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User:Bppubjr/Alfeld

Coordinates: 51°59′19″N 9°49′37″E / 51.98861°N 9.82694°E / 51.98861; 9.82694
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For the town in the district of Nürnberger Land, see Alfeld, Bavaria.

Bppubjr/Alfeld
Coat of arms of Bppubjr/Alfeld
Bppubjr/Alfeld is located in Germany
Bppubjr/Alfeld
Bppubjr/Alfeld
Bppubjr/Alfeld is located in Lower Saxony
Bppubjr/Alfeld
Bppubjr/Alfeld
Coordinates: 51°59′19″N 9°49′37″E / 51.98861°N 9.82694°E / 51.98861; 9.82694
CountryGermany
StateLower Saxony
DistrictHildesheim
Government
 • MayorBernd Beushausen (SPD)
Area
 • Total72.86 km2 (28.13 sq mi)
Elevation
145 m (476 ft)
Population
 (2005-09-18)
 • Total20,887
 • Density290/km2 (740/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
31061
Dialling codes05181
Vehicle registrationHI
Websitewww.alfeld.de

Alfeld is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the Leine river and is the second largest town in the district of Hildesheim.

History and main sights

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The town was founded in 1214. Sights in Alfeld include the town hall (1586) with its octagonal tower, the church Saint Nicolai and the Fillerturm, a medieval watchtower and the Fagus Factory of 1911, a fine example of early modernist architecture by Walter Gropius. More famous are the Seven Mountains (German: Sieben Berge) in the north and the Lippoldshöhle ("Lippold's cave"), where a legendary robber-knight is said to have lived.

Culture

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Alfeld townhall, behind St. Nicolai

The assertion that the popular fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was born in Alfeld is false. Even though the miners who mined ore In the Seven Mountains believed in the existence of dwarfs, it is more likely that the cradle of the fairy tale is to be searched in France. The version the brothers Grimm heard and wrote down, as they travelled through the Seven Mountains, on the so called Märchenstrasse (Street Of Fairytales) is just one of many.

Economy

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Marktstraße

The biggest employer of the city is the SAPPI (South African Pulp and Paper Industry) factory with its big chimney, which has become one of Alfeld's landmarks. Even more famous than SAPPI is the Fagus Werk, rebuilt in 1910-1915 after the blueprints of architect Walter-Gropius, what is said to be trend-setting for modern architecture.

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Latin school, today museum

Alfeld is a strategically important town fought for repeatedly by both NATO and Soviet forces in Tom Clancy's novel Red Storm Rising.

See also

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Category:Towns in Lower Saxony