The Harburg Hills (German: Harburger Berge ) are a low ridge in the northeastern part of the German state of Lower Saxony and the southern part of the city state of Hamburg . They are up to 155 metres (509 ft) high.
98-693: The Harburg Hills lie northwest of the Lüneburg Heath in the Lower Saxon district of Landkreis Harburg and in the Hamburg quarters of Eißendorf, Hausbruch, Heimfeld, Marmstorf and Neugraben-Fischbek within the Harburg borough. Thus they are located between the city of Hamburg to the north, Seevetal to the east, the Lüneburg Heath to the southeast, Handeloh , Welle and Otter to
196-603: A Prussian province ; after 1919 Brunswick became a free state). Historically a close tie existed between the royal house of Hanover ( Electorate of Hanover ) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as a result of their personal union in the 18th century (the personal union was dissolved when Victoria became the Queen of the United Kingdom in 1837 because Hanover did not allow female rulers). West of
294-522: A Lower Saxon Constituency Association ( Wahlkreisverband IX (Niedersachsen) ). This indicates that at that time the western administrations of the Prussian Province of Hanover and the state of Oldenburg 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. The County of Schaumburg (not to be confused with
392-544: A broadly liberal and social-democratic city, lost its autonomy under the Hitler regime . During World War II , it was the location of nine subcamps of the Neuengamme concentration camp , mostly for French, Polish, Soviet and Jewish men and Jewish women. After the war, in which almost two thirds of the city's fabric was destroyed, the autonomy was restored. Bremen became one of the founding Bundesländer (or states) of
490-432: A feature that Bremen shares with most of Germany and its neighbouring countries, though. Precipitation is distributed fairly even around the year with a small peak in summer mainly due to convective precipitation, i.e. showers and thunderstorms. Snowfall and the period of snow cover are variable; whereas in some years, hardly any snow accumulation occurs, there has recently been a series of unusually snowy winters, peaking in
588-465: 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 . The Frisians 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 was West Low German , one of
686-486: A third of the total population, could be classified as having non-German origin/ethnicity. Number of minorities in Bremen by nationality as of 31 December 2022: The recent influx has somewhat moderated the tendency toward an accelerated ageing of the population. As it is, more than half the population of the state of Bremen are over 50, and more than a quarter are over 60. The Stadtbürgerschaft (municipal assembly)
784-530: A worldwide operating company for manufacturing wool and trading in wool and similar products, is headquartered in Bremen. Gleistein is a German cordage factory with head office in Bremen. Bremen has an international airport situated 3 km (2 mi) south of the city centre. Trams in Bremen and local bus services are offered by the Bremer Straßenbahn AG (translates from German as Bremen Tramways Corporation ), often abbreviated BSAG,
882-656: Is a depression near Freepsum 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 the Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region . Lower Saxony has clear regional divisions that manifest themselves geographically, as well as historically and culturally. In
980-409: Is a plant of EADS Astrium and the headquarters of OHB-System , respectively the first and the third space companies of European Union. There is also a Mercedes-Benz factory in Bremen, building the C , CLK , SL , SLK , and GLK series of cars. Beck & Co 's headlining brew Beck's and St Pauli Girl beers are brewed in Bremen. In past centuries when Bremen's port was the "key to Europe",
1078-752: Is an exclave of Bremen in Bremerhaven, the "Citybremian Overseas Port Area Bremerhaven" ( Stadtbremisches Überseehafengebiet Bremerhaven ). Bremen is the fourth-largest city in the Low German dialect area after Hamburg, Dortmund and Essen . Bremen's port , together with the port of Bremerhaven at the mouth of the Weser, is the second-largest port in Germany after the Port of Hamburg . The airport of Bremen ( Flughafen Bremen " Hans Koschnick " ) lies in
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#17327753786941176-603: Is currently made up of 72 of the 87 legislators of the state legislature, the Bremische Bürgerschaft who reside in the city of Bremen. The legislature is elected by the citizens of Bremen every four years. Bremen has a reputation as a left-wing city. The port, shipyards and related industries sustained a large and unionised working class. This translated into support for the Social Democrats , considered Bremen's natural governing party. However, in
