1.
Districts of Germany
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A German district is an administrative subdivision known as Landkreis, except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where it is known simply as Kreis. Most major cities in Germany are not part of a rural district, in this context, those cities are referred to as Kreisfreie Stadt or Stadtkreis. Rural districts are at a level of administration between the German states and the municipal governments. They correspond to level 3 administrative units of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, previously, the similar title Reichskreis was given to groups of states in the Holy Roman Empire. The related term Landeskommissariat was used for administrative divisions in some German territories until the 19th century. The majority of German districts are rural districts of which there are 295, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not usually belong to a district, but take over district responsibilities themselves, similar to the concept of independent cities. These are known as urban districts —cities which constitute a district in their own there are currently 107 of them. As of 2011, approximately 25 million people live in these 107 urban districts, in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen, Paderborn, Bergisch Gladbach, Neuss and Moers. Nevertheless, these cities take over many district responsibilities themselves, although they are part of a larger rural district. Midsize towns can perform particular administrative functions of the district as well, the classification as midsize town is usually based on a towns registered population, but varies from state to state. Aachen, Hanover and Göttingen retain certain rights of an urban district, urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities. The district council is the highest institution of a district and is responsible for all fundamental guidelines of regional self-administration. This council is elected every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years. Usually the administrative seat of a district is located in one of its largest towns. However, district council and administrative seat of rural districts are not situated within the district proper. Most of those districts are named after this central city as well. Moers is the biggest city in Germany that is neither an urban district, in parts of northern Germany, Landrat is also the name of the entire district administration, which in southern Germany is known as Kreisverwaltung or Landratsamt. In urban districts similar administrative functions are performed by a mayor, rural districts in some German states have an additional administrative commission called Kreisausschuss
2.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
3.
States of Germany
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Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen federal states. Since todays Germany was formed from a collection of several states, it has a federal constitution. The remaining 13 states are called Flächenländer, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 was through the unification of the western states created in the aftermath of World War II. West Berlin, while not part of the Federal Republic, was largely integrated and considered as a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, in 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as the Saarland. Federalism is one of the constitutional principles of Germany. After 1945, new states were constituted in all four zones of occupation, in 1949, the states in the three western zones formed the Federal Republic of Germany. This is in contrast to the development in Austria, where the Bund was constituted first. The use of the term Länder dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, before this time, the constituent states of the German Empire were called Staaten. Today, it is common to use the term Bundesland. However, this term is not used officially, neither by the constitution of 1919 nor by the Basic Law of 1949, three Länder call themselves Freistaaten, Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. He summarizes the arguments for boundary reform in Germany. The German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation, too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated. But several proposals have failed so far, territorial reform remains a topic in German politics. Federalism has a tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states numbering more than 300 around 1796, the number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars. After the Congress of Vienna,39 states formed the German Confederation, the new German Empire included 25 states and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The empire was dominated by Prussia, which controlled 65% of the territory, after the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation
4.
Lower Saxony
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Lower Saxony is a German state situated in northwestern Germany and is second in area, with 47,624 square kilometres, and fourth in population among the sixteen Länder of Germany. In rural areas Northern Low Saxon, a dialect of Low German, and Saterland Frisian, a variety of Frisian, are still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining. Lower Saxony borders on the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other, its city of Bremerhaven. In fact, Lower Saxony borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland, the states principal cities include the state capital Hanover, Braunschweig, Lüneburg, Osnabrück, Oldenburg, Hildesheim, Wolfenbüttel, Wolfsburg and Göttingen. The northwestern area of Lower Saxony, which lies on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia, in the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, a traditionally poor and sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plains, is almost invariably flat except for the hills around the Bremen geestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of the German Central Uplands, the Weser Uplands, between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges. Thus, Lower Saxony is the only Bundesland that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas, Lower Saxonys major cities and economic centres are mainly situated in its central and southern parts, namely Hanover, Braunschweig, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg, Salzgitter, Hildesheim and Göttingen. Oldenburg, near the coastline, is another economic centre. To the north, the Elbe river separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the banks just south of the Elbe are known as Altes Land. Due to its local climate and fertile soil, it is the states largest area of fruit farming. Most of the territory was part of the historic Kingdom of Hanover. It was created by the merger of the State of Hanover with several states in 1946. Lower Saxony has a boundary in the north in the North Sea. The state and city of Bremen is an enclave surrounded by Lower Saxony. The Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region is a body for the enclave area. To the southeast the state border runs through the Harz, low mountains that are part of the German Central Uplands, in northeast Lower Saxony is Lüneburg Heath
5.
Goslar
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Goslar is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines of Rammelsberg are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Goslar is situated in the middle of the upper half of Germany, about 40 kilometres south of Braunschweig and about 70 km southeast of the state capital Hannover. The Schalke mountain is the highest elevation within the boundaries at 762 metres. The lowest point of 175 m is near the Oker river, in the northeast the Harly Forest stretches down to the Oker river, in the east Goslar borders on the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Immediately to the south, the Harz range rise above the borough at a height of 636 m at Mt. Rammelsberg. The major rivers crossing the boundaries is the Oker with its Gose/Abzucht. The eponymic Gose River originates approximately 9 kilometres south-west of Goslar at the Auerhahn Pass east of the Bocksberg mountain, at the northern foot of the Herzberg it meets the smaller Abzucht stream, before it flows into the Oker. The Dörpke and Gelmke streams also flow from the Harz foothills to the south into the Goslar municipal area, liebenburg, Schladen-Werla, Osterwieck, Bad Harzburg, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, and Langelsheim. The township currently comprises 18 districts, Salian Emperor Henry I founded the town in the 10th century after the discovery of deposits in the nearby Rammelsberg. The wealth derived from silver mining brought Goslar the status of an Imperial City, the medieval Imperial Palace was built in the 11th century and became a summer residence for the emperors, especially Henry III of Germany who visited his favourite palace about twenty times. Henrys heart is buried in Goslar, his body in the vault in Speyer Cathedral. In the winter of 1798, the coldest of the century, to dispel homesickness he started to write a few verses about his childhood, which would eventually evolve into the masterpiece that was published in thirteen volumes after his death as The Prelude. Goslars medieval cathedral was built at the time as the medieval Imperial Palace, but only the porch survived. Other sights are the town hall and the ancient mines of the Rammelsberg, during the Cold War, Goslar was a major garrison town for the West German army and the Border police. After the fall of the Berlin wall, the barracks were vacated and it is host to several productions of visiting theatre companies and music groups. The alternative theatre Culture Power Station Harz or Kulturkraftwerk Harz is housed in a disused powerstation, being run by volunteers, it produces contemporary theatre, comedy and hosts mostly alternative cultural events. The oldest and most traditional sports club is the MTV Goslar and its main facilities, a football pitch and gymnasium are located at the Golden Meadow site
6.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
7.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
8.
