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30-907: It has its seat in Leer ( East Frisia ). The church has 165,798 parish members in 142 parishes (December 2020) and is one of the two reformed churches within the EKD. Member of the Reformed Alliance . It belonged also to the Confederation of Evangelical Churches in Lower Saxony, and joined 2003 of the Union of Evangelical Churches in Germany . It is also a member of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe . The main church of

60-444: A Benedictine house. Alcuin recommended him to Charlemagne, who had Hildebold, Archbishop of Cologne , consecrate Ludger as bishop of Munster on 30 March 805. Ludger's principal concern was to have a good and efficient clergy. To a great extent he educated his students personally, and generally took some of them on his missionary tours. He also founded the monastery of Helmstad, afterwards called Ludger-Clooster, or Ludger's Cloister, in

90-523: A Christian church. The well, formerly sacred to the pagan gods, he re-dedicated as his baptismal font. On his return he met the blind bard Bernlef , last of the Frisian skalds , allegedly cured his blindness, and made him a devout Christian. In 793 Charlemagne wished to make Ludger Bishop of Trier , but he declined, while declaring himself willing to undertake the evangelization of the Saxons. Charlemagne accepted

120-465: A number of valuable books. He remained in the Martinsstift until the death of Gregory in 775, in honour of whose memory he wrote the biography Vita Gregorii . He was then sent to Deventer to restore the chapel destroyed by the pagan Saxons and to find the relics of Lebuinus , who had worked there as missionary, built the chapel, and died there in c. 775. Ludger succeeded, and returned to teach in

150-402: A significant advantage in that he knew the language and habits of the people, and put this knowledge to good use in achieving their conversion. He worked in many places: the island of Bant, long since sunk beneath the sea, is mentioned as the scene of his apostolic work. He visited Heligoland ( Fossitesland ), where Willibrord had preached, where he destroyed the remains of paganism and built

180-576: Is a town in the district of Leer , in the northwestern part of Lower Saxony , Germany. It is situated on the river Leda, a tributary of the river Ems , near the border with the Netherlands . With 34,958 inhabitants (2021), it is the third-largest city in East Frisia after Emden and Aurich . It has a railway and autobahn connection to Groningen , Netherlands, Emden , Bremen and the South ( Rheine and

210-613: Is available all over Germany. Each year in autumn the Gallimarkt is held. Traditionally a cattle-market, the Gallimarkt is now one of the largest fairs in Northwest Germany. In Leer there are seven primary schools and numerous secondary schools. The two gymnasiums , Telletta-Gross-Gymnasium and Ubbo-Emmius-Gymnasium , educate more than 1,500 pupils each and are two of the largest grammar schools in Lower Saxony . The Navigation School

240-597: Is now a faculty of the Hochschule Emden – Leer (University of applied science). The town also offers education at two vocational schools . Leer is twinned with: Ludger Ludger ( Latin : Ludgerus ; also Lüdiger or Liudger ) ( c.  742 – 26 March 809) was a missionary among the Frisians and Saxons , founder of Werden Abbey and the first Bishop of Münster in Westphalia . He has been called

270-520: The Lutheran and Reformed churches . The German Reformed Church has its head office in Leer. Furthermore, Leer offers an unusually large variety of smaller religious communities, especially Baptists , Mennonites , Methodists , Adventists and Mormons . Even though Eastern Frisia is a mainly a Protestant region, there is a small Roman Catholic community in Leer. Two autobahns (freeways) cross north of Leer,

300-487: The Martinsstift , after which he and others were sent north to destroy pagan places of worship west of the Lauwers Zee . After Ludger had been ordained at Cologne on 7 July 777, the missions of Ostergau (or Ostracha , i.e., East Frisia ) were committed to his charge, of which missions Dokkum , the place of the martyrdom of Boniface, was made the centre. Every autumn, however, he came back to Utrecht to teach at