1274-801: Is the Weserstadion , a pure football stadium, almost completely surrounded by solar cells. It is one of the biggest buildings in Europe delivering renewable energy. With 18,000 students, the University of Bremen is the largest university in Bremen, and is also home to the international Goethe-Institut and the Fallturm Bremen . Additionally, Bremen has a University of the Arts and the Bremen University of Applied Sciences . In 2001,
1372-804: Is the capital of the German state of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen ( Freie Hansestadt Bremen ), a two-city-state consisting of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven . With about 577,000 inhabitants, the Hanseatic city is the 11th-largest city of Germany and the second-largest city in Northern Germany after Hamburg . Bremen is the largest city on the River Weser , the longest river flowing entirely in Germany, lying some 60 km (37 mi) upstream from its mouth into
1470-553: Is the eleventh largest city in Germany; and in terms of population the second largest city in northwest Germany after Hamburg and the eleventh largest in the whole of Germany (see: List of cities in Germany ) . Bremen lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) east of the city of Oldenburg , 110 kilometres (68 miles) southwest of Hamburg , 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest of Hanover , 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of Minden and 105 kilometres (65 miles) northeast of Osnabrück . Part of Bremerhaven 's port territory forms an exclave of
1568-653: The A 1 . The hills are framed by the Seeve river in the east and the Este river in the west. The Harburg Hills are end moraines that were formed in the Saalian glaciation and Weichselian Ice Age . They are a popular recreation area. The Harburg Hills form a landscape of hilly forests, heaths and farmland. They contain protected nature reserves : the Fischbeker Heide [ de ] (Fischbek Heath, 1958),
1666-759: The British Zone of Occupation . On 23 August 1946, the British Military Government issued Ordinance No. 46 "Concerning the dissolution of the provinces of the former state of Prussia in the British Zone and their reconstitution as independent states" , which initially established the State of Hanover on the territory of the former Prussian Province of Hanover. Its minister president, Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf , had already suggested in June 1945
1764-573: The European Union , and after 2015 with the settlement of refugees from Syria and other war-torn regions. Today Bremen has a population of 567,000 and is the 11th largest city in Germany and 5th largest city by area with area of 318.21 km (122.86 sq mi), which makes this city area bigger than Munich . By the second decade of the century out of a population (including Bremerhaven ) of approximately 680,000, over 115,000 had foreign citizenship, and nearly twice that number, almost
1862-600: The Federal Republic (West Germany) . Bremen lies on both sides of the River Weser , about 60 kilometres (37 miles) upstream of its estuary on the North Sea and its transition to the Outer Weser by Bremerhaven. Opposite Bremen's Altstadt is the point where the "Middle Weser" becomes the "Lower Weser" and, from the area of Bremen's port, the river has been made navigable to ocean-going vessels. The region on
1960-461: The Nazi Party seized power in 1933, they quickly transformed Germany into a highly centralized state and divided the entire Third Reich into Gaue 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 of Cuxhaven being fully integrated into
2058-543: The North Sea at Bremerhaven , and is completely surrounded by the state of Lower Saxony . Bremen is the centre of the Northwest Metropolitan Region , which also includes the cities of Oldenburg and Bremerhaven, and has a population of around 2.8 million people. Bremen is contiguous with the Lower Saxon towns of Delmenhorst , Stuhr , Achim , Weyhe , Schwanewede and Lilienthal . There
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#17327753786942156-632: The North Sea , the states of Schleswig-Holstein , Hamburg , Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , Brandenburg , Saxony-Anhalt , Thuringia , Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia , and the Netherlands . Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen , the other its seaport , Bremerhaven (which is a semi-exclave , as it has a coastline). Lower Saxony thus borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland . The state's largest cities are
2254-591: The Schwarze Berge (Black Hills), Buchenwälder im Rosengarten [ de ] and Landschaftsschutzgebiet Rosengarten–Kiekeberg–Stuvenwald [ de ] (1965), and Neugrabener Heide, as well as the Wildpark Schwarze Berge [ de ] . The area is crossed by the A 1 and A 261 Autobahns ; junctions Neu Wulmstorf-Rade, Buchholz-Dibbersen (both on the A 1) and Rosengarten-Tötensen (A 261) enabling easy access to