Vehicle registration plate
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A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or a license plate, is metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the owner within the issuing regions database. The first two letters indicate the state to which the vehicle is registered, the next two digit numbers are the sequential number of a district. Due to heavy volume of vehicle registration, the numbers were given to the RTO offices of registration as well, the third part indicates the year of registration of the vehicle and is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the government holds a monopoly on the manufacturing of vehicle registration plates for that jurisdiction. Thus, it is illegal for private citizens to make and affix their own plates. Alternately, the government will merely assign plate numbers, and it is the owners responsibility to find an approved private supplier to make a plate with that number. In some jurisdictions, plates will be assigned to that particular vehicle for its lifetime. If the vehicle is destroyed or exported to a different country. Other jurisdictions follow a policy, meaning that when a vehicle is sold the seller removes the current plate from the vehicle. Buyers must either obtain new plates or attach plates they already hold, as well as register their vehicles under the buyers name, a person who sells a car and then purchases a new one can apply to have the old plates put onto the new car. One who sells a car and does not buy a new one may, depending on the laws involved, have to turn the old plates in or destroy them. Some jurisdictions permit the registration of the vehicle with personal plates, in some jurisdictions, plates require periodic replacement, often associated with a design change of the plate itself. Vehicle owners may or may not have the option to keep their original plate number, alternately, or additionally, vehicle owners have to replace a small decal on the plate or use a decal on the windshield to indicate the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Plates are usually fixed directly to a vehicle or to a frame that is fixed to the vehicle. Sometimes, the plate frames contain advertisements inserted by the service centre or the dealership from which the vehicle was purchased. Vehicle owners can also purchase customized frames to replace the original frames, in some jurisdictions licence plate frames are illegal
9.
Northeim (district)
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Northeim is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Holzminden, Hildesheim, Goslar and Göttingen, in medieval times the area had been part of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Later the majority of it belonged to Hanover and then Prussia, in 1885 the Prussian government created districts in the newly acquired provinces. In 1884 the districts of Einbeck, Northeim, and Uslar were established, Northeim and Uslar were merged in 1932, and they were again merged with Einbeck in 1974. The districts area was enlarged in 1977, when some municipalities of neighbouring districts joined the Northeim district. The district is located in the Weserbergland mountains, the Weser forms the western border of the district. Another river, the Leine, runs through the district south to north. It is joined by the River Rhume which flows through the town of Northeim, metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg Media related to Landkreis Northeim at Wikimedia Commons Official website
10.
Hildesheim (district)
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Hildesheim is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Hanover, Peine, Wolfenbüttel, Goslar, Northeim, Holzminden, in 1885 the Prussian government established districts within the Province of Hanover. The present territory of the district was occupied by four districts, Hildesheim, Alfeld, Gronau, in 1932 the district of Gronau joined Alfeld, and the number of districts was reduced to three. The district of Alfeld remained in its former borders, in 1974 the city of Hildesheim lost its status as an urban district and became part of the surrounding district, which was renamed to Hildesheim. The districts of Hildesheim and Alfeld were merged in 1977, the district is located southeast of Hanover, and the northernmost parts border the Hanover metropolitan area. The northern half of the district is highly urbanised, while the south is covered with forests, between Leine and Innerste there are the forested hill chains of the Hildesheim Forest and the Sieben Berge. Marys Cathedral Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg Media related to Landkreis Hildesheim at Wikimedia Commons Official website
11.
Salzgitter
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Salzgitter is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven Oberzentren of Lower Saxony, with 109,142 inhabitants and 223.94 square kilometres, its area is the largest in Lower Saxony and one of the largest in Germany. The main shopping street of the city is in the borough of Lebenstedt. The city is connected to the Mittellandkanal and the Elbe-Seitenkanal by a distributary, the nearest metropolises are Braunschweig, about 23 kilometres to the northeast, and Hanover, about 51 km to the northwest. The population of the City of Salzgitter has exceeded 100,000 inhabitants since its foundation in 1942, beside Wolfsburg, Leverkusen and Eisenhüttenstadt, Salzgitter is therefore one of the few cities in Germany founded during the 20th century. Until 31 March 1942, Salzgitter was the name of a town where the borough Salzgitter-Bad now is, from then until 1951, Salzgitter was the name of a borough of the city Watenstedt-Salzgitter that existed at the time. Salzgitter is located in a bride dell coated with loess, between the Oderwald Forest and the Salzgitter-Höhenzug, the city stretches up to 24 km from north to south and up to 19 km from east to west. The highest point is the hill Hamberg, located northwest of Salzgitter-Bad, the following cities, towns and municipalities, listed clockwise beginning in the northeast, border on the city of Salzgitter. These 31 boroughs are combined to 7 towns, each town has an elected mayor and town council. The name was derived from the neighbouring village Gitter as up dem solte to Gytere, which means salt near Gitter, later, Salzgitter belonged to the diocese of Hildesheim. When the diocese was transferred to Prussia in 1803, the law was reconfirmed, but taken away once more in 1815. In 1830, a bath was established in Salzgitter. After the Kingdom of Hanover was transferred to Prussia in 1866, Salzgitter became a Prussian municipality, prior to that, the towns Vorsalz and Liebenhall had been incorporated. Salzgitter now belonged to the Landkreis of Goslar and included, apart from Salzgitter itself, also small settlements like Gittertor. In 1936, Kniestedt was incorporated, it is part of Salzgitter-Bad now. Due to the iron ore body in Salzgitter, which had been mentioned first in 1310. In order to facilitate an unobstructed development of the smelting works, therefore, it was decreed in the Order about the area settlement around the Hermann-Göring-Werke Salzgitter, effective from 1 April 1942, to form a unified city district. As the neighbouring municipality Gitter had already incorporated in 1938
12.
