Historic Town Center of Schüttorf

Schüttorf is the oldest town in the county. A large part of the old city wall can still be seen and still surrounds the actual nucleus of the city for a good part. With the large church and the old town hall you have the most striking buildings right next to each other.

Taxes While the town of Schüttorf was granted complete tax exemption in the town charter of 1295, the town charter of 1465 states: "our town and citizens [...] shall not be burdened with unusual shading". Taxes were therefore levied. Initially, taxes were calculated per head of livestock, but from 1638 onwards also per fireplace. Special taxes were imposed in the 15th century for the Hussite Wars, in the 16th century for averting the Turkish threat and fighting the Anabaptists. Towards the end of the 17th century, war contributions increased and foreign troops were even quartered in Schüttorf; this led to the town being in dire financial straits. In 1682, the Count of Bentheim was even forced to collect taxes with the help of the troops.

Schüttorf is located in the extreme southwest of Lower Saxony, around ten kilometers from the border with the Netherlands. In terms of cultural landscape and natural area, the city lies in the transition area between Emsland and Westphalia. The surrounding area is rural. Middle-sized towns nearby include Nordhorn and Rheine. The city is crossed and divided in the middle in a southeast-northwest direction by the river Vechte, which then flows into the Netherlands. The highest point in the city is around 48 meters above sea level. Schüttorf is located on the foothills of the wooded Bentheimer Berg, a sandstone formation from the Cretaceous period up to 80 meters high, the western foothills of the Teutoburg Forest. The city only has a small part of the Bentheimer Forest, a total of around 89 hectares of forest area belong to the city area, which is eight percent of the total area. To the north of the city there is a former heathland, which is now mainly used for agriculture. Even before the First World War, there were large areas of heathland in the city. The last heathland was converted into agricultural land in 1993. A special feature was a dune area made of blown sand. However, this sand was mined and recycled in the middle of the 20th century. The district around these former dunes is still popularly known today as "Morocco" or in Low German as Witten Over (the White Bank) because of the area's former "desert-like" character. dewiki.de/Lexikon/Sch%C3%BCttorf