Nordhorn

Nordhorn
Coat of arms
Nordhorn
Location of Nordhorn within Grafschaft Bentheim district
Coordinates: 52°25′55″N 7°04′04″E / 52.43194°N 7.06778°E / 52.43194; 7.06778Coordinates: 52°25′55″N 7°04′04″E / 52.43194°N 7.06778°E / 52.43194; 7.06778
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Grafschaft Bentheim
Government
• Mayor	Thomas Berling (SPD)
Area
• Total	149.64 km2 (57.78 sq mi)
Elevation	23 m (75 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	53,285
• Density	360/km2 (920/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	48527–48531
Dialling codes	05921
Vehicle registration	NOH
Website	www.nordhorn.de

Nordhorn is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony's southwesternmost corner near the border with the Netherlands and the boundary with North Rhine-Westphalia.

One story holds that the town's name – which means "North Horn" – came about when the town was under attack, in which case a horn – the so-called Nothorn or emergency horn – was blown by the watchmen to warn the Vechteinsel (Vechte Island) inhabitants and also to call for help. Since the town lay north of Bentheim (now Bad Bentheim) and its castle, it is said that this yielded the name Nordhorn.

A horn, however, was also used by the boatmen on the river Vechte to warn each other of ships’ movements in fog. Indeed, since the 1970s, the Tuter ("Tooter"), a bronze memorial to the beginnings of inland shipping, has stood at the old harbour.

Since a settlement with a harbour arose between Schüttorf and Emlichheim in the Early Middle Ages whose coat of arms bore a horn as a charge, it seems likely that Nordhorn could have arisen from this.

A more scientifically based variation on what the arms mean holds that "horn" is meant in the sense of "pointed end", making "Nordhorn" a northern point – the jutting northerly end of a field into the Vechte Valley. Heinrich Specht pointed this out in his 1941 town chronicle in reference to the spur, or "horn", of land on which the town's first centre was built. (Lit.: Nordhorn Geschichte einer Grenzstadt. Publisher: Heimatverein der Grafschaft Bentheim)

A more fanciful story holds that the locals once worshipped the god Nod, Node or Nothe, the beginning of whose festival was heralded by blows on ox and cow horns. To pay homage to him, holy fire, called Nodfyr, was lit either by striking flintstones or by rubbing dry sticks together. From the god's name and the hornblowing, the town's name is said to have come.

The name, of course, actually has nothing to do with any emergency horn or any god named Nod. "No(r)dhorn" is perhaps similar to the "Maa(r)s", "Meu(r)s" or "Marsh" river. That is what has caused the confusion; a silent "r" or a difficulty in pronouncing the "r" due to the proximity to France.