Butjadingen is situated on the German North Sea coast. It is bordered on the west and southwest by the Jade River and the east by the Weser River. It forms the northern part of the Wesermarsch district and has a rather low population. The political borough of Butjadingen adjoins Nordenham which geographically is also part of the peninsula Butjadingen.
The peninsula was formed during the Middle Ages when huge floods created today's North Sea coastlines. After the Second Marcellus Flood on January 13, 1362 (which occurred around the day of Marcelli Pontificis) Butjadingen temporarily became an island.
Its name is derived from Frisian "Buten" (=outside) and "Jade" and thus means the lands on the other side of the Jade River.
In front of the peninsula is the Wadden Sea which stretches between the Jade's and the Weser's mouths about 23 kilometers to the northwest beyond the Mellum island. It is part of the Nationalpark Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer (Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park), one of three German Wadden Sea National Parks.
Economy
Agriculture and tourism constitute the bulk of its economic activity. The main tourist sites are the villages of Tossens, Burhave, and Eckwarden. There are ferries across the Weser from Nordenham to Bremerhaven and (during summer months) across the Jade from Eckwarderhörne to Wilhelmshaven. In Nordenham there is a train station with several connections per day to Bremen.
Literature
Klaus Dede: Butjadingen - Portrait einer Landschaft. (1975)
