Oosterwijtwerd

Oosterwijtwerd is a small village and former municipality in the municipality of Eemsdelta in the Dutch province of Groningen. It lies north of the Groningen - Delfzijl railway line and the N360, between Loppersum and Appingedam. The village has 150 inhabitants. Oosterwijtwerd is built on a wierde at the edge of the former Fivelboezem, which originated around the beginning of the Common Era. The name wijtwerd is composed of the words widu and weerd. The prefix Ooster was added after the Middle Ages to distinguish the village from Westerwijtwerd. The current maren are originally tidal channels and creeks in the original salt marsh area. The western boundary of the wierde is the Godlinzermaar, which flows west of the village together with the Leermenstermaar and the Spijkstermaar into the Oosterwijtwerdermaar, which discharges far to the south of the village into the Damsterdiep. In 1536, the village was destroyed by troops of Meindert van Ham. The eastern undeveloped part of the wierde was excavated around 1900. That part is referred to as the empty wier. Later, the westernmost part was also excavated, for which even a farm was moved. With the excavations, the village also lost its radial wierde structure.

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