Saxony-Anhalt
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Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked federal state of Germany surrounded by the federal states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia. Its capital is Magdeburg and its largest city is Halle, Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of 20,447.7 square kilometres and has a population of 2.34 million. Saxony-Anhalt should not be confused with Saxony or Lower Saxony, also German states, Saxony-Anhalt is one of 16 Bundesländer of Germany. It is located in the part of eastern Germany. By size, it is the 8th largest state in Germany and it borders four fellow Bundesländer, Lower Saxony to the north-west, Brandenburg to the north-east, Saxony to the south-east, and Thuringia to the south-west. In the north, the Saxony-Anhalt landscape is dominated by plain, the old Hanseatic towns Salzwedel, Gardelegen, Stendal, and Tangermünde are located in the sparsely populated Altmark. The Colbitz-Letzlingen Heath and the Drömling near Wolfsburg mark the transition between the Altmark region and the Elbe-Börde-Heath region with its fertile, sparsely wooded Magdeburg Börde. Notable towns in the Magdeburg Börde are Haldensleben, Oschersleben, Wanzleben, Schönebeck, Aschersleben, the Harz mountains are located in the south-west, comprising the Harz National Park, the Harz Foreland and Mansfeld Land. The highest mountain of the Harz is Brocken, with an elevation of 1,141 meters, in this area, one can find the towns of Halberstadt, Wernigerode, Thale, Eisleben and Quedlinburg. The wine-growing area Saale-Unstrut and the towns of Zeitz, Naumburg, Weißenfels, the metropolitan area of Halle forms an agglomeration with Leipzig in Saxony. This area is known for its highly developed industry, with major production plants at Leuna, Schkopau. Finally, in the east, Dessau-Roßlau and Wittenberg are situated on the Elbe in the Anhalt-Wittenberg region, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt is Magdeburg. It is the second-largest city in the state, closely after Halle, from 1994 to 2003, the state was divided into three regions, Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg, and, below the regional level,21 districts. Since 2004, however, this system has replaced by 11 rural districts. In April 1945 the US Army took control of most of the western and northern area of the future Saxony-Anhalt, group Control Council, Germany appointed the first non-Nazi officials in leading positions in the area. So Erhard Hübener, furloughed by the Nazis, was reappointed Landeshauptmann. By early July the US Army withdrew from the former Prussian Province of Saxony to make way for the Red Army to take it as part of the Soviet occupation zone, the previously Saxon Erfurt governorate had become a part of Thuringia. For the earlier history see the articles of these entities before 1945
13.
Thuringia
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The Free State of Thuringia is a federal state in central Germany. It has an area of 16,171 square kilometres and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area, most of Thuringia is within the watershed of the Saale, a left tributary of the Elbe. Thuringia has been known as the heart of Germany from the late 19th century. It is home to the Rennsteig, Germanys most well-known hiking trail, half of Germanys 136 Winter Olympic gold medals have been won by Thuringian athletes. Johann Sebastian Bach spent the first part of his life and important further stages of his career in Thuringia, goethe and Schiller lived in Weimar and both worked at the University of Jena, which today hosts Thuringias most important science centre. Other Universities in this state are the Ilmenau University of Technology, the University of Erfurt. The name Thuringia or Thüringen derives from the Germanic tribe Thuringii, an older theory claims that they were successors of the Hermunduri, but later research rejected the idea. Other historians argue that the Thuringians were allies of the Huns, came to central Europe together with them, publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus first mentioned the Thuringii around 400, during that period, the Thuringii were famous for their excellent horses. The Thuringian Realm existed until after 531, the Landgraviate of Thuringia was the largest state in the region, after the Treaty of Leipzig, Thuringia had its own dynasty again, the Ernestine Wettins. Their various lands formed the Free State of Thuringia, founded in 1920, the Prussian territories around Erfurt, Mühlhausen and Nordhausen joined Thuringia in 1945. The coat of arms of Thuringia shows the lion of the Ludowingian Landgraves of 12th-century origin, the eight stars around it represent the eight former states which formed Thuringia. The flag of Thuringia is a bicolor, derived from the white. The coat of arms and flag of Hesse are quite similar to the Thuringian ones, symbols of Thuringia in popular culture are the Bratwurst and the Forest, because a large amount of the territory is forested. Named after the Thuringii tribe who occupied it around AD300, Thuringia became a landgraviate in 1130 AD. Most of the remaining Thuringia came under the rule of the Wettin dynasty of the nearby Margraviate of Meissen, in Mühlhausen and elsewhere, the Anabaptists found many adherents. Thomas Müntzer, a leader of some groups of this sect, was active in this city. Some reordering of the Thuringian states occurred during the German Mediatisation from 1795 to 1814, in 1920, after World War I, these small states merged into one state, called Thuringia, only Saxe-Coburg voted to join Bavaria instead. Weimar became the new capital of Thuringia, the coat of arms of this new state was simpler than those of its predecessors
14.
