The name “Weser-Engern” is not a term you will find elsewhere. More typically, the region is divided along a North-South axis. To the north, often called “Weser-Ems,” the borders follow those of the ancient Prince-Bishopric of Verden and the Imperial City of Bremen on the coastal plains. To the south, a region sometimes referred to as “East Westphalia,” the hills of the Teutoburg Forest were divided among countless minor principalities, a legacy of the ancient Saxon Kingdom. My borders trace the influence of the Weser as a conduit of ideas and trade, from the confluence of the Fulda to the North Sea.

The name “Engern” is much more enigmatic and refers to the Angrivarii tribe of the Saxon people, as mentioned by Tacitus. Engern is a later German pronunciation of this word and came to refer to the central region of the Saxon Homeland, sitting between Westphalia and Eastphalia. The historical area of Engern almost exactly describes the area I marked on the map, though these borders had no historical impact beyond the early Middle Ages. More generally, I use it as a geographic indicator to describe the cultural landscape of the Weser River.