2352-720: The UNESCO World Heritage Site "Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen". Bremen is well-known through the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale " Town Musicians of Bremen " ( Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten ), and there is a statue dedicated to it in front of the city hall. Bremen has a reputation as a working-class city. The city is home to many multinationals and manufacturing companies headquartered in Bremen include Hachez chocolate and Vector Foiltec . Bundesliga club SV Werder Bremen play in
2450-612: The Weserstadion on the bank of the Weser. For most of its 1,200 year history, Bremen was an independent city within the confederal jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire . Its governing merchants and guilds were at the centre of the Hanseatic League that sought to monopolise the North Sea and Baltic Sea trade. To enlarge and confirm its independence, the city had, until the Reformation , to contend with
2548-545: The district of Tecklenburg and the state of Lippe . 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 strong Welf connotations of this draft, according to Thomas Vogtherr, did not simplify the development of a Lower Saxon identity after 1946. An alternative model, proposed by politicians in Oldenburg and Brunswick, envisaged
2646-428: The north temperate zone of central Europe that is affected by prevailing Westerlies and is located in a transition zone between the maritime climate of Western Europe and the continental climate of Eastern Europe . This transition is clearly noticeable within the state: whilst the northwest experiences an Atlantic (North Sea coastal) to Sub-Atlantic climate, with comparatively low variations in temperature during
2744-613: The public transport provider for Bremen. The Bremen S-Bahn covers the Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region , from Bremerhaven in the north to Twistringen in the south and from Oldenburg in the west, centred on Bremen Central Station . It has been in operation since 2010. This network unified existing regional transport in Bremen as well as surrounding cities, including Bremerhaven , Delmenhorst , Twistringen , Nordenham , Oldenburg , and Verden an der Aller . The network lies completely within
2842-432: 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 resulting local heritage societies ( Heimatvereine ) and their associated magazines routinely used the terms "Lower Saxony" or "Lower Saxon" in their names. At
2940-469: 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. After the Second World War most of Northwest Germany lay within
3038-535: The 1980s mechanization of the port and closure of the city's leading shipbuilder induced an employment crisis and shook the confidence of the party's traditional voter base. The SPD, which had still polled 51% in 1987, lost its effective majority. The once dominant left-liberal vote split, and coalition government became the norm. The state today is governed by a coalition of the Social Democratic Party, The Greens and The Left . In November 2019
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3136-650: The BIW did not reach the threshold in Bremen (and will only receive one seat in Bremerhaven, none in Bremen). Neustadt, Südervorstadt and Gartenstadt Süd between Alte Neustadt and the airport city More contemporary tourist attractions include: The Freie Waldorfschule in Bremen-Sebaldsbrück was Germany's first school built to the Passivhaus low-energy building standard. According to data from
3234-603: The City of Bremen. The inner city lies on a Weser dune, which reaches a natural height of 10.5 metres (34 feet, 6 inches) above sea level at Bremen Cathedral ; its highest point, though, is 14.4 metres (47 feet, 3 inches) above sea level and lies to the east at the Polizeihaus , Am Wall 196. The highest natural feature in the city of Bremen is 32.5 metres (107 feet) above sea level and lies in Friedehorst Park in
3332-514: The Elbe downstream Hamburg are known as the Altes 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 being apples . Most of the state's territory was part of the historic Kingdom 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
3430-572: The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Bremen had a GDP per capita of $ 53,379 in 2013, higher than the average for Germany as a whole. For comparison, in 2013, the World Bank reported Germany had a GDP per capita of $ 46,268, and the EU overall had a GDP per capita of $ 35,408 in the same year. Bremen is the second development centre of the region, after Hamburg . It forms part of
3528-640: The Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe) around the towns of Rinteln and Hessisch Oldendorf did indeed belong to the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau until 1932, a province that also included large parts of the present state of Hesse, including the cities of Kassel , Wiesbaden and Frankfurt am Main ; but in 1932 the County of Schaumburg became part of the Prussian Province of Hanover. When
