Schüttorf

Schüttorf is a town in the County of Bentheim in southwesternmost Lower Saxony near the Dutch border and the boundary with Westphalia (North Rhine-Westphalia). The town of Schüttorf forms with the surrounding communities the Joint Community ("Samtgemeinde") of Schüttorf. It is on the river Vechte, about 5 km east of Bad Bentheim, and 20 km southeast of Nordhorn.
Geography.
Place and landscape description.
The town of Schüttorf is in southwesternmost Lower Saxony and in the westernmost part of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is about 10 km to the Dutch border. It is in a transitional zone between the Emsland and Westphalia.
The town is crossed through the middle southeast to northwest by the river Vechte, which farther downstream flows into the Netherlands. The town's highest point rises to 48 m above sea level. Schüttorf is in the foothills of the "Bentheimer Berg", a great sandstone formation from the Cretaceous rising to 80 m and a wooded western outlier of the Teutoburg Forest. Only a small piece of the Bentheim Forest is in the town. All together, about 89 ha of woodland is found within the town, making up 8% of the town's total land area.
Neighbouring communities.
The town of Schüttorf mainly borders on other members of the Joint Community, namely Samern in the southeast, Quendorf in the northwest and Engden in the north. Within the district of the County of Bentheim, Schüttorf borders on the town of Bad Bentheim in the west. In the east, the town limit is also part of the boundary with the neighbouring district of Emsland, bordering there on Ahlde, an outlying centre of the community of Emsbüren. There is found – only 2 km from Schüttorf – a small conservation area with a heath pond.