DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Niedersachsen	Lower Saxony
Landkreis: Friesland

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Jever is situated at an elevation of 9 m in the Jeverland, the northern part of the districtFriedland, of which Jever is the administrative seat. The municipality has a population of about 14,000 (2015).

Archaeological findings in the vicinity of Jever suggest that the area has been inhabited since the neolithic era. The 9th century epic Gudrunlied mentions the Danish dominion of Friesland and contains a reference to Givers in the area of Sande which is probably the first record of Jever. A further reference in 1158 notes a town by the name of Geverae, the latinisiation of the low German Geveren or Gaveren ("pasture", or alternatively "Place of the Thing"). During the 10th and 11th centuries Jever was a port and had access to the North Sea via both the Jade and the Harlebucht. Over time however land movements meant the access to the sea disappeared and the later construction of dikes has now left Jever well inland. Nevertheless, Jever retained importance as a trading post. Jever was granted rights as a town in 1347. Around the turn of the 15th century the town continued to be a prosperous trading center. The last chieftain of the Jeverland was Edo Wiemken the Younger who, in 1505, completed the reconstruction of the castle and is buried in the city church. After Edo's death Jever came under the control of Edzard I, Count of East Frisia. However Maria of Jever, the daughter of Edo restored the city's independence, and in 1536 whilst under her rule Jever received its city rights which has led to the city’s unofficial title as "Marienstadt". After Maria's death in 1575, Jever became part of the Oldenburg territories. In 1667 Jever was through distaff passed under control of the Anhalt-Zerbst. After Prince Frederick August died in 1793, the male-line of Anhalt-Zerbst perished and its territories were split. Jeverland was then given to Catherine II of Russia, formerly Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst and Frederick August's sole surviving sibling. It remained Russian until Napoleon's armies occupied it in 1807. Between 1808 and 1810 it was part of the Kingdom of Holland, a Napoleonic vassal state. When the French were forced to withdraw in 1813, Russia regained possession of Jever and gave it to the new grand dukes of Oldenburg in 1818.

Jever castle [top picture] was first built by Edo Wiemken the Elder in 1416 but was destroyed by the East Frisians in 1420. Edo's successor rebuilt the castle in 1428, it was finally completed in 1505 by Edo the Younger. The Baroque tower was added in 1736. Since 1921 the castle is home of a museum on the history and archaeology of the Jeverland.

The town hall [bottom right picture] was built in 1609–1616. the original gable was replaced by the current, much simpler one in 1836. In 1963, the entire town hall, excluding the outer fa¸ade, was broken off and was rebuilt entirely.

The Kiebitzbecher (Peewit Beaker) [bottom left picture] is a silver beaker that in 1883 was given as a gift from Otto von Bismarck, Germany's first chancellor, to the city of Jever as the city since 1871 had been sending him 101 peewit eggs for his birthday on 1 April of each year (and continued to do so until Bismarck's death in 1898). The silver beaker is guilded inside and has a capacity of one litre.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jever, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jever; https://www.welt.de/welt_print/article3475170/Kiebitzeier-fuer-den-Eisernen-Kanzler.html]