Nordhausen (district)
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Nordhausen is a Kreis in the north of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Harz and Mansfeld-Südharz in Saxony-Anhalt, the district Kyffhäuserkreis, Eichsfeld in Thuringia, the district was created in 1815, when the Prussian province Saxony was created. The area Lohra-Clettenberg and the free imperial city Nordhausen were thereafter administrated together. 1882/83 the city Nordhausen left the district, which led to the renaming of the district to Kreis Grafschaft Hohenstein in 1888, after World War II the district was named back to Landkreis Nordhausen, and in 1950 the city Nordhausen had to join the district again. The district is located in the foothills of the Harz mountains. Highest elevation is the Große Ehrenberg, with a height of 635.3 m above sea level, the main river in the district is the Zorge. To the south are the chains of the Dün, Hainleite and Windleite
15.
Prussia
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Prussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and centred on the region of Prussia. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised, Prussia, with its capital in Königsberg and from 1701 in Berlin, shaped the history of Germany. In 1871, German states united to create the German Empire under Prussian leadership, in November 1918, the monarchies were abolished and the nobility lost its political power during the German Revolution of 1918–19. The Kingdom of Prussia was thus abolished in favour of a republic—the Free State of Prussia, from 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the Prussian coup, when the Nazi regime was successfully establishing its Gleichschaltung laws in pursuit of a unitary state. Prussia existed de jure until its liquidation by the Allied Control Council Enactment No.46 of 25 February 1947. The name Prussia derives from the Old Prussians, in the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights—an organized Catholic medieval military order of German crusaders—conquered the lands inhabited by them. In 1308, the Teutonic Knights conquered the region of Pomerelia with Gdańsk and their monastic state was mostly Germanised through immigration from central and western Germany and in the south, it was Polonised by settlers from Masovia. The Second Peace of Thorn split Prussia into the western Royal Prussia, a province of Poland, and the part, from 1525 called the Duchy of Prussia. The union of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 led to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, Prussia entered the ranks of the great powers shortly after becoming a kingdom, and exercised most influence in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century it had a say in many international affairs under the reign of Frederick the Great. During the 19th century, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck united the German principalities into a Lesser Germany which excluded the Austrian Empire. At the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the map of Europe following Napoleons defeat, Prussia acquired a section of north western Germany. The country then grew rapidly in influence economically and politically, and became the core of the North German Confederation in 1867, and then of the German Empire in 1871. The Kingdom of Prussia was now so large and so dominant in the new Germany that Junkers and other Prussian élites identified more and more as Germans and less as Prussians. In the Weimar Republic, the state of Prussia lost nearly all of its legal and political importance following the 1932 coup led by Franz von Papen. East Prussia lost all of its German population after 1945, as Poland, the main coat of arms of Prussia, as well as the flag of Prussia, depicted a black eagle on a white background. The black and white colours were already used by the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Order wore a white coat embroidered with a cross with gold insert
16.
Harz
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The Harz is a Mittelgebirge that has the highest elevations in Northern Germany and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart, the Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz with an elevation of 1,141.1 metres above sea level. The Wurmberg is the highest peak located entirely within the state of Lower Saxony, the Harz has a length of 110 kilometres, stretching from the town of Seesen in the northwest to Eisleben in the east, and a width of 35 kilometres. The following districts fall wholly or partly within the Harz, Goslar and Osterode am Harz in the west, Harz and Mansfeld-Südharz in the north and east, and Nordhausen in the south. The districts of the Upper Harz are Goslar and Osterode, whilst the Lower Harz is on the territory of Harz and Mansfeld-Südharz districts. The Upper Harz is generally higher and features fir forests, whilst the Lower Harz gradually descends into the area and has deciduous forests interspersed with meadows. The dividing line between Upper and Lower Harz follows approximately a line from Ilsenburg to Bad Lauterberg, which separates the catchment areas for the Weser. Only on the perimeter of the Upper Harz, which is also called the High Harz. Its highest peak is the Brocken, its peaks are the Heinrichshöhe to the southeast. Other prominent hills in the Harz are the Acker-Bruchberg ridge, the Achtermannshöhe, in the far east, the mountains merge into the East Harz foothills, which are dominated by the Selke Valley. Part of the south Harz lies in the Thuringian district of Nordhausen, the Harz National Park is located in the Harz, the protected area covers the Brocken and surrounding wilderness area. Approximately 600,000 people live in towns and villages of the Harz Mountains, because of the heavy rainfall in the region the rivers of the Harz Mountains were dammed from an early date. Examples of such dams are the two largest, the Oker Dam and the Rappbode Dam. The clear, cool water of the streams was also dammed by early mountain folk to form the various mountain ponds of the Upper Harz waterways. The 17 dams in the Harz block a total of twelve rivers, because the Harz is one of the regions of Germany that experiences the most rainfall, its water power was used from early times. Today the dams are used to generate electricity, to provide drinking water, to prevent flooding. Modern dam-building began in the Harz with the construction of the Söse Valley Dam, the dams of the Upper Harz lakes are some of the oldest dams in Germany that are still in operation. → See List of dams in the Harz The largest rivers in the Harz are the Innerste, the Oker and the Bode in the north, the Wipper in the east, the Innerste merges into the Leine and its tributaries are the Nette and the Grane
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Harz National Park
