Lower Saxony is the onlyBundesland that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas. The northwestern area of the state, on the coast of the North Sea, is calledEast Frisia and the sevenEast Frisian Islands offshore are popular with tourists. In the extreme west of Lower Saxony is theEmsland, an economically emerging but rather sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as theNorth German Plain, is almost invariably flat except for the gentle hills around the Bremengeestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of theCentral Uplands: theWeser Uplands and theHarz Mountains. Between these two lie theLower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges.
The region in the northeast, theLüneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide), is the largest heathland area of Germany. In the Middle Ages, the town of Lüneburg was wealthy due to salt-mining and the salt trade. To the north theElbe valley separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein,Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Brandenburg. The left banks of the Elbe downstream Hamburg are known as theAltes Land (Old Country). Due to its gentle local climate and fertile soil, it is the state's largest area of fruit farming, its chief produce beingapples.
Most of the state's territory was part of the historicKingdom of Hanover, and the state of Lower Saxony has adopted the coat of arms and other symbols of the former kingdom. It was created by the merger of theState of Hanover with three smaller states on 1 November 1946.
The state is dominated by several large northwards-flowing rivers, including theEms,Weser,Aller, and the Elbe.
The highest point in Lower Saxony is theWurmberg (971 metres or 3,186 feet) in the Harz. Most of thesignificant hills and mountains are found in the southeastern part of the state. The lowest point in the state, at about 2.5 metres or 8 feet 2 inches below sea level, is a depression nearFreepsum in East Frisia.
The state's economy, population, and infrastructure are centred on the cities and towns of Hanover, Stadthagen, Celle, Braunschweig,Wolfsburg, Hildesheim, and Salzgitter. Together with Göttingen in southern Lower Saxony, they form the core of theHannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region.
Lower Saxony has clear regional divisions that manifest themselves geographically, as well as historically and culturally. In the regions that used to be independent, especially the heartlands of the former states ofBrunswick,Hanover,Oldenburg andSchaumburg-Lippe, a marked local regional awareness exists. By contrast, the areas surrounding the Hanseatic cities of Bremen and Hamburg are much more oriented towards those centres.
Sometimes, overlaps and transition areas happen between the various regions of Lower Saxony. Several of the regions listed here are part of other, larger regions, that are also included in the list.
Lower Saxony falls climatically into thenorth temperate zone of central Europe that is affected by prevailingWesterlies and is located in a transition zone between themaritime climate ofWestern Europe and thecontinental climate ofEastern Europe. This transition is clearly noticeable within the state: while the northwest experiences an Atlantic (North Sea coastal) to Sub-Atlantic climate, with comparatively low variations in temperature during the course of the year and a surplus water budget, the climate towards the southeast is increasingly affected by the Continent. This is clearly shown by greater temperature variations between the summer and winter halves of the year and in lower and more variable amounts of precipitation across the year. This sub-continental effect is most sharply seen in the Wendland, in the Weser Uplands (Hamelin to Göttingen) and in the area of Helmstedt. The highest levels of precipitation are experienced in the Harz because the Lower Saxon part forms thewindward side of this mountain range against whichorographic rain falls. The average annual temperature is 8 °C (46 °F); 7.5 °C (45.5 °F) in theAltes Land and 8.5 °C (47.3 °F) in thedistrict of Cloppenburg.
^abUnder the "Göttingen Law" of 1 January 1964, the town of Göttingen was incorporated into the rural district (Landkreis) of Göttingen, but is treated as an urban district unless other rules apply. On 1 November 2016 the districts of Osterode and Göttingen were merged under the name Göttingen, not influencing the city's special status.
^abUnder the "Law on the region of Hanover", Hanover merged with the district of Hanover to form the Hanover Region, which has been treated mostly as a rural district, but Hanover is treated as an urban district since 1 November 2001 unless other rules apply.
