page_title: Brokmerland
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Brokmerland / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Kirche von Marienhafe während des Teilabbruchs. Lithographie von D. Bendixen English: Church of Marienhafe during deconstruction. Lithographic print by D. Bendixen
context_page_description: The Brokmerland is a landscape and an historic territory, located in western East Frisia, which covers the area in and around the present-day communities of Brookmerland and Südbrookmerland. The Brokmerland borders in the east on the Harlingerland and in the north on the Norderland. The historic Brokmerland is usually written with only one "o". Occasionally one also finds the spelling "Broekmerland", while today's communities have chosen to spell the name with a double "o".
context_section_description: Until the early Middle Ages the Brokmerland was largely uninhabited and provided a natural boundary between the Federgau and the Emsgau on one side and the provinces of Norditi (Norderland) and Östringen on the other side. This boundary also played a role in church history because it was the dividing line between the Diocese of Münster (Federgau and Emsgau) and the Archdiocese of Bremen (Norderland and Östringen).
  Archaeological finds suggest a sparse population in the period up to 800 AD. The population grew from about 1100, firstly because the construction of dykes in the region was completed and, secondly, because the "Julian Flood" of 1164 forced many people to flee inland from the coast. In addition, the population increased in the High Middle Ages, which resulted the sparsely populated or unsettled areas of East Frisia being opened up by land development, a process known as internal colonization. As a result of this, the Brokmerland was reclaimed for agriculture by settlers from the Krummhörn Marsh as well as the Norder and Aurich Geest. In the 11 and 12th centuries new settlements and the first churches were built here on the edge and the outliers of the geest. The result of this process were the ribbon villages (Reihendörfer) with their right (called Upstrecken) to claim land into the moor until they reached someone else's land.
  The Brokmers are mentioned for the first time in the Östringen (Rastede) chronicles of 1148, which may indicate that by this time they had attained a certain importance. From 1251 the Brokmänner then appear as inhabitants of an independent territory, the Brokmerland, which was initially divided into three intermediate districts, each with two mother churches: Marienhafe and Engerhafe, Wiegsboldsbur and Burhafe (now isolated farms in the Victorbur Marsh), Bedekaspel and Südwolde (Blaukirchen). The church districts belonged to the Diocese of Münster. The main place of assembly of the Brokmann to begin with was probably the Wiegboldsbur Church.
  In the course of the 13th century the Brokmerland experienced its heyday. The construction of great churches was carried out during this time, of which the (formerly three-aisled) Marienhafe Church is the largest. At that time she was even the largest church in northwest Germany and even in 1462 Pope Pius II paid an indulgence for visiting the church, for donations towards furniture, as well as monetary donations for the preservation of the Church "curia beate Marie". The Bishop of Münster acknowledged the growing importance of the area in the middle of the 13th century by granting the church its own diocese. Previously, it had been assigned to the dean's office of Uttum and Hinte. In addition, the bishop built a castle in Fehnhusen in the parish of Engerhafe, later called the Oldeborg and which formed the nucleus of the modern village.
  The Frisian territories had a consulate constitution under which the consuls and judges were elected by the people for one year. Political leadership and the judiciary were directly in the hands of the population. Every year, meetings were held by the representative of the seven Frisian maritime territories (Seelande). The Upstalsboom from that period is still a popular meeting place today. The Brokmerland had its own jurisdiction and, in the Brokmerbrief, its own constitution as well. This document acts as the most detailed source of Frisian law from the territorial and judicial constitution in Brokmerland, whose law was based on the collective will of the people.
  At the end of the 13th century, Auricherland joined the Brokmerland and formed the fourth region in its territory. After the end of the reign of the tom Brok chieftains in 1450, the Auricherland separated again from Brokmerland.
caption: The church of Marienhafe during its dismantlement in 1829
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