Uelzen
| Uelzen | |
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 Uelzen
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Location of the town of Uelzen within Uelzen district
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| Coordinates | 52°57′53″N 10°33′57″E / 52.96472°N 10.56583°ECoordinates: 52°57′53″N 10°33′57″E / 52.96472°N 10.56583°E |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Lower Saxony |
| District | Uelzen |
| Town subdivisions | 16 districts |
| Mayor | Otto Lukat (SPD) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 135.84 km2 (52.45 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 43 m (141 ft) |
| Population | 34,250 (31 December 2010)[1] |
| - Density | 252 /km2 (653 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | UE |
| Postal code | 29525 |
| Area code | 0581 |
| Website | www.uelzen.de |
Uelzen (German pronunciation: [ˈʏltsən], Low German Ülz’n[2]) is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a Hanseatic town and an independent municipality.
Uelzen is characterised by timber-framed architecture and also has some striking examples of North German brick Gothic. But the county town earned pan-regional fame when Friedensreich Hundertwasser was selected to redesign the station. The final work of the celebrated Viennese artist and architect was ceremonially opened in 2000 as the Hundertwasser Station, Uelzen and has since been a popular tourist magnet.
The Polabian name for Uelzen is Wilcaus (spelled Wiltzaus in older German reference material), possibly derived from wilca or wilsa (< Slavic *olăša) 'alder'.
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[edit] Geography
[edit] Location
Uelzen lies on the edge of the Lüneburg Heath. The town is a transport hub on the north-south axis from Hamburg to Hanover as well as the east-west axis from Bremen to Berlin. Also of economic importance is its location on the Elbe Lateral Canal. The town's has a charming setting, situated as it is on the heath river, the Ilmenau, with its grassy river banks, small parks and water meadows. Large areas in the vicinity of Uelzen have been set aside as nature parks with moors, woods, lakes and heathland: the Elbhöhen-Wendland Nature Park, Lüneburg Heath Nature Park and Lower Saxon Elbe Valley Water Meadows Biosphere Reserve.
[edit] Divisions
The following parishes belong to the borough of Uelzen: Groß Liedern, Halligdorf, Hambrock, Hansen, Hanstedt II, Holdenstedt, Kirchweyhe, Klein Süstedt, Masendorf, Mehre, Molzen, Oldenstadt, Riestedt, Ripdorf, Tatern, Veerßen, Westerweyhe and Woltersburg.
Furthermore there are four other places that have the status of "special parishes" (Sonstige Ortsteile): Borne, Kl. Liedern, Pieperhöfen and Oldenstadt-West.
[edit] Neighbouring towns
| Buchholz in der Nordheide 80 km |
Lüneburg, Hamburg 37 km, 92 km |
Dannenberg 41 km |
| Munster, Soltau 37 km, 56 km |
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Lüchow 43 km |
| Celle, Hanover 54 km, 95 km |
Gifhorn, Wolfsburg 58 km, 82 km |
Wittingen, Salzwedel 31 km, 45 km |
[edit] History
The town was founded in 1277.[3] It was the site of a a Nazi concentration camp was established in Uelzen until 17 April 1945. The camp was a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp.[4]
[edit] Politics
The mayor of Uelzen since 2001 has been the social democrat, Otto Lukat. In the 2006 election he was confirmed in office with 69.9 % of the vote. The deputy mayors are Jörg Firus (FDP) and Ute Chlechowitz (SPD).
Uelzen belongs to the Bundestag constituency of Celle-Uelzen. In 2009 Henning Otte (CDU) was directly elected, having been on the state list (place 19) since 2005. Kirsten Lühmann (SPD) was elected in 2009 via the state list. In the years 1998, 2002 and 2005 Peter Struck (SPD), former defence minister and chairman of the SPD party in the German Bundestag, was directly elected.
[edit] Economy
The largest beet sugarfactory of the Nordzucker group is located in Uelzen. The factory processes approximately 20,000 tons of sugarbeets per day.
[edit] Railway station
The Hundertwasserbahnhof is a railway station in Uelzen at the eastern edge of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park in northeastern Lower Saxony.
The original station was renovated for Expo 2000 following plans by the Austrian artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. An "environmentally, culturally oriented" station, Uelzen station was renamed as 'Hundertwasser Station, Uelzen' (Hundertwasser-Bahnhof Uelzen). Today it is one of the town's popular tourist attractions.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Bevölkerungsdichte der kreisfreien Städte und Landkreise - Stand 31.12.2010" (in German). Landesbetrieb für Statistik und Kommunikationstechnologie Niedersachsen. July 2011. http://www.lskn.niedersachsen.de/download/59963.
- ^ Eduard Kück: Lüneburger Wörterbuch. Wortschatz der Lüneburger Heide und ihrer Randgebiete, seit 1900 zusammen mit vielen Mitarbeitern gesammelt und sprachwissenschaftlich sowie volkskundlich erläutert von Professor Dr. Eduard Kück. Dritter Band: S–Z. Neumünster: Karl Wachholtz 1967
- ^ http://www.hanse.org/en/hanseatic-cities/uelzen-tourism
- ^ The camp is listed as No. 1491 Uelzen in the official German list.
[edit] References
- Official German list of concentration camps Verzeichnis der Konzentrationslager und ihrer Außenkommandos (German)
- Johann Parum Schultze; Reinhold Olesch (Hrsg.): Fontes linguae Dravaenopolabicae minores et Chronica Venedica J. P. Schultzii. (= Slavistische Forschungen; Band 7). Böhlau, Köln und Graz 1967
- Christian Hennig von Jessen: Vocabularium Venedicum (oder Wendisches Wörter-Buch) (1705). Nachdruck besorgt von Reinhold Olesch. - Köln [u.a.]: Böhlau 1959 (Gewährsmann des Pastors C. Hennig von Jessen war der polabisch sprechende Bauer Johann Janieschge aus Klennow)
[edit] External links
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