This German re gion east of the Dutch province of Groningen has several historic bonds with the Netherlands. During the Middle Ages, representatives from all Frisiancountries gathered here annually, near the present cap ital Aurich. This meeting was called the Upstalboom. In the 16th cen tury, the Eastern Frisian harbor city of Emden was a port of refuge for many Dutch Calvinists. Consequently, many Eastern Frisian churches have remained Calvinistic and have used the Dutchlanguagefor cen turies. Furthermore, the States General paid for Dutch garrisons in Emden (from 1595) and Leerort (from 1611) until 1744. Then, the Eastern Frisian dynasty of the Cirksenas died out and their land was in corporated in the Kingdom of Prussia. Between 1807 and 1810, East ern Frisia was a departementof the Kingdom of Holland. Finally, the Ems-Dollart region is one of the five European Union (EU) cross border “Euregions” along the Dutch-German border, founded in 1977 in order to stimulate its economic and cultural development.
Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands. EdwART. 2012.