Butjadingen
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Butjadingen is both a peninsula and a Gemeinde (municipality), situated in Lower Saxony on the German North Sea coast. It is delimited on the west and southwest by the Jade River and on the east by the Weser River. It forms the northern part of the Wesermarsch Landkreis (district) and has a rather lowl population. The town of Butjadingen is close to Nordenham which geographically is also part of the peninsula Butjadingen.
The peninsula was formed during the Middle Ages when huge floods created today's North Sea coast lines. After the disastrous Second Marcellus Flood in 1362 (which occurred around the day of Marcelli Pontificis) Butjadingen temporarily became an island.
Its name is derived from Low German "buten" (=outside) and "Jade" and thus means the lands on the other side of the Jade river.
In front of the peninsula is the Wadden Sea which stretches between the Jade's and the Weser's mouths about 23 kilometres to the northwest beyond the Mellum island. It is part of the Nationalpark Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer (Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park), one of three German Wadden Sea National Parks.
The municipality of Butjadingen has about 6600 citizens (in 2003). Agriculture and tourism constitute the bulk of its economic activity. The main tourist sites are the villages of Tossens, Burhave and Eckwarden. There are ferries across the Weser from Nordenham to Bremerhaven and (during summer months) across the Jade from Eckwarderhörne to Wilhelmshaven. In Nordenham there is a train station with several connections per day to Bremen.
[edit] External links (in German)
