Diepholz (German pronunciation: [ˈdiːpˌhɔlts] ; Northern Low Saxon: Deefholt) is a town and capital of the district of Diepholz in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Hunte and Lohne, approximately 45 km northeast of Osnabrück, and 60 km southwest of Bremen.
It was the capital of the sovereign County of Diepholz and the principal seat of the Noble Lords, later Counts, of Diepholz.
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Administrative division
Diepholz consists of the core city of Diepholz (44.59 km²), which comprises several boroughs, as well as the incorporated villages of Aschen (32.01 km²), Sankt Hülfe (15.75 km²) and Heede (12.12 km²).
Aschen is located 4 km north of the core town of Diepholz between the Federal Roads B 69 and the B 51. There is the local museum of Aschen, where large and small agricultural equipment, household items and workshops are displayed.
Politics
City Council
The City Council of Diepholz consists of 32 councilwomen and councilmen. This is the prescribed number for a municipality with a population between 15,001 and 20,000 inhabitants. Council members are elected for five-year terms through a local election. In addition to the 32 members elected in the municipal council election, the full-time mayor also has voting rights in the council.
The results of the 2021 local election led to the following seat distribution:
CDU: 12 seats
SPD: 9 seats
FDP: 4 seats
GREENS: 4 seats
LEFT: 1 seat
AfD: 2 seats
Mayor
On 10 June 2018 Florian Marré (independent), supported by the CDU and FDP, was elected as the Mayor in a runoff election with 50.65% of the votes, succeeding Thomas Schulze.
Religion
According to the census conducted in 2011, 59.1% of the city's inhabitants were Evangelical Christians, 13.3% were Roman Catholic, and 27.6% were irreligious, belonged to a different religious community or preferred not to say.
On 31 December 2019, of 17.577 inhabitants, 47.3% were Evangelical Christians, 18.9% Roman Catholic and 33.8% of other confessions, or irreligious.
Notable people
Notable people associated with Diepholz include:
Marianne of Sweden (died after 1285), Swedish Princess and countess consort of Diepholz
Rudolf van Diepholt (c. 1390 – 1455), bishop of Utrecht and bishop of Osnabrück
Georg Moller (1784–1852), architect and town planner who worked in the South of Germany, mostly in Hesse.
Fritz Klatte (1880–1934), German chemist, discovered polyvinyl acetate
Eva Leo (1901–1998 in Dubuque, Iowa), German Master Metal Sculptor
Zygfryd Kuchta (born 1944), Polish handball player, team bronze medallist at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Klaus Schlichte (born 1963), political scientist and professor