Dinklage

Dinklage
Coat of arms
Dinklage
Location of Dinklage within Vechta district
Coordinates: 52°40′N 8°8′E / 52.667°N 8.133°E / 52.667; 8.133Coordinates: 52°40′N 8°8′E / 52.667°N 8.133°E / 52.667; 8.133
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Vechta
Government
• Mayor	Frank Bittner (Ind.)
Area
• Total	72.65 km2 (28.05 sq mi)
Elevation	27 m (89 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	12,914
• Density	180/km2 (460/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	49413
Dialling codes	04443
Vehicle registration	VEC
Website	www.dinklage.de

Dinklage is a town in the district of Vechta, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 13 km southwest of Vechta, and 45 km north of Osnabrück.

Dinklage Castle was built by the counts of the Dersagau of Calvelage around 980; the name Dinklage was first officially recorded in 1231 (first as Thinclage, later Dynclage, and, by 1270, Dinklage). In 1080, the castle was given to the Herren von Dinklage ("lords of Dinklage"), who became the noble family of Dincklage. They tried to establish their own rule in 1372, but were defeated by the bishop of Münster and the castle was destroyed.

After the lords of Dinklage lost influence, the reconstructed castle was bought in 1667 by Christoph Bernhard, Graf (Count) von Galen, who was bishop of Münster at that time. In 1826, Matthias, Graf (Count) von Galen signed a contract which made Dinklage, which had formally belonged to the diocese of Münster, a part of the Großherzogtum (Grand Duchy of Oldenburg). The lands of the diocese had been secularized after the war against Napoleon.

The name "Dinklage" comes from the Old Norse word "thing", which means a place of assembly such as for a parliament or a judicial court. The name is as old as the office of "Gaugraf" (district count); "Gaugrafen" were local counts who exercised jurisdiction over a district (Gau), ruling from an assembly called a "Thing", that traditionally met under a linden tree. The name "Thinclage" appears in a document dated 1231. With the loss of the "th" sound in German, the spelling changed over the years to "Dinclage", and finally to "Dinklage".

King Heinrich I (916–936) founded a mounted army that developed into a group of knights. Moated castles were built to provide refuge in times of war. The Dersgaugraf of Calvelage (today Brockdorf) built a castle at Dinklage around 980. The builder may have been named Heiß Ferdinand.

In 1231, John of Dinklage and his son Bertram (an armored knight) backed Vechta, which was allied with Emperor Philip of Swabia in a dispute with Otto of Brunswick, who was allied with the Cloppenburg Count von Tecklenburg. Bertram of Dinklage (1200–1251) was 30 years old when he took part in the Sixth Crusade and was a witness to the May 1229 coronation of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor as King of Jerusalem. He had two sons, John and Bertram. Bertram, a knight, was a supporter of Otto II of Vechta. Bertram was present at the 1235 wedding of Isabella of England to Emperor Frederick II. Four kings, eleven dukes, thirty counts, many archbishops, and more than twelve thousand knights took part in the wedding.