On the edge of the site where the village's original centre was, settlement spread outwards. The shape that the village has today was brought about not least of all by the Vechte Valley with its broad floodplain and, in the more recent past, by farmlands abutting the village site. The village's name was first mentioned in 1213 in the monosyllabic form “On” (in German, a final "-e" is usually pronounced, and given the “schwa” sound, making the name “Ohne” two syllables).