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Harz National Park is a nature reserve in the German federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises large portions of the western Harz mountain range, extending from Herzberg, 95% of the area is covered with forests, mainly with spruce and beech woods, including several bogs, granite rocks and creeks. The park is part of the Natura 2000 network of the European Union, as the former inner German border ran through the Harz, large parts of the range were prohibited areas, that apart from the fortifications had remained completely unaffected for decades. Today the park covers parts of the districts of Goslar, Osterode, rare animals of the Harz National Park include the dipper, the black stork, peregrine falcon, the European wildcat and especially the Eurasian lynx. The last lynx in the Harz Mountains had been shot in 1818, since 2002 several wild lynxes gave birth. An attempt to return the capercaillie however did not succeed, the 24,700 hectares of the Harz National Park cover about 10 per cent of the total area of the Harz. The park lies in the part of the Harz and stretches from Wernigerode and Ilsenburg in the north to Herzberg. Near its perimeter the park terrain is about 230 m above sea level in the north and 270 m above NN in the south, several rivers have their sources in the national park, including the Bode, the Oder and the Ilse, a tributary of the Oker. Other dams and lakes within or bordering on the park include the Ecker Dam. The highest elevations are the Brocken, the Bruchberg and the Achtermann, the present, pan-state Nationalpark Harz was formed on 1 January 2006 from the merger of the old park of the same name in Lower Saxony and the High Harz National Park in Saxony-Anhalt. Since the merger the head of this nature conservation area has been Andreas Pusch. The park included parts of the eastern Harz, roughly from the Ecker Dam. The region is characterised by a relatively undisturbed plant and animal environment, in the German Democratic Republic era, the Brocken was accessible until 1961 with an easily obtained pass. From 13 August 1961 it became an area, which meant that tourists could no longer visit it. In the mid-1980s the first problems appeared in the Harz, such as bark beetle, in the wake of the spirit of optimism during the time around reunification it was exactly this that gave impetus for the establishment of the national park. On 1 January 1991 a national headquarters in Wernigerode was set up under the leadership of Hubertus Hlawatsch. Hlawatschs successor was Peter Gaffert, who ran the park from 1995 until its merger with the Harz National Park in the western Harz on 1 January 2006. The Lower Saxon part of the park was opened on 1 January 1994 after four years of preparation and its founding father was Dr. Wolf-Eberhard Barth
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Wurmberg (Harz)
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At 971 m above sea level the Wurmberg is the second highest mountain in the Harz and the highest in Lower Saxony. The Wurmberg lies north of Braunlage, in the district of Goslar and its summit is located due south of the Brocken and roughly 400 m south of the state border with Saxony-Anhalt. The two mountains are separated by the valley of the Kalte Bode, which in this area is about 660 m above NN, until October 2006, the Wurmberg lay within the Upper Harz Nature Reserve. Since then only two areas totalling 183 hectares in area on the west and southwest slopes have been designated as the Wurmberg Nature Reserve, the Kleine Wurmbergklippe lies between the middle and valley stations of the gondola lift just under 100 m east of the lift route in spruce forest. On the topmost summit level of the crag there is a triangular offering cup, many legends, mostly about the Wild Hunter surround this artificially chiselled out rectangular hollow. The Wild Hunter usually epitomises the god Wodin in Germanic mythology, the named Wormberch had already surfaced by the 13th century in the documents and commodity schedules of the County of Regenstein-Blankenburg in connexion with the mining of iron ore. In the 19th century the mountain was still being called Wormsberg or Wormberg, around 1850 the first trig post was erected on the summit of the Wurmberg to assist in surveying the Harz mountains. It was replaced in 1890 by a tower, also used for trigonometric measurements. In 1922 the wooden ski jump was built with its 28 metre high starting tower, since the 1950s there has been a restaurant next to this tower. The Inner German Border that separated the West and East Germany during the Cold War, ran only a few hundred metres north, during the Cold War there was a listening post on the summit plateau. In 1972 the US Secret Services built an 81 m high tower and this station was demolished on 22 August 1994 and the debris removed. Since 1963/65 the Wurmberg gondola lift has run from Braunlage up the mountain, the construction of this lift was carried out in two sections, in 1997 the lift was then completely renovated. In a container on the summit is one of the 25 monitoring sites in the Lower Saxony air quality monitoring network, since September 2007 a 70 cm amateur radio relay station has also been located on Lower Saxony highest mountain. The relay has the callsign DB0WUR and transmits on 438.550 MHz and this enables large parts of Lower Saxony, Thuringia, Hesse and Saxony-Anhalt to be reached. Colloquially this flight of steps is known as the Heath Staircase, in 1856 Heinrich Pröhle reported in his Harz Legends that, continuing in a straight line from the steps, there was a stone path on the plateau leading to a round pile of stones. When he collected his tales of the Upper Harz in 1851 from the inhabitants of Braunlage, between 1949 and 1956 Walter Nowothnig carried out several archaeological digs on the Wurmberg. Nowothnigs excavations, rediscovered the stone path and also uncovered, at the end of the path, moreover, south of the path, the foundation of a small circular building was found. In 2006, another, larger rampart was found on the edge of the summit plateau
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Braunlage
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Braunlage is a town and health resort in the Goslar district in Lower Saxony in Germany. Situated within the Harz mountain range, south of the Brocken massif, Braunlages main business is tourism, nearby ski resorts include the Sonnenberg and the slopes on the Wurmberg. Braunlage is located on the Warme Bode, a headstream of the Bode river, the municipal area stretches along the southeastern rim of the Harz National Park from an elevation of 550 m up to 971 m at the Wurmberg summit. Other peaks in the vicinity include the Achtermannshöhe and the Hahnenklee Crags, Braunlage used to be served by the South Harz Railway Company, providing a link to the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways via Sorge, but service was cut in 1958. First mentioned as Brunla in 1227, the town started out as a pit settlement in the Harz forests. It appeared as Brunenlo in a 1253 register of the Saxon counts of Regenstein and was revived, when their successors, with the extinction of the Blankenburg dynasty in 1599, Braunlage fell to the Dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. In the 17th century it was a small Brunswick market town located in the part of the former Blankenburg lands. Tourism developed from the late 19th century onwards, other branches of business were forestry, around 1910, one of the first interurban bus lines ran from Bad Harzburg up to Braunlage, served by Büssing vehicles. The Wurmberg Ski Jumps were erected in 1922, in 1934 Braunlage received town privileges and municipal status as a health resort. After World War II, Braunlage was located close to the fortified inner German border which ran through the Harz mountains. In 1963 it became the location of the Wurmberg Gondola Lift, today with a length of 2.8 kilometres, on 7 May 1964 Gerhard Zucker demonstrated a flight of mail rockets on the Hasselkopf hill. One of these exploded, killing two spectators. The townscape includes extended spa gardens The local hockey team Harzer Wölfe is an important part of the northern German Ice Hockey Culture, there were several ski jumps on the Wurmberg, which hosted international competitions such as the FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup until 2011. The Silberteich and the Hahnenkleeklippen on the way to Sankt Andreasberg are popular tourist destinations, the Dicke Tannen is a protected landscape of giant spruce trees near Hohegeiß. Braunlage travel guide from Wikivoyage Braunlage Tourism Braunlage at DMOZ
