Verden an der Aller (German: [ˈfeːɐ̯dn̩ ʔan dɐ ˈʔalɐ] ; Northern Low Saxon: Veern), also called Verden (Aller) or simply Verden, is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the river Aller. It is the district town of the district of Verden in Lower Saxony and an independent municipality (de:Selbständige Gemeinde). The town is located in the middle Weser region on the Aller river immediately before it flows into the Weser. As a center of horse breeding and equestrian sports, it bears the nickname "equestrian town". The suffix "Aller" was introduced at a time when the name "Verden" was also common for the French town of Verdun in the German-speaking area. The town name comes from "ford" or "ferry". The town was conveniently located at a ford through the Aller river, near an important trade route.
Verden an der Aller
Cathedral tower, c.1160, possibly the first brick construction in north-west Germany
Anita Augspurg, 1902
Aller river at Verden
The Aller is a 215-kilometre-long (134 mi) river in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last 117 kilometres (73 mi) form the Lower Aller federal waterway. The Aller was extensively straightened, widened and, in places, dyked, during the 1960s to provide flood control of the river. In a 20-kilometre-long (12 mi) section near Gifhorn, the river meanders in its natural river bed.
The canalised and poplar-lined Aller in the Drömling near Wolfsburg-Vorsfelde
The Aller near Wefensleben, about 10 kilometres (6 mi) below its source
The Aller near Oebisfelde
Bridge on the Upper Aller in Wolfsburg-Vorsfelde