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Lüneburg

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Lüneburg
Town
Coat of arms of Lüneburg
Coat of arms
Location of Lüneburg
Map
CountryGermany
StateLower Saxony
DistrictLüneburg
Subdivisions14 districts
Government
 • Lord mayorUlrich Mädge (SPD)
Area
 • Total70.34 km2 (27.16 sq mi)
Elevation
17 m (56 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[1]
 • Total76,837
 • Density1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
21335–21337–21339
Dialling codes04131
Vehicle registrationLG
Websitewww.lueneburg.de

Lüneburg, also known as Lueneburg and Lunenburg in English, is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. The city is located about 45 km (30 miles) southeast of Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs. The capital city of the district of Lüneburg, it has a metropolitan population of 103 000, including the surrounding communities like Adendorf, Bardowick and Reppenstedt. Since 2007, Lüneburg is officially allowed to use the title "Hansestadt" (Hanseatic city) in recognition of its membership in the former Hanseatic League. The official name of the city is now Hansestadt Lüneburg (Hanseatic City of Lüneburg).

Geography

The Ilmenau River, a tributary of the Elbe, flows through Lüneburg.

History

The ancient town is probably to be identified with Leufana or Leuphana (Greek: Λευφάνα), a town listed in Ptolemy (2.10) in the north of Germany on the west of the Elbe, but this identification is not universally accepted. Lüneburg was first mentioned in 956 in a contract between monks living at the location and the Holy Roman Emperor.

The town became remarkably rich during the Middle Ages due to the salt deposits around the town. Several salterns existed around the town, and the salt was exported to the neighbouring fiefs for use as a spice and food preservative. It was also exported along the Old Salt Route via Lauenburg to Lübeck, from where it was shipped to all the cities along the Baltic coast; this salt trade made the city rich. Lüneburg was for a long time one of the capitals of the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg; the town and its salt were major factors of power and wealth of the Hanseatic League.

After a long period of prosperity, its importance began to decline around 1600. The town became part of the Electorate of Hanover in 1708, the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814, and the Prussian Province of Hanover in 1866. After World War II, it became part of the new state of Lower Saxony.

The salt mine was closed in 1980, ending the thousand-year tradition of salt mining, though small amounts are still mined for ceremonial purposes. The town gained new relevance from its university, which was founded in 1989, and is a popular tourist destination within Germany because of the Lüneburg Heath, a unique landscape created by the deforestation of the surrounding area for firewood for the fires used in the obtaining of salt.

The Polabian name of Lüneburg is Glain (spelled Chlein or Glein in older German reference material), which is propably derived from glaino (< Slavic *glina), meaning ‘mud’ or ‘clay’.

Infrastructure

Education

  • Universities: Leuphana Universität Lüneburg
  • Schools:
  • Gymnasien: 5
  • Realschulen: 4
  • Hauptschulen: 5
  • Gesamtschulen: 0
  • vocational schools: 6
  • special schools: 3
  • private schools: 3
  • elementary schools: 12

Sports

Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Lüneburg, as in Germany in general; ice-hockey and basketball are popular as well. The most teams compete in the Regionalliga, which is highly ranked within Germany.

Interesting [citation needed] facts

  • Lüneburg has the second most bars per mile and per resident in Europe after Madrid, Spain; it has the most bars per resident in Germany.
  • The buildings in downtown Lüneburg survived from the 16th century on, escaping destruction even during the Second World War. As a result, the downtown district looks very old, and its rare state of preservation, along with the beauty of the surrounding Heath, attracts many tourists to the city.
  • The most populated district (10000) is Kaltenmoor, which is known for much violence, crime and unemployment.
  • The city has a very famous and active (legal) Graffiti scene and is home to many Graffiti Halls of Fame.
  • On May 23, 1945, the Nazi war criminal Heinrich Himmler is believed to have commited suicide in Lüneburg after he had been captured by the British Army. He swallowed a potassium cyanide capsule before his interrogation could begin; his body was found in his cell. His body is buried in a nearby forest in an unmarked location. As the dead man lacked a fencing scar that was prominent on Himmler's face, there have been a few attempts to question the identification of the man as Himmler.

Sister Cities

  • Am Sande
    Am Sande
  • Old crane and old store at the medieval Lüneburg harbour
    Old crane and old store at the medieval Lüneburg harbour
  • Lüneburger Rathaus
    Lüneburger Rathaus

Notable people

References

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  1. ^ "LSN-Online Regionaldatenbank, Tabelle A100001G: Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes, Stand 31. Dezember 2022" (in German). Landesamt für Statistik Niedersachsen.
  2. ^ The New Bach Reader, p37
  3. ^ http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/luneburg.html - "Johann Sebastian and a friend Georg Erdmann turned their steps toward the north, both boys carrying all their worldly belongings in a two-hundred mile trek to Lüneburg. At the Michaelisschule their duties were to sing in the church choir on Sundays...".

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lüneburg, Germany.


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