Bardowick

Not to be confused with Bardowiek.

Bardowick
Bardowick
Location of Bardowick within Lüneburg district
Coordinates	53°17′57″N 10°23′42″E
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Lüneburg
Municipal assoc.	Bardowick
Basic statistics
Area	23.25 km2 (8.98 sq mi)
Elevation	8 m  (26 ft)
Population	6,392 (31 December 2010)
- Density	275 /km2 (712 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	LG
Postal code	21357
Area code	04131
Website	www.bardowick.de

Bardowick (Bewick in Low Saxon) is a municipality in the district of Lüneburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is three miles north of Lüneburg on the navigable river Ilmenau. Bardowick is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde ("collective municipality") Bardowick.

History

The town was first mentioned in AD 795 and was raised to city status in AD 972 by Otto I. Its name is derived from the Longobardi, the tribe for whom it was the home and centre, and from it the colonization of Lombardy started.

In 1146 the collegiate church of Saints Peter and Paul is recorded first. In 1186 the then competent Prince-Bishop of Verden, Tammo (d. 1188), further privileged the collegiate church.

The city was razed to the ground, with the exception of the churches, in AD 1189 by Henry the Lion. Until that time, it was the most prosperous commercial city of north Germany.

Today's building of the former collegiate, meanwhile Lutheran church (German: Bardowicker Dom, with Dom being used in German language - pars pro toto - as a synecdoche for collegiate churches and cathedrals alike) was erected between 1389 and 1485.