Lüneburg,[a] officially theHanseatic City of Lüneburg[b] and also known in English asLunenburg,[c] is a town in the Germanstate ofLower Saxony. It is located about 50 km (31 mi) southeast of anotherHanseatic city,Hamburg, and belongs to that city's widermetropolitan region. Thecapital of thedistrict which bears its name, it is home to roughly 77,000 people.[3] Lüneburg's urban area, which includes the surroundingcommunities ofAdendorf,Bardowick,Barendorf andReppenstedt, has a population of around 103,000. Lüneburg has been allowed to use the titleHansestadt ('Hanseatic Town') in its name since 2007, in recognition of its membership in the former Hanseatic League. Lüneburg is also home toLeuphana University.
The first signs of human presence in the area of Lüneburg date back to the time ofNeanderthal Man: 56 axes, estimated at 150,000 years old, were uncovered during the construction in the 1990s of theautobahn between Ochtmissen and Bardowick.[4] The site of the discovery at Ochtmissen was probably a Neanderthal hunting location where huntsmen skinned and cut up the animals they had caught.
The area was almost certainly not continuously inhabited at that time, however, due to the variousglaciations that lasted for millennia. The first indication of a permanent, settled farming culture in the area was found not far from the site of the Neanderthal discovery in the river Ilmenau between Lüne and Bardowick. This was an axe that is described as aSchuhleistenkeil or "shoe last wedge" due to its shape. It dates to the 6th centuryBC and is now in the collection of the Lüneburg Museum.
Since theBronze Age, the Lüneburg hill known as theZeltberg has concealed a whole range of prehistoric and early historic graves, which were laid out by people living in the area of the present-day town of Lüneburg. One of the oldest finds from this site is a so-calledUnetice flanged axe (Aunjetitzer Randleistenbeil) which dates to 1900 BC.
The land within the town itself has also yielded a number ofice age urns that were already being reported in the 18th century. These discoveries are, however, like those from the Lüneburger Kalkberg — they went into the private collections of several 18th century scholars and, with a few exceptions, were lost when the scholars died.
Also worth mentioning in this regard are theLombardUrnfield graves on the Lüneburg Zeltberg and Oedeme from the first few centuries AD. In theMiddle Ages, there several discoveries were made on the site of the town, for example on the site of the old village of Modestorpe not far from St. John's Church (Johanniskirche), at the Lambertiplatz near the saltworks and in the old Waterside Quarter.
The ancient town may be that identified as Leufana or Leuphana (Greek:Λευφάνα), a town listed inPtolemy (2.10) in the north of Germany on the west of theElbe.
Lüneburg was first mentioned inmedieval records in a deed signed on 13 August, 956 AD, in whichOtto I, Holy Roman Emperor granted "the tax from Lüneburg to the monastery built there in honour of Saint Michael" (German:den Zoll zu Lüneburg an das zu Ehren des heiligen Michaels errichtete Kloster, Latin:teloneum ad Luniburc ad monasterium sancti Michahelis sub honore constructum).[5] An older reference to the place in theRoyal Frankish Annals for 795 states:ad fluvium Albim pervenit ad locum, qui dicitur Hliuni, i.e. "on the river Elbe, at the location, which is calledHliuni") and refers to one of the three core settlements of Lüneburg; probably the castle on the Kalkberg which was the seat of the Billunger nobles from 951. The Elbe-Germanic nameHliuni corresponds to theLombard word for "refuge site".
From archaeological finds, it is clear that the area around Lüneburg had already been settled (in the museum of the Principality of Lüneburg, for example, there is a whole range of artefacts that were found here) and the saltworks had already started production.
According to tradition, the salt was first discovered by ahunter who observed awild boar bathing in a pool of water, shot and killed it, and hung the coat up to dry. When it was dry, he discovered white crystals in the bristles — salt. Later he returned to the site of the kill and located the salt pool, the first production of salt on the site took place. In the town hall is a bone preserved in a glass case; legend has it that this is the preserved leg-bone of the boar. It was here that theLüneburg Saltworks was subsequently established for many centuries.
In spite of its lucrative saltworks, Lüneburg was originally subordinated to the town ofBardowick only a few miles to the north. Bardowick was older and was an important trading post for theSlavs. Bardowick's prosperity – it had seven churches – was based purely on the fact that no other trading centres were tolerated. Only when Bardowick refused to pay allegiance toHenry the Lion it was destroyed by him in 1189, whereupon Lüneburg was giventown privileges (Stadtrechte) and developed into the central trading post in the region in place of Bardowick.