Between 1946 and 2004, the state's districts and independent towns were grouped into eight regions, with a different status for two regions (Verwaltungsbezirke), comprising the formerly free states of Brunswick and Oldenburg. In 1978 these regions were merged into four governorates (Regierungsbezirke). In 2005 theBezirksregierungen (regional governments) were again split into separate bodies.
On 1 January 2005 the four administrative regions or governorates (Regierungsbezirke), into which Lower Saxony had been hitherto divided, were dissolved.[6] These were the governorates of Braunschweig, Hanover, Lüneburg and Weser-Ems.
The name ofSaxony derives from that of theGermanic confederation of tribes called theSaxons. Before the late medieval period, there was a singleDuchy of Saxony. The term "Lower Saxony" was used after the dissolution of the stem duchy in the late 13th century to distinguish the parts of the former duchy ruled by theHouse of Welf from theElectorate of Saxony on one hand, and from theDuchy of Westphalia on the other.
The name and coat of arms of the present state go back to theGermanic tribe of Saxons. During theMigration Period some of the Saxon peoples left their homeland inHolstein about the 3rd century and pushed southwards over theElbe, where they expanded into the sparsely populated regions in the rest of the lowlands, in present-day Northwest Germany and the northeastern part of what is now theNetherlands. From about the 7th century the Saxons had occupied a settlement area that roughly corresponds to the present state of Lower Saxony, ofWestphalia and a number of areas to the east, for example, in what is now west and north Saxony-Anhalt. The land of the Saxons was divided into about 60 Gaue. TheFrisians had not moved into this region; for centuries they preserved their independence in the most northwesterly region of the present-day Lower Saxon territory. The original language of the folk in the area of Old Saxony wasWest Low German, one of the varieties of language in the Low German dialect group.
Imperial circles at the start of the 16th century. Red: the Lower Saxon Circle, light brown: the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle
The establishment of permanent boundaries between what later became Lower Saxony and Westphalia began in the 12th century. In 1260, in a treaty between theArchbishopric of Cologne and theDuchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg the lands claimed by the two territories were separated from each other.[8] The border ran along the Weser to a point north of Nienburg. The northern part of the Weser-Ems region was placed under the rule of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
The close historical links between the domains of the Lower Saxon Circle now in modern Lower Saxony survived for centuries especially from a dynastic point of view. The majority of historic territories whose land now lies within Lower Saxony were sub-principalities of the medieval, Welf estates of theDuchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. All the Welf princes called themselves dukes "of Brunswick and Lüneburg" despite often ruling parts of a duchy that was forever being divided and reunited as various Welf lines multiplied or died out.
Congress of Vienna to Second World War (1815–1945)
West of the RiverHunte a "de-Westphalianising process" began in 1815.[11] After theCongress of Vienna the territories of the later administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke) ofOsnabrück andAurich transferred to the Kingdom of Hanover. TheGrand Duchy of Oldenburg and thePrincipality of Schaumburg-Lippe retained state autonomy. Nevertheless, the entire Weser-Ems region (including the city ofBremen) were grouped in 1920 into a Lower Saxon Constituency Association (Wahlkreisverband IX (Niedersachsen)). This indicates that at that time the western administrations of thePrussian Province of Hanover and the state ofOldenburg were perceived as being "Lower Saxon".
The forerunners of today's state of Lower Saxony were lands that were geographically and, to some extent, institutionally interrelated from very early on. TheCounty of Schaumburg (not to be confused with the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe) around the towns ofRinteln andHessisch Oldendorf did indeed belong to the Prussian province ofHesse-Nassau until 1932, a province that also included large parts of the present state of Hesse, including the cities ofKassel,Wiesbaden andFrankfurt am Main; but in 1932 the County of Schaumburg became part of the Prussian Province of Hanover.