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Oker
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The Oker is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a tributary of the River Aller,105 kilometres in length. The rivers name was recorded around 830 as Obacra and, later, the origin of the name is derived from the roots ov- and -akara meaning “upper” and “onward rushing” as distinct from its tributary, the Ecker, whose name means only “onward rushing”. The Oker rises at about 910 metres in the Harz National Park in an area on the Bruchberg in the Harz mountains of central Germany. This early section is known as the Große Oker and it is impounded below Altenau by the Oker Dam, from the dam wall to the former village of Oker, which is today part of the borough of Goslar, the Oker is on certain occasions suitable for canoeing. This section, often called the Oker Valley, includes the Romkerhall Waterfall, here the Romke stream drops about 64 metres in height over a waterfall laid out in 1863 into the Oker. Downstream in the rivers fast-flowing waters, the Verlobungsinsel is to be found, left and right of the Oker in this area are many crags that are popular with climbers. In the Goslar vicinity of Oker the river is polluted with heavy metals from the slag heaps as well as groundwater. From the village of Oker the River Oker flows away in a direction to Vienenburg. After these two confluences the river continues southeast past the Harly Forest, after which it bends north to flow through Schladen, in south Brunswick the Oker is dammed by the Eisenbüttel Weir. In the Bürgerpark shortly before Brunswicks old town the Oker divides into the western and eastern bypass channels which circumnavigate the historic city centre at a higher level. These channels were laid in the 16th century as the moats of the towns defences. The actual course of the Oker through the centre of the town was covered and, today, the water level in the city area is controlled by the St. Peters Gate Weir in the western and the Wends Weir in the eastern ditch. It then flows down to its mouth into the River Aller, north of Schladen the royal palace of Werla was established on the banks about 20 metres above the river bed. Since the Expo 2000 bridges over the Oker in Brunswick and its area were artistically designed. Heavy metal pollution of the Oker Description of white water canoe section between Kraftwerk and Nachstaubecken with many photos Oste class fleet service ship
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Municipality
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It is to be distinguished from the county, which may encompass rural territory and/or numerous small communities such as towns, villages and hamlets. The term municipality may also mean the governing or ruling body of a given municipality, a municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district. The term is derived from French municipalité and Latin municipalis, a municipality can be any political jurisdiction from a sovereign state, such as the Principality of Monaco, or a small village, such as West Hampton Dunes, New York. The power of municipalities range from virtual autonomy to complete subordination to the state, municipalities may have the right to tax individuals and corporations with income tax, property tax, and corporate income tax, but may also receive substantial funding from the state. Similar terms include Spanish ayuntamiento, also called municipalidad, Polish gmina, Dutch/Flemish Gemeente, in Australia, the term local government area is used in place of the generic municipality. Here, the LGA Structure covers only incorporated areas of Australia, incorporated areas are legally designated parts of states and territories over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility. In Canada, municipalities are local governments established through provincial and territorial legislation, the Province of Ontario has different tiers of municipalities, including lower, upper, and single tiers. Types of upper tier municipalities in Ontario include counties and regional municipalities, nova Scotia also has regional municipalities, which include cities, counties, districts, or towns as municipal units. In India, a Nagar Palika or Municipality is a local body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more. Under the Panchayati Raj system, it directly with the state government. Generally, smaller cities and bigger towns have a Nagar Palika. Nagar Palikas are also a form of local self-government entrusted with duties and responsibilities. Such a corporation in Great Britain consists of a head as a mayor or provost, since local government reorganisation, the unit in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is known as a district, and in Scotland as a council area. A district may be awarded borough or city status, or can retain its district title, in Jersey, a municipality refers to the honorary officials elected to run each of the 12 parishes into which it is subdivided. This is the highest level of government in this jurisdiction. In the United States, municipality is usually understood as a city, town, village, or other local government unit, in the Peoples Republic of China, a direct-controlled municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing. In Taiwan, a municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei. In Portuguese language usage, there are two words to distinguish the territory and the administrative organ, when referring to the territory, the word concelho is used, when referring to the organ of State, the word município is used
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Amt (political division)