ThePolabian name for Lüneburg isGlain (written asChlein orGlein in older German sources), probably derived fromglaino (Slavonic:glina) which means "clay". In theLatin texts Lüneburg surfaces not only as the LatinisedLunaburgum, but also asSelenopolis.
Miniature of Lüneburg in theSächsische Weltchronik, 13th centuryHans Bornemann'sThe punishment of Aegeas (~1450). In the background a view of Lüneburg with St. Nicholas' ChurchThe slightly leaning spire of the church of St. John
As a consequence of the monopoly that Lüneburg had for many years as a supplier of salt within theNorth German region, a monopoly not challenged until much later by French imports, it very quickly became a member of theHanseatic League. The League was formed in 1158 inLübeck, initially as a union of individual merchants, but in 1356 it met as a federation of trading towns at the first general meeting of theHansetag. Lüneburg's salt was needed in order to pickle theherring caught in theBaltic Sea and the waters around Norway so that it could be preserved for food inland during periods offasting when fish (not meat) was permitted.
TheScania Market atScania in Sweden was a major fish market for herring and became one of the most important trade events in Northern Europe in theMiddle Ages. Lüneburg's salt was in great demand and the town quickly became one of the wealthiest and most important towns in the Hanseatic League, together withBergen andVisby (the fish suppliers) and Lübeck (the central trading post between the Baltic and the interior). In theMiddle Ages salt was initially conveyed overland up theOld Salt Road to Lübeck. With the opening of theStecknitz Canal in 1398 salt could be transported bycog from the Lübeck salt warehouses, theSalzspeicher.
Around the year 1235, theDuchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg emerged, ruled by a family whose aristocratic lines repeatedly divided and re-united. The smaller states that kept re-appearing as a result, and which ranked as principalities, were usually named after the location of the ducal seat. Thus between 1267 and 1269 aPrincipality of Lüneburg was created for the first time, with Lüneburg as the seat of the royalResidenz. In 1371, in the wake of theLüneburg War of Succession, rebel citizens threw the princes out of the town and destroyed their royal castle on the Kalkberg along with the nearby monastery. The state peace treaty in 1392 granted their demand to become afree imperial town, a status they were able to defend until 1637. The money now stayed in the town, enabling fine houses and churches to be built. In 1288, aJudenstrasse was recorded, indicating that there was a Medieval Jewish community in Lüneburg.[6]
In 1392, Lüneburg was accorded thestaple right. This forced merchants who travelled through the area with their carts to stop in Lüneburg, unload their wares, and offer them for sale for a certain period. So that merchants could not go around Lüneburg, an impassable defensive barrier was built west of the town in 1397; a similar barrier was built east of the town in 1479.
TheLüneburg Prelates' War caused a crisis from 1446 to 1462. This was not a war in the proper sense, but rather a bitter dispute between the town council and those members of the clergy who were also part-owners of the town's saltworks. It was not resolved until the intervention of the Danish KingChristian I, the Bishop ofSchwerin and the Lübeck Bishop, Arnold Westphal.
In 1454, the citizens demanded even more influence over public life.
Since 2007, Lüneburg has once again held the title of aHanseatic town.
The Old Salt Route connected the HanseaticLübeck and the Hanseatic town of Lüneburg.[8] With the demise of theHanseatic League and the absence of herring around 1560,Falsterbo inScania broke away as the biggest customers of Lüneburg's salt. Lüneburg rapidly became impoverished. Hardly any new houses were built in central Lüneburg after this time, which is why the historical appearance of the town centre has remained almost unchanged until the present day. The town became part of theElectorate of Hanover in 1708, theKingdom of Westphalia in 1807, theFirst French Empire in 1810, theKingdom of Hanover in 1814, and thePrussianProvince of Hanover in 1866. In the centuries after the collapse of the Hanseatic League, it was as if Lüneburg had fallen into a slumber.Heinrich Heine, whose parents lived in Lüneburg from 1822 to 1826, called it his "residence of boredom" (Residenz der Langeweile). The horticulturistCurt Backeberg was born in Lüneburg in 1894. Near the end of the 19th century Lüneburg evolved into a garrison town, and it remained so until the 1990s.