3626-637: The Prussian Province of Hanover under the Greater 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 the Soviet Occupation Zone in 1945, all those areas allocated to the new state of Lower Saxony in 1946, had already been merged into
3724-669: The River Hunte a "de-Westphalianising process" began in 1815. After the Congress of Vienna the territories of the later administrative regions ( Regierungsbezirke ) of Osnabrück and Aurich transferred to the Kingdom of Hanover. The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe retained state autonomy. Nevertheless, the entire Weser-Ems region (including the city of Bremen ) were grouped in 1920 into
3822-599: The Saxon peoples left their homeland in Holstein about the 3rd century and pushed southwards over the Elbe , 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 the Netherlands . From about the 7th century the Saxons had occupied a settlement area that roughly corresponds to the present state of Lower Saxony, of Westphalia and
3920-535: The Weser-Ems region was placed under the rule of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The word Niedersachsen was first used before 1300 in a Dutch rhyming chronicle ( Reimchronik ). From the 14th century it referred to the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (as opposed to Saxe-Wittenberg ). On the creation of the imperial circles in 1500, a Lower Saxon Circle was distinguished from a Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle . The latter included
4018-737: The aforementioned institutes, especially within the MARUM a center for marine environmental sciences, affiliated to the University of Bremen. Furthermore, The Fraunhofer Society is present in Bremen with centers for applied material research (IFAM ) and medical image computing (MEVIS ). The Centre for Economics Education in the Unterwesergebiet (BWU) is a vocational education and training institution based in Bremen. It specializes in providing business-related education and professional development programs for individuals and businesses. Bremen
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4116-671: The area of Helmstedt. The highest levels of precipitation are experienced in the Harz because the Lower Saxon part forms the windward side of this mountain range against which orographic rain falls. The average annual temperature is 8 °C (46 °F); 7.5 °C (45.5 °F) in the Altes Land and 8.5 °C (47.3 °F) in the district of Cloppenburg . Lower Saxony is divided into 37 districts ( Landkreise or simply Kreise ): Furthermore, there are eight urban districts and two cities with special status: Between 1946 and 2004,
4214-754: The area of the Bremen-Lower Saxony Transport Association , whose tariff structure applies. Bremen is home to the football team Werder Bremen , who won the German Football Championship for the fourth time and the German Football Cup for the fifth time in 2004, making them only the fourth team in German football history to win the double; the club won the German Football Cup for the sixth time in 2009. The home stadium of SV Werder Bremen
4312-490: The astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers reported to have measured −27.3 °C on 23 January 1823. Being at some distance from the main North Sea, Bremen still has a somewhat wider temperature range than Bremerhaven that is located on the mouth of Weser. Average temperatures have risen continually over the last decades, leading to a 0.6 °C (1.1 °F) rise in the mean annual temperature between 1961–90 and 1981–2010 reference periods. As in most parts of Germany,
4410-974: The city also had a large number of wine importers, but the number is down to a precious few. Apart from that there is another link between Bremen and wine: about 800 years ago, quality wines were produced here. Bremen is not the place where the largest wine cellar in the world is located although it was once said to hold over 1 million bottles, but during WWII was raided by occupying forces. A large number of food producing or trading companies are located in Bremen with their German or European headquarters: Anheuser-Busch InBev (Beck's Brewery), Kellogg's , Kraft Foods (Kraft, Jacobs Coffee, Milka Chocolate, Milram, Miràcoli), Frosta (frosted food), Nordsee (chain of sea fast food), Melitta Kaffee, Eduscho Kaffee, Azul Kaffee, Vitakraft (pet articles and food for cats, dogs, birds, fish, rodents and other pets), Atlanta AG (Chiquita banana), chocolatier Hachez (fine chocolate and confiserie), feodora chocolatier. Bremer Woll-Kämmerei (BWK),
4508-432: The coast East Frisia . The state is dominated by several large northwards-flowing rivers, including the Ems , Weser , Aller , and the Elbe. The highest point in Lower Saxony is the Wurmberg (971 metres or 3,186 feet) in the Harz. Most of the significant 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,