330-552: The Ruhr industrial region). Leer had been a settlement long before it was first mentioned in written documents. Originally, the city was situated at a meander near the mouth of the river Leda into the Ems, which is still the center of the town today. Even though Leer is some 30 km (19 mi) away from the coast, it can be reached by large ships via the Ems. Leer lies close to the Dutch border;

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360-703: The Rule of Saint Benedict , but did not bind himself by vows. The news of Widukind's submission, and the arrival of Charlemagne at Monte Cassino in 787, put an end to Ludger's peaceful retirement. He was appointed missionary to five districts east of the river Lauwers , around the estuaries of the Hunze, the Fivel , and the Ems , which were still occupied almost entirely by pagans. He began his work armed with characteristic energy and faith in God, and had

390-537: The diaconate (as he duly was, by Ethelbert of York ) and to study under Alcuin , but after a year he returned to Utrecht. Some time later he was granted an opportunity to continue his studies at York , when he developed a friendship with Alcuin which lasted throughout life. In 772 friction arose between the Anglo-Saxons and the Frisians, and Ludger - for the sake of his personal safety - left for home, taking with him

420-724: The "Apostle of Saxony". Ludger's parents, Thiadgrim and Liafburg, were wealthy Christian Frisians of noble descent. In 753 Ludger saw the great Apostle of Germany , Boniface , which, together with the subsequent martyrdom of the saint, made a deep impression on him. At his own request he was sent to the Utrecht Cathedral School ( Martinsstift ), founded by Gregory of Utrecht in 756 or 757, and made good progress. In 767 Gregory, who did not wish to receive episcopal consecration himself, sent Alubert, who had come from England to assist him in his missionary work, to York to be consecrated bishop. Ludger accompanied him to be ordained into

450-563: The "Hannoversche Westbahn" railway, which at that time connected Emden and Rheine in the Ruhr area. In 1856, the Westbahn was connected to the central German railway network. Unlike Emden, Leer only suffered little damage by Allied bombing in World War II . The city was occupied by Canadian troops on 28 April 1945. On 1 October 1955, Leer received the status of an independent city . Since 1964

480-443: The A 28 (Leer – Bremen ) and the A 31 (Emden – Oberhausen , Ruhr Area ). The city itself has three junctions to the autobahns. Leer railway station is a relay station between Groningen and Bremen in the west–east direction and the South and Emden harbour (with a large VW factory and shipping facilities) in the north. The airfield Leer-Papenburg north of the city offers limited passenger flights to nearby airfields, most notably

510-515: The East Frisian Islands. The closest international airport is Bremen International Airport. Leer is home to many German shipping companies – about 20 per cent of the German merchant fleet are registered in Leer. The Bünting group Home is based in Leer and is one of the city's main employers. Although Bünting owns several German supermarket chains, the company is best known for their tea, which

540-655: The Evangelical Reformed Church is the Große Kirche ("great church") in Leer. Since 2021 Susanne Bei der Wieden is bishop of Evangelical Reformed Church in Germany. Ordination of women and blessing of same-sex marriages are allowed. This article about a Christian denomination is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This East Frisia article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Leer, Lower Saxony Leer ( German pronunciation: [leːɐ̯] )

570-457: The area, including crude flint tools that are dated back to roughly 3200 BC. In 791 AD Saint Ludger built the first chapel in East Frisia at the western edge of the settlement Leer, then still named Hleri after feetlot , willow . This chapel is mentioned for the first time in a written document from 850 AD. During the 14th and 15th centuries, Leer was hometown of the Ukena family, which

600-417: The cathedral school. He worked in this way for about seven years, until Widukind in 784 persuaded the Frisians to drive out the missionaries, burn the churches, and return to the pagan gods. Ludger escaped with his disciples, and in 785 visited Rome , where he was well received by Pope Adrian I , who gave him much advice and special faculties. From Rome he went to Monte Cassino, where he lived according to

630-612: The centre of the new district, Ludger built a monastery for canons regular there, from which the place took the name of Münster . Here he lived with his monks according to the rule of Saint Chrodegang of Metz , which in 789 had been made obligatory in the Frankish territories. He also built a chapel on the left bank of the Aa in honour of the Blessed Virgin , as well as the churches of Billerbeck, Coesfeld , Hersfeld , Nottuln and others. Near