After the Nazi anti-Jewish pogroms known as Kristallnacht in the night of November 9, 1938, the city ordered the Lüneburg Synagogue to be torn down at the costs of the local Jewish community.[9] In the Lüneburg Special Children's Ward, part of the Lüneburg State Mental Hospital, it is suspected that over 300 children were killed during the Second World War as part of the officialNazi child euthanasia programme.[10]
When World War II broke out, Lüneburg became a target. During thebombing of Lüneburg, the town was attacked 19 times between 1940 and 1945 but miraculously survived without major damage to its city center, unlike nearby Hamburg. The biggest and most destructive bombing on Lüneburg took place on 22 February. Between 10:10 and 14:15, 39 airplanes bombed the city and its surroundings. As a result, multiple trenches near theLüneburg station and the station's air raid shelter were hit by bombs, killing a total 350 people. The railway bridge over the Dahlenburger Landstraße also collapsed. The houses around the railway station were severely damaged or completely destroyed. In Wandrahmstraße, the Lüneburg Museum, whose holdings had not been completely removed, was completely destroyed. Furthermore, the terminus of the Lüneburg-Bleckede railway line, the marshalling yard, a dairy on Lüner Weg and a factory in the Am Schwalbenberg street were severely damaged. A second big raid happened on 7 April 1945 with 13 aircraft. The target was once more the railway station and its surroundings, where a train with 400 prisoners from theAlter Banter Wegsatellite camp near Wilhelmshaven, who were to be taken toNeuengamme, was parked. Because the prisoners were locked in the carriages, they were unable to flee when the bombs fell, killing 256 in total.[11] The goods station was completely destroyed, as were the waterworks and the Wachsbleiche factory. Theteachers' seminar on Wilschenbrucher Weg, which housed an auxiliary hospital and was then used by theLeuphana University of Lüneburg, was badly damaged by a direct bomb hit, as was the auxiliary hospital Zur Hasenburg on Soltauer Straße. Many bombs also hit the Rote Feld, which was still largely undeveloped at the time. While the attacks resulted in 608 casualties, Lüneburg itself was largely spared and only a total of 270 homes were destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
After World War II, Lüneburg became part of the new state ofLower Saxony. But the dilapidated state of its buildings led to various plans to try to improve living conditions. One proposition that was seriously discussed was to tear down the entireAltstadt and replace it with modern buildings. The ensuing public protest resulted in Lüneburg becoming the focal point for a new concept:cultural heritage conservation. Since the early 1970s the town has been systematically restored. A leading figure in this initiative since the late 1960s has been Curt Pomp: against much opposition from politicians and councillors he founded and championed the LüneburgAltstadt Working Group (Arbeitskreis Lüneburger Altstadt) for the preservation of historic buildings. His engagement was rewarded with the German Prize for Cultural Heritage Conservation and the German Order of Merit. Today Lüneburg is a tourist attraction as a result of the restoration and important sectors of the town's economy also depend on tourism.
Between Lüneburg andSoltau to the southwest, a largemilitary training area, theSoltau-Lüneburg Training Area (SLTA), was established by the British and Canadian military, which was used from 1963 to 1994. It was governed by theSoltau-Lüneburg Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada. The area was located on the Lüneburg Heath and was heavily used particularly by tanks and other armoured vehicles.
The salt mine was closed in 1980, ending the thousand-year tradition of salt mining, although small amounts are still mined for ceremonial purposes. Small bags of salt may be purchased in the town hall, and bags are given as a gift from the town to all couples married in the town. After the closing of the salt mines, the town gained new relevance from its university, which was founded in 1989.
As part of the restructuring of Defence in 1990 two of the threeBundeswehrbarracks in the town were closed and the remaining one reduced in size. TheBundesgrenzschutz barracks was also closed.Lüneburg University moved to the site of the old Scharnhorst barracks. The university grew out of the new economics and cultural studies departments set up in the 1980s and their amalgamation with the College of Education (Pädagogischen Hochschule orPH) that took place in 1989. Since its move to the former barracks site the university has enrolled increasing numbers of students. The expansion of the university is an important contribution to the restructuring of the town into a service centre.
Today an industrial estate, theLünepark, has been built on the terrain of the oldBundesgrenzschutz barracks with its new industrial premises for entrepreneurs. The promotion of trade and industry has resulted in many firms from the ICT area locating themselves there. In May 2006 the nearby Johannes Westphal Bridge was opened to traffic. This links the newly createdLünepark with the suburb of Goseburg on the far side of theIlmenau. Since 5 October 2007 Lüneburg has been able to call itself a Hanseatic Town; together withStade it is one of only two towns in Lower Saxony to bear the title.
Lüneburg lies on the riverIlmenau, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from its confluence with theElbe. The river flows through the town and is featured in itssong; it was formerly traversed bycogs taking salt from the town to the other, larger, ports of the Hanseatic League nearby.
