Emden, Germany

At the end of the 16th century, Emden experienced a period of great prosperity. Due to the Spanish blockade of Flemish and Brabant ports at the start of the Dutch Revolt, Emden became the most important transshipment port on the North Sea. Thousands of Protestant refugees came from Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant to the Protestant town of Emden to escape persecution by the Spanish rulers of the Low Countries. During this period, Emden was predominantly Calvinist and came into conflict with the Lutheran counts of East Friesland. The Synod of Emden in 1571 is generally considered to be the founding of the Dutch Reformed Church, the oldest of the Reformed churches in the Netherlands.

The Emden Revolution in 1595 resulted in Emden becoming a distinct city-state. With the support of the Dutch Republic, Emden became a free government city under the protection of the Dutch Republic. The Brabantian dialect became the official language of trade and civil administration. Emden was a very rich city during the 17th century, due to large numbers of Dutch and Flemish immigrants such as Diederik Jansz Graeff. It was a centre of reformed Protestantism at that time. The political theorist Johannes Althusius served as Syndic from 1604 to 1638.

In 1744, Emden was annexed by Prussia. The Emden Convention, signed on 14 March 1744, was a treaty that formalised Prussia's annexation of East Frisia after the local Cirksena dynasty died out. It recognised the rights and privileges of the city of Emden and the regional estates. Carl Edzard, the last Count of East Frisia, assumed power in 1734, but faced opposition from Emden and other estates, leading to political and economic isolation. Emden sought to regain its status as a trading hub and looked to Prussia for help. In exchange for recognising Prussia’s claim to East Frisia, Emden demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops, the return of sequestered assets and the relocation of the estate treasury to Emden. Prussia, under Frederick II, aimed to secure its claim to East Frisia, relying on a 1694 decree from Emperor Leopold I. Negotiations led by Sebastian Anton Homfeld resulted in two treaties being signed on 14 March 1744. These agreements upheld Emden’s status and granted the city special economic and administrative privileges. After Carl Edzard’s death on 25 May 1744, Prussia quickly occupied East Frisia without resistance and the region soon swore allegiance to the Prussian crown. Foreign troops withdrew from the area.

In 1752 Frederick the Great chartered the Emden Company to trade with Canton, but the company was ruined when Emden was captured by French forces in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. The city was recaptured by Anglo-German forces in 1758 and was used as a major supply base by the British for the rest of the conflict to support the ongoing war in Westphalia. During the Napoleonic Wars, Emden and the surrounding lands of East Frisia were part of the short-lived Kingdom of Holland.

Industrialisation started at around 1870, with a paper mill and a somewhat bigger shipyard. At the end of the 19th century, a big canal, the Dortmund-Ems Canal was constructed, which connected Emden to the Ruhr area. This made Emden the "seaport of the Ruhr area", which lasted until the 1970s. Coal from the south was transported to the North Sea port, and imported iron ore was shipped towards the Rhine and the Ruhr via the canal. The last iron-ore freighter was moored in the port of Emden in 1986. In 1903, a large shipyard (Nordseewerke, "North Sea Works") was founded, which was in operation until 2010.

During World War II, Emden was repeatedly targeted by Allied bombing raids, which destroyed most of the town centre. The Royal Air Force (RAF) launched its first bombing raid over Emden on 31 March 1940, and both the RAF and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) continued to launch raids on the town for the duration of the war. On 6 September 1944, the RAF and USAAF launched their largest bombing raid on Emden, which destroyed approximately 80% of all the buildings in the town centre. However, in contrast to the rest of the town, the Emden shipyards were left largely unaffected by the bombing raids. After the war, Emden came under Allied occupation and rebuilding efforts commenced. The current town hall was officially opened in Emden on 6 September 1962, exactly 18 years after the 1944 raid.