When theNazi Partyseized power in 1933, they quickly transformed Germany into a highly centralised state and divided the entireThird Reich intoGaue which largely superseded (but did not outright replace) Germany's traditional federal system. Nevertheless, some changes to the old state and provincial borders were made in 1937, notably including the city ofCuxhaven being fully integrated into the Prussian Province of Hanover under theGreater Hamburg Act. The effect of this Nazi-era change was that in 1946, after the Third Reich had collapsed and when state of Lower Saxony was founded, only four states needed to be merged. With the exception of Bremen and the areas that were ceded to theSoviet Occupation Zone in 1945, all those areas allocated to the new state of Lower Saxony in 1946, had already been merged into the "Constituency Association of Lower Saxony" in 1920.
In a lecture on 14 September 2007, Dietmar von Reeken described the emergence of a "Lower Saxony consciousness" in the 19th century, the geographical basis of which was used to invent a territorial construct: the resultinglocal heritage societies (Heimatvereine) and their associated magazines routinely used the terms "Lower Saxony" or "Lower Saxon" in their names. At the end of the 1920s in the context of discussions about a reform of the Reich, and promoted by the expanding local heritage movement (Heimatbewegung), a 25-year conflict started between "Lower Saxony" and "Westphalia". The supporters of this dispute were administrative officials and politicians, but regionally focussed scientists of various disciplines were supposed to have fuelled the arguments. In the 1930s, a real Lower Saxony did not yet exist, but there were a plethora of institutions that would have called themselves "Lower Saxon". The motives and arguments in the disputes between "Lower Saxony" and "Westphalia" were very similar on both sides: economic interests, political aims, cultural interests and historical aspects.[12]
After theSecond World War most of Northwest Germany lay within theBritish Zone of Occupation. On 23 August 1946, theBritish Military Government issuedOrdinance No. 46"Concerning the dissolution of the provinces of the former state ofPrussia in the British Zone and their reconstitution as independent states", which initially established theState of Hanover on the territory of the former Prussian Province of Hanover. Its minister president,Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, had already suggested in June 1945 the formation of a state of Lower Saxony, that was to include the largest possible region in the middle of the British Zone. In addition to the regions that actually became Lower Saxony subsequently, Kopf asked, in a memorandum dated April 1946, for the inclusion of the former Prussian district ofMinden-Ravensberg (i.e. the Westphalian city ofBielefeld as well as the Westphalian districts ofMinden,Lübbecke,Bielefeld,Herford andHalle), thedistrict of Tecklenburg and the state ofLippe.[13] Kopf's plan was ultimately based on a draft for the reform of the German Empire from the late 1920s by Georg Schnath and Kurt Brüning. The strongWelf connotations of this draft, according to Thomas Vogtherr, did not simplify the development of a Lower Saxon identity after 1946.[14]
An alternative model, proposed by politicians in Oldenburg and Brunswick, envisaged the foundation of the independent state of "Weser-Ems", that would be formed from the state of Oldenburg, the Hanseatic City of Bremen and the administrative regions of Aurich and Osnabrück. Several representatives of the state of Oldenburg even demanded the inclusion of the Hanoverian districts ofDiepholz,Syke,Osterholz-Scharmbeck andWesermünde in the proposed state of "Weser-Ems". Likewise an enlarged State of Brunswick was proposed in the southeast to include theRegierungsbezirk ofHildesheim and thedistrict of Gifhorn. Had this plan come to fruition, the territory of the present Lower Saxony would have consisted of three states of roughly equal size.
The district council ofVechta protested on 12 June 1946 against being incorporated into the metropolitan area of Hanover (Großraum Hannover). If the State of Oldenburg was to be dissolved, Vechta District would much rather be included in theWestphalian region.[15] Particularly in the districts where there was a politicalCatholicism the notion was widespread, thatOldenburg Münsterland and theRegierungsbezirk of Osnabrück should be part of a newly formed State of Westphalia.[16]
Since the foundation of the states ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia andHanover on 23 August 1946 the northern and eastern border of North Rhine-Westphalia has largely been identical with that of the PrussianProvince of Westphalia. Only theFree State of Lippe was not incorporated into North Rhine-Westphalia until January 1947. With that the majority of the regions left of the Upper Weser became North Rhine-Westphalian.