To the south of the town stretches the 7,400-square-kilometre (2,857 sq mi)Lüneburg Heath which emerged as a result of widespread tree-felling, forest fires and grazing. The tradition that the heath arose from centuries of logging undertaken to meet the constant need of the Lüneburg salt works for wood is not historically confirmed. More likely, the heath was originally formed by clearances during theBronze Age. The old town (Altstadt) of Lüneburg lies above asalt dome which is the town's original source of prosperity. However, the constant mining of the salt deposits over which the town stands has also resulted in the sometimes gradual, sometimes dramatically pronounced, sinking of various areas of the town. On the western edge of the town is theKalkberg, a small hill and formergypsum quarry.
Manhole cover displaying the symbol for the motto "Mons, Pons, Fons"Lüneburg street map around 1910
The mottoMons, Pons, Fons ("Hill, bridge, spring") characterised the development of the town from the 8th century as it coalesced from initially three, and later four, areas of settlement. These areas were therefuge castle on the — at that time considerably higher —Kalkberg, together with its adjoining settlement (theMarktviertel or "Market Quarter"), the village of Modestorpe between the bridge over the river Ilmenau and the large square,Am Sande (theSandviertel or "Sand Quarter"), and thesaline with its walled settlement for the work force (theSülzviertel or "Salt Quarter"). Not until the 13th century was the river port settlement (theWasserviertel or "Waterside Quarter") built between the market place and the Ilmenau. The resulting shape of the town thus formed did not change until its expansion in the late 19th century and it is still clearly visible today. Lüneburg's six historic town gates were theAltenbrücker Tor, theBardowicker Tor, theRote Tor, theSülztor, theLüner Tor and theNeue Tor.
Lüneburg has the followingStadtteile: Altstadt, Bockelsberg, Ebensberg, Goseburg-Zeltberg,Häcklingen, Kaltenmoor (the largestStadtteil, with around 8,000 inhabitants), Kreideberg, Lüne, Moorfeld, Mittelfeld, Neu Hagen, Ochtmissen, Oedeme, Rettmer, Rotes Feld, Schützenplatz, Weststadt and Wilschenbruch.
Jüttkenmoor, Klosterkamp, Bülows Kamp, In den Kämpen, Krähornsberg, Schäferfeld, Volgershall and Zeltberg are the names of individual blocks within a singleStadtteil.
The houses in the historic quarter between theLüneburg Saltworks (today theGerman Salt Museum) and theKalkberg were built above asalt dome that was excavated by the saltworks and which extended to just below the surface of the ground. As a result of the increasing quantities of salt mined with improved technical equipment after 1830, the ground began to sink by several metres. This resulted in the so-calledSenkungsgebiet or "subsidence area". The houses there and the local church (St. Lambert's) lost their stability and had to be demolished. Because of this subsidence, and because salt mining was increasingly unprofitable, the saltworks were finally closed in 1980. Today, only small amounts of brine are extracted for the healthspa in the Lüneburg Thermal Salt Baths (theSalztherme Lüneburg orSaLü). One side of the saltworks now houses a supermarket, while the other is the German Salt Museum.
The subsidence has been monitored at about 240 stations since 1946 every two years. The land has not quite stopped subsiding yet, but it is stable enough that new construction has taken place on it, and several historic buildings which had previously been damaged or demolished have been restored. The subsidence can still be clearly seen even today. Those who walk fromAm Sande to the end of theGrapengießerstraße can clearly sense the degree of subsidence for themselves: the hollow in front of them was formerly at the same level as theGrapengießerstraße. This depression extends as far as theLambertiplatz square.
In theFrommestraße, another sign of earth movements caused by salt mining may be seen: theTor zur Unterwelt ("Door to the Underworld"), where two cast iron doors have been pushed on top of one another.
Near the churchSt. Michaelis, other consequences of the subsidence can be seen in its sloping columns and the west wing of the nave. Current subsidence movements can be seen in the road known asOchtmisser Kirchsteig.
Lüneburg has anoceanic climate (Köppen:Cfb;Trewartha:Dolk). The average temperature ranges from 1 °C (34 °F) in winter to 17 °C (63 °F) in summer. Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year, with slightly more precipitation in summer than in winter.
The Lüneburg weather station has recorded the following extreme values:[12]
Its highest temperature was 37.2 °C (99.0 °F) on 9 August 1992.
Its lowest temperature was −25.7 °C (−14.3 °F) on 24 February 1956.
Its greatest annual precipitation was 836.5 mm (32.93 in) in 1954.
