Weener

Not to be confused with Wiener (disambiguation).

Weener (German pronunciation: [ˈveːnɐ] ^ⓘ) is a town in the district of Leer, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Ems. The town's population is at 15,654, making it the largest town of the region Rheiderland. It has a railway and autobahn connection to Groningen, Netherlands, Emden and Bremen.

Weener
Town
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Weener within Leer district
Weener Show map of Germany Weener Show map of Lower Saxony
Coordinates: 53°10′09″N 07°21′23″E
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Leer
Subdivisions	9 districts
Government
• Mayor (2021–26)	Heiko Abbas[1] (CDU)
Area
• Total	81.23 km2 (31.36 sq mi)
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)[2]
• Total	15,335
• Density	188.8/km2 (489.0/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	26826
Dialling codes	04951
Vehicle registration	LER
Website	www.weener.de

The city was first mentioned in a monastery's records in 951.

Town

Division of the town

The town of Weener consists of 9 districts:

• Weener
• Kirchborgum
• Diele
• Vellage / Halte
• Stapelmoor
• Holthusen
• Weenermoor / Möhlenwarf
• St. Georgiwold
• Beschotenweg

Neighbouring communities

In the district of Leer:

• Bunde
• Leer
• Jemgum
• Westoverledingen

In the district of Emsland:

• Papenburg
• Rhede

Politics

Mayor

• 2006–2014: Wilhelm Dreesmann
• 2014–2021: Ludwig Sonnenberg
• 2021–incumbent: Heiko Abbas

Town Council

The composition of the town council for the 2021-2026 electoral period is:

• SPD = 15 seats
• CDU = 8 seats
• UWG = 2 seats
• Grüne = 3 seats
• AfD = 1 seat
• Ratsmitglied Junker = 1 seat
• Ratsmitglied S. Hinderks = 1 seat
• Bürgermeister Abbas = 1 seat

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Weener is twinned with:

• Eurajoki in Finland
• Les Pieux in France

Demographics

Statistics are as of December 31 of each year:

• 1980 – 14.115
• 1985 – 14.245
• 1990 – 14.320
• 1995 – 14.831
• 2000 – 15.338
• 2001 – 15.406
• 2002 – 15.534
• 2003 – 15.625
• 2004 – 15.666
• 2005 – 15.602
• 2018 – 16.276

Climate

Weener is in a temperate climate zone, influenced by the North Sea. During the summer, the temperatures are lower than those in the rest of Germany. In winter, the temperatures are higher than the other regions.

Previous residents

Recent findings published in the academic periodical Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft^[3] (Journal of Historical Studies) by the German historian Jürgen Matthäus, show that Jakobus Onnen, a German citizen born in the adjoining hamlet of Tichelwarf and is erroneously listed as a war victim on the memorial located at the Heimatverein Rheiderland museum in Weener^[4] is the perpetrator photographed^[5] in "The Last Jew in Vinnitsa" This massacre was most likely carried out on 28 July 1941 in Berdychiv by the Einsatzgruppe C, a mobile death squad of the Nazi SS, of which Jakobus Onnen was a member.