In the end, at the meeting of the Zone Advisory Board on 20 September 1946, Kopf's proposal with regard to the division of the British occupation zone into three large states proved to be capable of gaining a majority.[17] Because this division of their occupation zone into relatively large states also met the interests of the British, on 8 November 1946 Regulation No. 55 of theBritishmilitary government was issued, by which the State of Lower Saxony with its capitalHanover were founded, backdated to 1 November 1946. The state was formed by a merger of theFree States of Brunswick,of Oldenburg and ofSchaumburg-Lippe with the previously formed State of Hanover. But there were exceptions:
In theState of Hanover,Amt Neuhaus and the villages of Neu Bleckede and Neu Wendischthun were allotted to the Soviet Zone and thus the subsequentEast Germany. They were not returned to Lower Saxony until 1993.
The city ofWesermünde that then lay in theRegierungsbezirk Stade was renamed in 1947 toBremerhaven and incorporated into the new city-state of Bremen, which became one of the federated German states.
The demands of Dutch politicians that the Netherlands should be given the German regions east of the Dutch-German border aswar reparations, were roundly rejected at the London Conference of 26 March 1949. In fact only about 1.3 km2 (0.50 sq mi) of west Lower Saxony was transferred to the Netherlands, in 1949.
Ordinance No. 55, with which on 22 November 1946 the British military government founded the state Lower Saxony retroactively to 1 November 1946
The firstLower Saxon parliament orLandtag met on 9 December 1946. It was not elected; rather it was established by the British Occupation Administration (a so-called "appointed parliament"). That same day the parliament elected theSocial Democrat,Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, the former Hanoverian president (Regierungspräsident) as their first minister-president. Kopf led a five-party coalition, whose basic task was to rebuild a state afflicted by the war's rigours. Kopf's cabinet had to organise an improvement of food supplies and the reconstruction of the cities and towns destroyed by Allied air raids during the war years. Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf remained – interrupted by the time in office ofHeinrich Hellwege (1955–1959) – as the head of government in Lower Saxony until 1961.
The greatest problem facing the first state government in the immediate post-war years was the challenge of integrating hundreds of thousands ofrefugees from Germany's former territories in the east (such asSilesia andEast Prussia), which had been annexed byPoland and theSoviet Union. Lower Saxony was at the western end of the direct escape route from East Prussia and had the longest border with the Soviet Zone. On 3 October 1950 Lower Saxony took over the sponsorship of the very large number of refugees fromSilesia. In 1950 there was still a shortage of 730,000 homes according to official figures.
During the period when Germany was divided, the Lower Saxonborder crossing at Helmstedt found itself on the main transport artery toWest Berlin and, from 1945 to 1990 was the busiest European border crossing point.
Of economic significance for the state was theVolkswagen concern, that restarted the production of civilian vehicles in 1945, initially under British management, and in 1949 transferred into the ownership of the newly founded country ofWest Germany and state of Lower Saxony. Overall, Lower Saxony, with its large tracts of rural countryside and few urban centres, was one of the industrially weaker regions of the federal republic for a long time. In 1960, 20% of the working population worked on the land. In the rest of the federal territory the figure was just 14%. Even in economically prosperous times the jobless totals in Lower Saxony are constantly higher than the federal average.
In 1961Georg Diederichs took office as the minister president of Lower Saxony as the successor to Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf. He was replaced in 1970 byAlfred Kubel. The arguments about theGorleben Nuclear Waste Repository, that began during the time in office of minister presidentErnst Albrecht (1976–1990), have played an important role in state and federal politics since the end of the 1970s.
In 1990Gerhard Schröder entered the office of minister-president. On 1 June 1993, the new Lower Saxon constitution entered force, replacing the "Provisional Lower Saxon Constitution" of 1951. It enablesreferendums andplebiscites and establishesenvironmental protection as a fundamental state principle.