Its least annual precipitation was 306.6 mm (12.07 in) in 1959.
The longest annual sunshine was 1,861.1 hours in 1953.
The shortest annual sunshine was 1,277.8 hours in 1962.
Climate data for Lüneburg, 1961–1990 normals, extremes 1948–1997
Lüneburg already had about 14,000 inhabitants in theLate Middle Ages and beginning of theModern Period and was one of the largest 'cities' of its time, but its population shrank with the economic downturn to just 9,400 in 1757; then rose again to 10,400 in 1813. With the onset ofindustrialisation in the 19th century, population growth accelerated. If 13,000 were living in the town in 1855, by 1939 there were as many as 35,000. Shortly after the Second World War, refugees and displaced persons from Germany's eastern territories brought an increase in population within just a few months of around 18,000 people so that the total number in December 1945 was 53,000. In 2003 the 70,000 level was exceeded for the first time.
The town of Lüneburg, its eponymous district and the neighbouring district of Harburg belong to the few regions in Germany that have experienced such a massive growth. The reasons for this include the growth of areas around theHamburg Metropolitan Region and the consequent shift of people to those areas. The Lower Saxon State Office for Statistics has forecast that the town of Lüneburg will have a population of 89,484 by the year 2021. More realistic estimates, however, put the future size Lüneburg at between 75,000 and 79,000 in that time frame.
On 31 December 2008, according to the Statistics Office, theofficial census for Lüneburg recorded 72,492 people (those who had their main residence in the town and after adjustments with other states offices) – the highest number in its history. Currently Lüneburg is the eleventh largest centre of population in Lower Saxony. In addition Lüneburg has particularly close relations with its adjacent municipalities which are also growing and with which it is forming an agglomeration. The town, together with the nearby villages ofAdendorf,Bardowick,Deutsch Evern,Reppenstedt,Vögelsen andWendisch Evern, has a total population of about 103,000 and, on that basis, would qualify as a city (in Germany cities orGroßstädte are defined as settlements with a population of over 100,000). The town council has the plan to extend the population by adding these villages to the town area.
The following overview shows the population figures based on the situation at the time. Up to 1813 they were mostly estimates; thereafter based oncensuses (*) or official projections by the State Office of Statistics. From 1871 the figures were based on those 'present in the town', from 1925 on those 'living in the town' and since 1987 on the 'population who have their main residence in the town'. Before 1871 the numbers were based on inconsistent survey methods.
Before the Second World War the lord mayor (Oberbürgermeister) was the full-time head of the town's administration. On the introduction of theNorth German council constitution by theBritish occupation forces power was separated: the voluntary lord mayor and chairman of the town body was the political representative of the town who, like all the members of the town council was elected by the people, whilst the administration was headed up by a full-time chief municipal director, who was elected by the town council. Since 1996, as a result of the reform of the local constitution, both functions (again) have been combined in the post of a full-time lord mayor, who is now directly elected by the townsfolk. In addition to the lord mayor there are other mayors (elected by the council) who support and represent the lord mayor in his civic duties.
1945–1946: Werner Bockelmann, SPD
1946–1949: Ernst Braune, SPD
1949–1951: Paul Müller, DP
1951–1952: Erich Dieckmann, DP
1952–1954: Peter Gravenhorst, DP
1954–1955: Reinhold Kreitmeyer, FDP
1955–1958: Peter Gravenhorst, DP
1958–1961: Wilhelm Hilmer, SPD
1961–1964: Erich Drenckhahn, CDU
1964–1978: Alfred Trebchen, SPD
1978–1981: Heinz Schlawatzky, SPD
1981–1987: Horst Nickel, CDU
1987–1991: Jens Schreiber, CDU
1991–2021: Ulrich Mädge, SPD
since 2021: Claudia Kalisch, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
The town has one university, theLeuphana Universität Lüneburg (previously known only as theUniversität Lüneburg). The university has more than 7,000 students.[18]
Johanna Stegen (1793–1842), heroine of theNapoleonic Wars, she rushed ammunition to Prussian troop in her apron, thus becoming"The Heroine of Lüneburg"
Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934), general and statesman, honorary citizen of Lüneburg in 1918 for his service in the World War I; President of Germany from 1925 to 1934[21]
^Landtagswahlkreise ab 16. Wahlperiode. Wahlkreiseinteilung für die Wahl zum Niedersächsischen Landtag. Anlage zu § 10 Abs. 1 NLWG, p. 4. (PDFArchived 2011-07-25 at theWayback Machine; 87 KB)