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660-619: The church of Nottuln he built a home for his sister, Gerburgis, who had consecrated herself to God. Many other women soon joined her, and so originated the first convent in Westphalia (c. 803). Better known among his foundations, however, is the abbey at Werden , founded (after an abortive attempt to establish a religious house at Wichmond on the Erft ) in c. 800 and consecrated in 804, on ground which Ludger himself had acquired, in fulfilment of his desire, formed since his stay at Monte Cassino, to found

690-683: The city's government has been led by the Social-Democratic Party SPD . The major opposition parties are the Christian Democratic Union Party CDU , the Green Party and the Allgemeine Wählergemeinschaft (AWG), an independent local party. The mayor of Leer is Claus-Peter Horst, elected in 2021. The town council consists of (elections of 2016): Leer is a traditional Protestant city and home to both

720-886: The district of Leer shares a border with the Dutch province of Groningen . The island and nature reserve of Bingumer Sand lies within the district. [REDACTED] County of East Frisia 1464–1744 [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Prussia 1744–1806 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Holland 1806–1810 [REDACTED]   First French Empire 1810–1813 [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Prussia 1813–1815 [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Hanover 1815–1866 [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Prussia 1866–1871 [REDACTED]   German Empire 1871–1918 [REDACTED]   Weimar Republic 1918–1933 [REDACTED]   Nazi Germany 1933–1945 [REDACTED]   Allied-occupied Germany 1945–1949 [REDACTED]   West Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED]   Germany 1990–present There are many traces of early settlements in

750-442: The duchy of Brunswick. It was said of him that his peaceful methods were far more effective in promoting Christianity than the aggressive tactics of Charlemagne. He was criticised during his life for spending money on alms that should have gone towards the ornamentation of his churches. He suffered thereby, but was able to convince Charlemagne that this was no fault. On Passion Sunday 809, Ludger heard Mass at Coesfeld early in

780-533: The morning and preached, then went to Billerbeck, where at 9:00 he again preached, and said his last Mass. That evening he died peacefully in the company of his followers, at the age of sixty-six. A dispute arose between Münster and Werden for the possession of his remains. His brother Hildegrim was appealed to, and after consultation with the emperor , decided in favour of Werden, where the relics still remain. Portions have, however, since been brought to Münster and Billerbeck. The successive Vitae , beginning with

810-536: The offer, and north-western Saxony was thus added to Ludger's missionary field. The monastery of St. Ludger's Abbey at Helmstedt was founded as part of his missionary activity in this part of Germany. To meet necessary expenses the income of the Abbey of Leuze , in the present Belgian province of Hainaut , was given him, and he was told to pick his fellow-workers from the members of that abbey. As Mimigernaford (also Mimigardeford or Miningarvard ) had been designated

840-413: The saint. The cult seems to have remained mostly local, and largely to have faded in the later Middle Ages. He is the patron saint of Werden, East Frisia, and Deventer. Ludger is represented either as a bishop holding a church and a book or as standing between two geese (occasionally described as swans). His feast day is celebrated on 26 March. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

870-627: The serious contemporary biographical work of Altfrid and passing through the Vita Secunda and Vita Tertia to the Libellus Monasteriensis de miraculis sancti Liudgeri ( The Little Book of Münster on the Miracles of Saint Ludger ) of c. 1170, demonstrate the growth of the legend. Votive practice in Münster seems to have focused on a very large and elaborate cross containing a number of relics of

900-588: Was one most influential East-Frisian chieftain families of that time. The town profited from the trade with the Hanse , and a fortress Leerort was built. In 1508, Count Edzard obtained the official right to host a market, which started the tradition of the "Gallimarkt," which is now an annual fair . In 1744 East Frisia fell to Prussia , then ruled by Frederick the Great . Town privileges were awarded in 1823 by George IV , King of Hanover . In 1854 Leer became connected to

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