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Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is equivalent to a US township or county or English shire district. The Amt is unique to the German Bundesländer of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, other German states had this subdivision in the past. Some states have similar units called Samtgemeinde, Verbandsgemeinde or Verwaltungsgemeinschaft. An Amt, as well as the other above-mentioned units, is subordinate to a Kreis and is a collection of municipalities, the amt is lower than district-level government but higher than municipal government, and may be described as a supra-municipality or municipal confederation. Normally, it consists of small municipalities. e. The Ortsteil itself may also be translated as a municipality. The amt was a unit of Denmark. The counties were established by decree in 1662 as replacements for the former Len. The amter were composed of independent towns and parishes. During the 20th century, they were granted responsibility for the service for the non-urban population. A1970 administrative reform reduced the number of counties to fourteen, from then on, the amter were composed of a number of municipalities. The reform granted the counties wider areas of responsibility, most notably running the national health service, the Danish Municipal Reform of January 1,2007 abolished the amter and replaced them with five administrative regions, now solely charged with running the national health service. In contrast to the amter the regions hold no authority to levy taxes, the reform re-delegated all other areas of responsibility to either the municipalities or the state. At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger units, see Counties of Denmark for more information about the Danish usage of the term. In Germany an Amt was an administrative district covering a manorial estate or the land owned by a castle or village. It was headed by an Amtmann, usually a lesser nobleman or cleric, appointed by a lord to administer. Ambacht can be seen as the Dutch equivalent to amt, ambachten existed in Holland, Zeeland and Flanders up to about 1800
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Bad Harzburg
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Bad Harzburg is a town in central Germany, in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It lies on the edge of the Harz mountains and is a recognised saltwater spa. Bad Harzburg is situated at the foot of the Harz mountain range on the edge of the Harz National Park. To the east of the borough is the boundary between the states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, the former Inner German Border, the small Radau river, a tributary to the Oker, has its source in the Harz mountains and flows through the town. Nearby are the towns of Goslar to the west, Vienenburg to the north, Braunlage to the south and Ilsenburg and Osterwieck in the east. According to legend, about 780 AD the Emperor Charlemagne, after the conquest of the area in the course of the Saxon Wars, had a built on the Burgberg a hill overlooking the town. It may have stood on the site of a sacred grove dedicated to a Saxon god named Krodo, whose statue Charlemagne had overthrown. King Conrad I of Germany is believed to have established a college of canons here in 916, king Henry III had it transferred to his Kaiserpfalz in Goslar in 1039. Henry managed to escape from the castle, which after the Peace of Gerstungen was badly damaged by its attackers, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa had it rebuilt after he had defeated his rival, the Saxon duke Henry the Lion in 1180. Henrys son Otto IV, crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1209, archaeological findings of a first, later abandoned, settlement beneath the castle called Schulenrode date back to the 10th century. Another locality nearby named Hartesborch was first mentioned in a 1314 deed by the Benedictine abbey of Ilsenburg, the present-day town itself, then called Neustadt, was first documented in 1338. About 1569, Duke Julius of Brunswick promoted the development of a water well to extract salt. The well was called Juliushall and since 1852 the brine has been used for saline baths as well as other medical purposes, in 1892 the townspeople changed the towns name from Neustadt to Harzburg. It was given the title Bad, received privileges in 1894 and has since become an important spa town. The election results for the Nazi Party in the Bad Harzburg district had been below-average so far, during World War II, military hospitals were established in several hotels. The town surrendered without a fight to the 83rd US Infantry Division on 11 April 1945, after the war, Bad Harzburg with the lands of Brunswick belonged to the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany and from 1949 was part of West Germany. Before reunification, its station was the eastern terminus of a major railway route just west of the Inner German border. The Harzburg castle was slighted in 1650 by order of Duke Augustus the Younger
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Clausthal-Zellerfeld
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Clausthal-Zellerfeld is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the part of the Harz mountains. Clausthal-Zellerfeld was the seat of the former Samtgemeinde Oberharz, altenau-Schulenberg im Oberharz Buntenbock Clausthal-Zellerfeld Wildemann Clausthal-Zellerfeld originally consisted of two towns which were merged in 1924 to form an administrative unit. Clausthal is well known for the old Clausthal University of Technology and its magnificent buildings, while Zellerfeld is a typical tourist resort for hikers, Clausthal-Zellerfeld is the largest town in the area that is situated in the mountains rather than on the edge. Mining in the began in the 16th century. The Innerste Valley Railway was inaugurated in 1877 and extended to Altenau in 1914, the large station building and 70 other buildings in the town were destroyed in an air raid on 7 October 1944. Mining activity halted in 1930 because the ore deposits were exhausted, today, there are large remains of mines in the surrounding Harz region, some of which are now museums. The railway line was closed in 1976, the former railway station, which was rebuilt from 1961-1963 after being destroyed in 1944, houses the tourist information and the municipal library today. The Clausthal University of Technology was established in 1775 for the education of mining engineers, today, it is a technical university for teaching engineering. Tower dating from 1637. de Clausthal-Zellerfeld at DMOZ Clausthal
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Seesen
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Seesen is a town and municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the edge of the Harz mountain range. In 1428 Seesen received town privileges by Duke Otto II the One-Eyed of Brunswick-Göttingen, on 17 July 1810, Israel Jacobson dedicated in Seesen the first synagogue which employed an organ and a choir during prayer and introduced some German liturgy. This day is celebrated by Reform Judaism worldwide as its foundation date, in 1836 Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg built his first grand piano in his kitchen in Seesen, the instrument is today on display at New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1801 the merchant Israel Jacobson established the first Haskalah interdenominational school in Germany at Seesen, the piano manufacturer William Steinway was born at Seesen on 5 March 1835 as Wilhelm Steinweg. His father Henry E. Steinway built his first grand piano at a Seesen washkitchen in 1836, emil Wohlwill, chemist, born at Seesen. The caricaturist Wilhelm Busch spent his last years at the Mechtshausen vicarage
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Liebenburg
