2018-09-04 53 7

Location

This Geohash is located on a corn field near Westerstede-Ocholterfeld.

Participants

Fippe

Expedition

Oldenburg in Oldenburg

I took the train to Westerstede-Ocholt. One of the stops was Oldenburg in Oldenburg. You might think that this place name is redundant, but in fact there also is another Oldenburg in Holstein. But why "in Oldenburg", and not "in Lower Saxony"?

Historically, Oldenburg governed itself and the lands surrounding it. The Duchy of Oldenburg was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, and later the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg was a state of the German Empire. The Free State of Oldenburg was a state of the Weimar Republic, and later of the Third Empire. Only after the Second World War the British merged Oldenburg, Hannover, Braunschweig and parts of Lippe and established Lower Saxony. Bremen, on the other hand, remained its own state, because the USA needed a port.

Today, the districts that used to be part of Oldenburg, that is the Ammerland, Cloppenburg (where I grew up), Friesland, Oldenburg (rural), Vechta and Wesermarsch as well as the cities of Delmenhorst, Oldenburg and Wilhelmshaven, continue to cooperate. The area spans four graticules: Bielefeld, Bremen, Emden, and Rheine. As of today, I visited all of them inside of Oldenburg's borders.

From the train station in Ocholt I walked south, through Ocholterfeld, until the Geohash came close. It turbed out to be in a cornfield, so I proceded cautiously, since I did not want to break anything. I circled the field and the Geohash was close to the field's southern border, where I entered, recorded proof, and exited without breaking the plants.

On the way back to the train station, I chatted with an old lady who was on her way to a game night with her neighbors. I also saw a cat, but it was shy.