]], [[Meppen (district)|Meppen]] and [[Aschendorf-Hümmling (district)|Aschendorf-Hümmling]] in the district of Emsland, with Meppen as administrative seat. The Emsland remains a very [[Roman Catholic]] region compared to other parts of Lower Saxony.