To the east of Lohne lies the Großes Moor, a raised bog. To the west lies the "Dinklager Becken", a great lowland. Drainage occurs by the rivulets "Hopener Mühlenbach" and "Bokerner Bach" into the Hase and "Dadau" into the Hunte.
In the east, next to the "Großes Moor" lie two more raised bogs, the "Brägeler Moor" and the "Südlohner Moor". The "Südlohner Moor" is a protected landscape.[2][3] A small part of the "Steinfelder Moor" is protected too.[4] It lies in Kroge-Ehrendorf, south of the federal road B214.
Protected landscape "Südlohner Moor"
Protected landscape "Steinfelder Moor"
Fishing pond "Runenbrock"
Districts
Bokern
Brägel
Brettberg
Brockdorf
Hamberg
Hopen
Krimpenfort
Kroge-Ehrendorf
Lerchental
Lohnerwiesen
Märschendorf
Meyerfelde
Moorkamp
Mühlenkamp
Nordlohne
Rießel
Schellohne
Südlohne
Voßberg
Vulhop
Wichel
Zentrum
Zerhusen
Neighbourship of Lohne
The neighbourship of Lohne, clockwise, start in the north:
As a "city of special industries", Lohne has also made a name for itself nationwide. As early as 1900, Lohne had an injection moulding factory, a machine factory, two paintbrush and one brush factories, a mechanical weaving mill, a sausage factory, several brickworks including cement industry, a peat factory, a cardboard packaging factory and a large number of other production facilities. Lohne's industry was characterized less by size than by its specialization. Since the 1950s, the plastics industry has been the mainstay of the Lohner economy. Today, metalworking companies, machinery and equipment manufacturers, packaging and cartonboard companies, cork manufacturers, as well as the food industry, agriculture and the construction trades ensure that there is a wide variety of industries in Lohne.
The fact that Lohne, as a middle center, is in the same order as the middle center of Vechta, the capital of the district, is shown by the fact, that most of the professional schools in the district are located in Lohne.
Every Thursday and Saturday there is a weekly market on the "Alter Markt", occasionally also on the "Rixheimer Platz".
Plastic industries
Established plastic industries in Lohne are:
ATKA Kunststoffverarbeitung
delo Dettmer-Verpackungen
Franz Henke Kunststoffwerk & Werkzeugbau
Kronen-Hansa-Werk
Nowack
Polytec Rießelmann
Pöppelmann
RPC Bramlage
Other companies
Lohne has a wide range of small, medium and large companies. These are for example:
Lohne lies on the A1 freeway (European route E 37) between Bremen and Osnabrück. It can be reached via the exit Lohne / Dinklage.
The train station lies on the Delmenhorst–Hesepe railway, which is operated by the NordWestBahn. Trains run every hour as RB 58 to Osnabrück and Bremen. Until 1999, a Lohne-Dinklage narrow-gauge railway was in operation; passenger transport ended in 1954. Meanwhile, most of the tracks have been converted into a bike path. In November 2013, the call bus system "Moobilplus Vechta" was put into operation in the district of Vechta, in which Lohne is involved. Every hour a bus operates between Dinklage, Lohne and the Lohner municipality Märschendorf.
Other buses run, including "Weser-Ems-Buses", for example to Damme and Diepholz.
From the 1920s there were plans to build a channel called "Hansakanal". It would pass through the middle of Lohne, and would connect the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region with the seaports of Bremen and Hamburg. In 1950 the plan was finally abandoned.
According to the 2011 Census, 67.6% of the population were Roman Catholic, 15.8% were Evangelical, and 16.7% were either non-religious, belonged to other religious communities, or did not specify their affiliation.[6] In early 2022, 55.7% of the residents were Catholic, 13.4% were Evangelical, and 30.9% were non-religious or belonged to other faith communities.[7] In early 2023, 53.7% of the people in Lohne were Catholic, and 13% were Evangelical.[8] Other religions and non-religious individuals together accounted for 33%.
The number of Protestants and Catholics has decreased during the observed period.
Catholic Churches
Lohne and its districts have the following Catholic churches:
Catholic churches St. Gertrud (left) and St. Josef (right), viewed from the observation tower
Parish Church St. Gertrud, the namesake of the corresponding church community
Filial Church St. Josef
Filial Church St. Maria-Goretti (Brockdorf)
Pilgrimage and Chapel of Grace St. Anna Klus
Filial Church Herz Jesu (Kroge/Ehrendorf)
Chapel Rießel
Evangelical Churches
Catholic Cemetery and Evangelical Church St. Michael
St. Michael's Church, the namesake of the corresponding church community[9]
By German law, cities between 25,001 and 30,000 citizens must have 36 councillors (German Stadträte), Lohne has only 35. The party AFD won 2 seats for council, but only one candidate on their ticket. The 2nd seat was withdrawn. The legislative period is 5 years.
Mayor
In 2011, Tobias Gerdesmeyer was elected as mayor (CDU). He was common representative for the mayor (2008–11) before he succeeded Hans Georg Niesel (mayor 2001–2011) as mayor.
Coat of arms
On 3 January 1912, the grand duke of Oldenburg granted the coat of arms. The shield is divided into four quarters (party per quarterly). The upper left quarter shows gold and red fesses, the lower right quarter shows a golden cross on blue ground. They are the same as in the coat of arms of the grand duke. The upper right quarter shows a church on white ground. It displays the modest character of Lohne in union with the Catholic Church. The lower left square shows a wing on a crown. The crown is symbolic of wage and price of the bourgeois activity (Lohn und Preis der bürgerlichen Regsamkeit). The wing is symbolic of the significant feather industry in Lohne in the early 19th century.