Nordhorn - Name's Origin

Name's Origin

One story holds that the town's name – which means "North Horn" – came about when the town was under attack, in which case a horn – the so-called Nothorn or emergency horn – was blown by the watchmen to warn the Vechteinsel (Vechte Island) inhabitants and also to call for help. Since the town lay north of Bentheim (now Bad Bentheim) and its castle, it is said that this yielded the name Nordhorn.

A horn, however, was also used by the boatmen on the river Vechte to warn each other of ships’ movements in fog. Indeed, since the 1970s, the Tuter ("Tooter"), a bronze memorial to the beginnings of inland shipping, has stood at the old harbour.

Since a settlement with a harbour arose between Schüttorf and Emlichheim in the Early Middle Ages whose coat of arms bore a horn as a charge, it seems likely that Nordhorn could have arisen from this.

A more scientifically based variation on what the arms mean holds that "horn" is meant in the sense of "pointed end", making "Nordhorn" a northern point – the jutting northerly end of a field into the Vechte Valley. Heinrich Specht pointed this out in his 1941 town chronicle in reference to the spur, or "horn", of land on which the town's first centre was built. (Lit.: Nordhorn Geschichte einer Grenzstadt. Publisher: Heimatverein der Grafschaft Bentheim)

A more fanciful story holds that the locals once worshipped the god Nod, Node or Nothe, the beginning of whose festival was heralded by blows on ox and cow horns. To pay homage to him, holy fire, called Nodfyr, was lit either by striking flintstones or by rubbing dry sticks together. From the god's name and the hornblowing, the town's name is said to have come.

The name, of course, actually has nothing to do with any emergency horn or any god named Nod. "No(r)dhorn" is perhaps similar to the "Maa(r)s", "Meu(r)s" or "Marsh" river. That is what has caused the confusion; a silent "r" or a difficulty in pronouncing the "r" due to the proximity to France.

Nordhorn is called Nothoorn or Notthöörntin in the local speech. In the compilation Werdener Heberigister, the town's name is recorded in 890 as Norhthornon (note the silent "r") and in 1050 as Northornon. In 1184 it is Northorne. On town seals between 1400 and 1715 also appears the form Northorne, and only from 1827 forth does it become Nordhorn. (Lit.: Specht, 1941/1979) Perhaps this is similar to "Surhdt", Libya. Hence the words Sur, Sud, and South.