The former HanoverianAmt Neuhaus with its parishes of Dellien, Haar, Kaarßen, Neuhaus (Elbe), Stapel, Sückau,Sumte and Tripkau as well as the villages of Neu Bleckede, Neu Wendischthun and Stiepelse in the parish of Teldau and the historic Hanoverian region in the forest district of Bohldamm in the parish of Garlitz transferred with effect from 30 June 1993 fromMecklenburg-Vorpommern to Lower Saxony (Lüneburg district). From these parishes the new municipality of Amt Neuhaus was created on 1 October 1993.
In 1998Gerhard Glogowski succeeded Gerhard Schröder who became Federal Chancellor. Because he had been linked with various scandals in his home city of Brunswick, he resigned in 1999 and was replaced bySigmar Gabriel.
From 2003 to his election as Federal President in 2010Christian Wulff was minister president in Lower Saxony. TheOsnabrücker headed a CDU-led coalition with the FDP as does his successor,David McAllister. After the elections on 20 January 2013 McAllister wasdeselected.[18]
At the end of 2014, there were almost 571,000 non-German citizens in Lower Saxony.[21] At the end of 2023, there were almost 1,085,315 non-German citizens in Lower Saxony.[22]
The 2011 census stated that a majority of the population were Christians (71.93%); 51.48% of the total population were members of the Protestant Church in Germany, 18.34% were Catholics, 2.11% were members of other Christian denominations, 2.27% were members of other religions. 25.8% have no denomination.[26] Even though there is a high level of official belonging to a Christian denomination, the people – especially in the cities – are highly secular in behaviour.
Together, these member churches of theProtestant Church in Germany gather a substantial part of the Protestant population in Germany.
TheCatholic Church was the faith of 16.3% of the population in 2020.[27] It is organised in the three dioceses ofOsnabrück (western part of the state),Münster (comprising the former Free State of Oldenburg) andHildesheim (northern and eastern part of the state). The Catholic faith is mainly concentrated to the regions of Oldenburger Münsterland, the region of Osnabrück, the region of Hildesheim and in the Western Eichsfeld.42.6% of the Low Saxons were irreligious or adhere to other religions.[27]Judaism,Islam andBuddhism are minority faiths.
Thegross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 229.5 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 8.7% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 33,700 euros or 112% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 100% of the EU average.[28]
Agriculture, strongly weighted towards the livestock sector, has always been a very important economic factor in the state. The north and northwest of Lower Saxony are mainly made up of coarse sandy soil that makes crop farming difficult and therefore grassland and cattle farming are more prevalent in those areas. Lower Saxony is home, in 2017, to one in five of Germany'scattle, one in three of the country'spigs, and 50% of itshens.[29]Wheat,potatoes,rye, andoats are among the state's present-dayarable crops. Towards the south and southeast, extensiveloess layers in the soil left behind by the lastice age allow high-yield crop farming. One of the principal crops there issugar beet. Consequently, the Land has a big food industry, mainly organised in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Big players areDeutsches Milchkontor andPHW Group (biggest German poultry farmer and producer).
Mining has also been an important source of income in Lower Saxony for centuries.Silver ore became a foundation of notable economic prosperity in the Harz Mountains as early as the 12th century, whileiron mining in the Salzgitter area andsalt mining in various areas of the state became another important economic backbone. Although overall yields are comparatively low, Lower Saxony is also an important supplier of crude oil in the European Union. Mineral products still mined today includeiron.
Manufacturing is another large part of the regional economy. Despite decades of gradual downsizing and restructuring, the carmakerVolkswagen with its five production plants within the state's borders still remains the single biggest private-sector employer, its world headquarters inWolfsburg. Due to theVolkswagen Law, which has recently been ruled illegal by theEuropean Union's high court, the state of Lower Saxony is still the second-largest shareholder, owning 20.3% of the company.[30] Thanks to the importance of car manufacturing in Lower Saxony, a thriving supply industry is centred around its regional focal points. Other mainstays of the Lower Saxon industrial sector include aviation (the region of Stade is called CFK-Valley), shipbuilding (such asMeyer Werft),biotechnology, andsteel. Medicine plays a major role; Hanover and Göttingen have two large University Medical Schools and hospitals, andOtto Bock in Duderstadt is the largest producer ofprosthetics and associated componentry in the world.
