This article is about the river in northwestern Germany and the Netherlands. For the river in Hesse, Germany, tributary of the Eder, seeEms (Eder). For the river in England, seeRiver Ems (Chichester Harbour).
The source of the river is in the southernTeutoburg Forest in North Rhine-Westphalia. In Lower Saxony, the brook becomes a comparatively large river. Here the swampy region ofEmsland is named after the river. InMeppen the Ems is joined by its largest tributary, theHase River. It then flows northwards, close to theDutch border, intoEast Frisia. NearEmden, it flows into the Dollard bay (anational park) and then continues as atidalriver towards the Dutch city ofDelfzijl.
Between Emden and Delfzijl, the Ems forms the border between the Netherlands and Germany and was subject to a mild dispute: the Dutch believed that the border runs through the geographical centre of the estuary, whereas the Germans claimed it runs through the deepestchannel (which is close to the Dutchcoast). As the parties are now friendly states with an open border, the argument went no further than an agreement to disagree. The issue was settled amicably in October 2014.[2][3]
It became an active issue in late July 1914, when the Imperial German government began plans to mine the whole of the estuary that they claimed, in preparation for the launching of the Great War. The Dutch envoy in Berlin, Wilem Alexander Frederik Baron Gevers, tactfully announced the boundary was uncertain, and that the dispute was "opgeschort", which could mean either "suspended" or "resolved", depending on the context. The Dutch government endorsed the ambiguous declaration, thus relieving itself of an obligation to declare war on Germany for violating its neutrality. After the war, the dispute was resumed.[4]
Past Delfzijl, the Ems discharges into the Wadden Sea, part of theNorth Sea. The twostraits that separate the Germanisland ofBorkum from its neighboursRottumeroog (Netherlands) andMemmert (Germany) continue the name "Ems", as they are calledWestere(e)ms andOsterems (West and East Ems).
The Ems was known to several ancient authors:Pliny the Elder inNatural History (4.14),Tacitus in theAnnals (Book 1),Pomponius Mela (3.3),Strabo andPtolemy,Geography (2.10). Ptolemy's name for it was the Amisios potamos, and inLatin Amisius fluvius. The others used the same, or Amisia, or Amasia or Amasios. The identification is certain, as it always is listed between theRhine and theWeser, and was the only river leading to theTeutoburg Forest.
The Amisius flowed from the Teutoburg Forest, home of theCherusci, with theBructeri and others bordering the river. These tribes were among the initialFranks. The Romans were quite interested in adding them to the empire, and to that end built a fort, Amisia, at the mouth of the Ems. As the river was navigable to their ships, they hoped to use it to access the tribes at its upper end.
Surrounding the river for most of its length, however, were swamps, bogs and marshes. The Romans found they had no place to stand, could not pick the most favourable ground, because there was none, and could not in general follow the strategies and tactics developed by theRoman army. They were stopped at theBattle of Teutoburg Forest, 9 AD, and were checked again 6 years later. The Ems became a road leading nowhere for them, nor were they ever able to bridge the swamps satisfactorily with causeways.
The Dollart Bay near Emden did not exist until 1277,[5] when a catastrophic storm surge flooded 43 parishes and killed an estimated 80,000 people.[6] Most of the land lost in that flood has been reclaimed in a series of initiatives from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. The river in 1277 curved north by Emden, covering the area of the current Emden harbor complex.
Construction of canals in more modern times connected the Ems to other waterways, opening it as a highway of industrial transportation.
^Collected Diplomatic Documents Relating to the Outbreak of the European War pp. 326–332, 379, 381–382. pub. His Majesty's Stationery Office -London 1915
