Amt Blumenthal

Samtgericht Lesum & Gerichte Ritterhude and Schwanewede

Blomendal castle was built by local noblemen in the 14th century. In 1436, it was purchased by the Imperial City of Bremen and became an Amt (under the name Blumenthal). In 1469, Bremen acquired Gericht Neuenkirchen and added it to the Amt.

 

After the Thirty-Years War, the Imperial City did not comply with the terms of the Peace of Westphalia to the satisfaction of Sweden, so they went to war. As a result, Sweden (more precisely, the Duchy of Bremen) gained sovereignty over Amt Blumenthal. Administrative responsibility, however, remained with the Imperial City. That arrangement gives rise to the unusual simplified country name of Bremen-Bremen. The first instance of Bremen refers to the sovereign Duchy (as it does in every case in which “Bremen” appears as the first element of a two-element name). The second instance refers to the Imperial City. (When the second element of a two-element name refers to the Duchy of Bremen, I use “Stade”, the seat of the Duchy, to identify it as such.)

 

In 1741, after another war, the Duchy of Bremen assumed full administrative responsibility for Amt Blumenthal with the exception of Vegesack—the Imperial City retained the harbor as well as partial jurisdiction over the town. From then on, I treat Vegesack as a quasi-Gericht within Bremen-Bremen.

 

On the borders of Amt Blumenthal were four noble Gerichte—Schwanewede, Ritterhude, Schönebeck, and Lesum. In 1773, several villages from Schönebeck or Lesum were transferred to Amt Blumenthal. I cannot, however, identify which of those two Gerichte the transferred villages had been part of. Furthermore, the two Gerichte were administered together (although the lords of Ritterhude also had responsibilities in Lesum). I therefore combined Schönebeck and Lesum into a Samtgericht (named after Lesum, where the court was located). I recognize Gerichte Schwanewede and Ritterhude separately from the Samtgericht.