The service sector has gained importance following the demise of manufacturing in the 1970s and 1980s. Important branches today are the tourism industry withTUI AG in Hanover, one of Europe's largest travel companies, as well astrade andtelecommunications. Hanover is one of Germany's main hubs for insurance and financial-services companies, for exampleTalanx andHannover Re.
In October 2018, the Lower Saxony unemployment rate stood at 5.0% and was marginally higher than the national average.[31]
Since 1948, politics in the state have been dominated by the centre-rightChristian Democratic Union (CDU) and the centre-leftSocial Democratic Party. Lower Saxony was one of the origins of the German environmentalist movement in reaction to the state government's support for underground nuclear waste disposal. This led to the formation of the German Green Party in 1980. Germany's multi-party system generally requires coalitions to be made because parties usually do not have outright majorities.
The Minister-President heads the state government, acting as a head of state (even if the federated states have the status of a state do not establish the office of a head of state but merge the functions with the head of the executive branch) as well as the government leader. They are elected by theLandtag of Lower Saxony.
The former Minister-President,Christian Wulff, led a coalition of his CDU with theFree Democratic Party between 2003 and 2010. Inthe 2008 election, the ruling CDU held on to its position as the leading party in the state, despite losing votes and seats. The CDU's coalition with the Free Democratic Party retained its majority although it was cut from 29 to 10. The election also saw the entry into the state parliament for the first time of the leftistThe Left party. On 1 July 2010David McAllister was elected Minister-President.
The state of Lower Saxony was formed after World War II by merging the former states of Hanover, Oldenburg, Brunswick and Schaumburg-Lippe. Hanover, a former kingdom, is by far the largest of these contributors by area and population and has been a province of Prussia since 1866. The city of Hanover is the largest and capital city of Lower Saxony.
The constitution states that Lower Saxony be a free, republican, democratic,[35] social and environmentally sustainable state inside the Federal Republic of Germany; universal human rights, peace and justice are preassigned guidelines of society, and the human rights and civil liberties proclaimed by the constitution of the Federal Republic are genuine constituents of the constitution of Lower Saxony. Each citizen is entitled to education and there is universal compulsory school attendance.
All government authority is to be sanctioned by the will of the people, which expresses itself via elections and plebiscites. The legislative assembly is a unicameral parliament elected for terms of five years. The composition of the parliament obeys the principle of proportional representation of the participating political parties, but it is also ensured that each constituency delegates one directly elected representative. If a party wins more constituency delegates than their statewide share among the parties would determine, it can keep all these constituency delegates.
The states of the Federal Republic of Germany, and so Lower Saxony, have legislative responsibility and power mainly reduced to the policy fields of the school system, higher education, culture and media and police, while other policy fields like economic and social policies, foreign policy are a prerogative of the federal government. Hence the probably most important function of the federal states is their representation in the Federal Council (Bundesrat), where their approval on many crucial federal policy fields, including the tax system, is required for laws to become enacted.
Thecoat of arms shows a whitehorse (Saxon Steed) against a red background, which is an old symbol of the Saxon people. Legend has it that the horse was a symbol of the Saxon leaderWidukind, albeit a black horse against a yellow background. The colours changed after the Christian baptism of Widukind. White and red are colours (besides black and gold) of theHoly Roman Empire symbolisingChrist as the saviour, who is still shown with a red cross against a white background.
^"Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe". Die Interessengebiete Kölns und Braunschweigs nach dem Vertrag von 1260 (map).Lwl.org (in German). Archived fromthe original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved29 October 2012.
^Joachim Kuropka:Katholizismus, Kirche und südoldenburgische Identität. In: Heimatbund für das Oldenburger Münsterland (Hrsg.):Jahrbuch für das Oldenburger Münsterland 2004. Vechta. p. 50f.
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