4606-422: 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
4704-436: The division of the British occupation zone into three large states proved to be capable of gaining a majority. 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 the British military government was issued, by which the State of Lower Saxony with its capital Hanover were founded, backdated to 1 November 1946. The state
4802-435: The enclave area. To the southeast, the state border runs through the Harz, low mountains that are part of the German Central Uplands . The northeast and west of the state, which form roughly three-quarters of its land area, belong to the North German Plain, while the south is in the Lower Saxon Hills , including the Weser Uplands , Leine Uplands , Schaumburg Land , Brunswick Land , Untereichsfeld , Elm , and Lappwald . In
4900-413: The end of 2023, there were almost 1,085,315 non-German citizens in Lower Saxony. The following table illustrates the largest minority groups in Lower Saxony: Religion in Lower Saxony (Census 2011): Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: Breem or Bräm ), officially the City Municipality of Bremen ( German : Stadtgemeinde Bremen , IPA: [ˈʃtatɡəˌmaɪndə ˈbʁeːmən] ),
4998-405: 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
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#17327753786945096-410: The following territories that, in whole or in part, belong today to the state of Lower Saxony: the Bishopric of Osnabrück , the Bishopric of Münster , the County of Bentheim , the County of Hoya , the Principality of East Frisia , the Principality of Verden , the County of Diepholz , the County of Oldenburg , the County of Schaumburg and the County of Spiegelberg . At the same time a distinction
5194-459: 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 of Minden-Ravensberg (i.e. the Westphalian city of Bielefeld as well as the Westphalian districts of Minden , Lübbecke , Bielefeld , Herford and Halle ),
5292-404: 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
5390-437: 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 of Diepholz , Syke , Osterholz-Scharmbeck and Wesermünde in the proposed state of "Weser-Ems". Likewise an enlarged State of Brunswick
5488-422: The four administrative regions or governorates ( Regierungsbezirke ), into which Lower Saxony had been hitherto divided, were dissolved. These were the governorates of Braunschweig, Hanover, Lüneburg and Weser-Ems. The largest towns in Lower Saxony as of 31 December 2017: The name of Saxony derives from that of the Germanic confederation of tribes called the Saxons . Before the late medieval period, there
5586-416: The fuselage section (excluding the cockpit) of the A400M military transport aircraft takes place before delivery on to Spain. More than 3,100 persons are employed at Airbus Bremen, the second largest Airbus site in Germany. As part of the Centre of Excellence – Wing/Pylon, Bremen is responsible for the design and manufacture of high-lift systems for the wings of Airbus aircraft. The entire process chain for
5684-443: The high-lift elements is established here, including the project office, technology engineering, flight physics, system engineering, structure development, verification tests, structural assembly, wing equipping and ultimate delivery to the final assembly line. In addition, Bremen manufactures sheet metal parts like clips and thrust crests for all Airbus aircraft as part of the Centre of Excellence – Fuselage and Cabin. In Bremen there
5782-585: The hills. The A 7 runs through the northeastern part of the region; leave at the Marmstorf exit. Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a German state ( Land ) in northwestern Germany . It is the second-largest state by land area, with 47,614 km (18,384 sq mi), and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany . In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are still spoken, though by declining numbers of people. Lower Saxony borders on (from north and clockwise)
5880-437: The left bank of the Lower Weser, through which the Ochtum flows, is the Weser Marshes, the landscape on its right bank is part of the Elbe-Weser Triangle . The Lesum , and its tributaries, the Wümme and Hamme , the Schönebecker Aue and Blumenthaler Aue , are the downstream tributaries of the Weser. The city's municipal area is about 38 kilometres (24 miles) long and 16 kilometres (10 miles) wide. In terms of area, Bremen
5978-488: The main transport artery to West Berlin and, from 1945 to 1990 was the busiest European border crossing point. Of economic significance for the state was the Volkswagen 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 of West Germany and state of Lower Saxony. Overall, Lower Saxony, with its large tracts of rural countryside and few urban centres,