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Liebenburg is a municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The municipal area is situated north of the Harz mountain range and it borders on the district capital Goslar, approx. 12 km in the south, the adjacent municipalities in the north are Salzgitter-Bad, the former Saxon estates in 1235 belonged to the territory of the newly established Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim. From 1366 it was pawned by his successors to the citizens of Braunschweig, the castle was seized by the warlike duke Henry V of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel after the Hildesheim Diocesan Feud in 1523 and temporarily served as hidden residence of his mistress Eva von Trott. The Catholic duke in turn lost it to the Protestant Schmalkaldic League, by a 1643 peace treaty with the Braunschweig dukes, the heavily damaged castle was restored to Hildesheim, while day laborers and craftsmen lived within its walls. The Hildesheim prince-bishops promoted the settlement of Catholic families, after the bishopric was finally secularised in 1802, Liebenburg fell to the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814. Seats in the assembly as of 2011 local elections, SPD,11 seats CDU,8 Greens,1 Die Linke,1 Free Voters,1 Since October 2013, Alf Hesse 1996-2013
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Lutter am Barenberge
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Lutter am Barenberge is a market town located in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the seat of the Samtgemeinde Lutter am Barenberge It is situated between the Harz mountain range in the south and the Hainberg hills in the north, approx. The municipal area comprises the localities of Nauen and Ostlutter, Lutter, named after a nearby creek, was founded by Emperor Otto I in 956 as a part of the Gandersheim Abbey estates within the Duchy of Saxony. A water castle was first mentioned in 1259, leased by the Bishops of Hildesheim to local nobles, in various times, it was claimed by the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, but re-acquired by the Hildesheim bishops in 1323. Thereupon the denotation Bischofslutter appeared in order to differ it from nearby Königslutter, the name Lutter am Barenberge is documented since the 14th century. According to the Final Act of the Vienna Congress, the former Hildesheim estates of Ostlutter in 1815 passed to the Kingdom of Hanover, both parts were not re-united until an administrative reform of 1941. 2006 local elections, SPD,7 seats CDU,5 seats FDP,1 seats Lutter am Barenberge at DMOZ
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Lautenthal
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The formerly free mining town of Lautenthal in Germany is a state-recognised, climatic spa with around 2,000 inhabitants that has been part of the borough of Langelsheim since 1972. Lautenthal lies in the Innerste valley between Clausthal-Zellerfeld and Langelsheim in the northwestern Upper Harz, the town is located at a height of about 300 m above sea level in a valley bowl, the surrounding mountains being up to 620 m above NN. The two rivers of the Innerste and the Laute flow through the town, towards Langelsheim the Innerste is impounded by the Innerste Dam. Mining of copper, lead and silver in the area around Lautenthal started about 1225, in the middle of the 14th century, however, the Harz was depopulated because of plague and mining came to an end. Mining in the Harz was started again in 1524, Lautenthal was founded in 1538 as a mining settlement on the river Laute, a small tributary of the Innerste, and had already been given the status of a town by 1580. Sixteen years later it became a mining town. The town was enlarged in 1560 and a market place was laid out. A comparatively large town hall was built in 1570, the building was transformed into a hotel later. In 1626, the town was plundered by the troops of Johann Tserclaes, the Protestant town church was built 1649-59. In 1690,28 mines were operated in and around Lautenthal, in 1821, the town had 2.006 inhabitants. The railway line to Lautenthal, Innerste Valley Railway, was inaugurated in 1875, Railway bridges were built over the Laute and the Innerste. Tourism gradually developed creating more and more jobs, at the beginning of the 20th century, Lautenthal had 2.626 inhabitants. With the closure of the mines in 1959 the town lost its significance and was incorporated into the borough of Langelsheim in 1972, in 1976 the railway line to Lautenthal was closed and the former railway station was transformed into a hotel. The former silver mine Lautenthals Glück was transformed into a museum in 1975, paul Gerhardt Church, a Protestant church in the old town centre, was built from 1649-59. Its altar and the date from 1719. Originally, Lautenthal did not have a real Market Place, several well-preserved half-timbered houses from the 18th and 19th centuries can be seen here. One of the houses in Hahnenkleer Straße was a brewery called Zwergenbräu from 1660-1959. It was transformed into a museum in 1960
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Hahnenklee
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Hahnenklee is a borough of the city of Goslar, in the German state of the Lower Saxony. It is located within the Harz mountain range between Goslar and Osterode, Hahnenklee became a state-recognised climatic spa in 1882. The village had 336 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century, the district of Hahnenklee also comprises the former village of Bockswiese, both are mining settlements originating from the 16th century that were incorporated in 1972. Today the area depends on tourism and forestry. In the Nazi time, Hahnenklee was home of many houses of the NS organisation “Mother and Child” - in their facilities, even a birth station of the Lebensborn organisation was present. Shortly after the war, in the mothers home of the NSV18 latvian children died from starvation - the circumstances never were cleared completely. The more than 100 children that survived were spread all over the world, Hahnenklee is chiefly known for the Protestant Gustav Adolf Stave Church, built by the architect Karl Mohrmann in 1908. The adjacent bell tower was added in 1975 for extending the carillon up to the current 49 bells, several historic wooden buildings, e. g. the former town hall, can be seen in the High Street. The smaller Catholic Church Saint Mary in the Snow was built in 1975, the grave of the composer Paul Lincke who died in Hahnenklee in 1946 is worth a visit as well. Wilhelm Ripe, painter, born November 16,1818 in Hahnenklee, died December 5,1885 in Goslar Official website
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Harlingerode
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Harlingerode is a village in Germany. Harlingerode is a part of Bad Harzburg in the district of Goslar in Lower Saxony, Harlingerode had a population of 3,054 as of the end of 2011. Harlingerode has a church, the St. -Marien-Kirche, the church is in the north part of Harlingerode
Germany
(AS Langelsheim-Ost) - Langelsheim - Jerstedt - Hahndorf - Sudmerberg
- Dörnten - K 32
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- Ildehausen
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Media related to Landkreis Goslar at Wikimedia Commons
Urban and rural districts in the state of Lower Saxony in Germany