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#17327753786946076-427: The medieval, Welf estates of the Duchy 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. Two major principalities survived east of the Weser after the Napoleonic Wars: the Kingdom of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick (after 1866 Hanover became
6174-418: The merger of the State of Hanover with three smaller states on 1 November 1946. Lower Saxony has a natural boundary in the north in the North Sea and the lower and middle reaches of the River Elbe , although parts of the city of Hamburg lie south of the Elbe. The state and city of Bremen is an enclave entirely surrounded by Lower Saxony. The Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region is a cooperative body for
6272-439: The new Lower Saxon constitution entered force, replacing the "Provisional Lower Saxon Constitution" of 1951. It enables referendums and plebiscites and establishes environmental protection as a fundamental state principle. The former Hanoverian Amt 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
6370-480: The northeast of Lower Saxony is the Lüneburg Heath. The heath is dominated by the poor, sandy soils of the geest , whilst in the central-east and southeast in the loess börde zone , productive soils with high natural fertility occur. Under these conditions—with loam and sand -containing soils—the land is well-developed agriculturally . In the west lie the County of Bentheim , Osnabrück Land , Emsland , Oldenburg Land , Ammerland , Oldenburg Münsterland , and on
6468-439: The northern and eastern border of North Rhine-Westphalia has largely been identical with that of the Prussian Province of Westphalia . Only the Free 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
6566-523: The northern parts of the Central Uplands : the Weser Uplands and the Harz Mountains. Between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills , a range of low ridges. The region in the northeast, the Lüneburg 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 the Elbe valley separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , and Brandenburg. The left banks of
6664-437: The northwestern borough of Burglesum. As a result, Bremen has the lowest high point of all the German states . Bremen has a moderate oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ) due to its proximity to the North Sea coast and temperate maritime air masses that move in with the predominantly westerly winds from the Atlantic Ocean. However, periods in which continental air masses predominate may occur at any time of
6762-508: 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 from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to Lower Saxony ( Lüneburg district ). From these parishes the new municipality of Amt Neuhaus was created on 1 October 1993. In 1998 Gerhard 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
6860-448: The private Jacobs University Bremen was founded. All major German research foundations maintain institutes in Bremen, with a focus on marine sciences: The Max Planck Society with the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology , and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community with the Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (zmt). The Bremerhaven-based Alfred-Wegener-Institute of the Helmholtz Association closely cooperates with
6958-408: The production network of Airbus SAS and this is where equipping of the wing units for all widebody Airbus aircraft and the manufacture of small sheet metal parts takes place. Structural assembly, including that of metal landing flaps, is another focal point. Within the framework of Airbus A380 production, assembly of the landing flaps (high lift systems) is carried out here. The pre-final assembly of
7056-606: The record year 2010 counting 84 days with a snow cover. Nevertheless, snow accumulation of more than 20 centimetres (8 in) remains exceptional, the record being 68 centimetres (26.8 in) of snow on 18 February 1979. The warmest months in Bremen are June, July, and August, with average high temperatures of 20.2 to 22.6 °C (68.4 to 72.7 °F). The coldest are December, January, and February, with average low temperatures of −1.1 to 0.3 °C (30.0 to 32.5 °F). Typical of its maritime location, autumn tends to remain mild well into October, while spring arrives later than in
7154-419: The reference periods of 1961–90 and 1991–2020. This trend has continued over the last 10 years (2011–2020), which average 1680 hours of sunshine, almost 200 hours more than in the international reference period of 1961–90. Nevertheless, especially the winters remain extremely gloomy by international standards with December averaging hardly more than one hour of sunshine (out of 7 astronomically possible) per day,
7252-437: The regions listed here are part of other, larger regions, that are also included in the list. Just under 20% of the land area of Lower Saxony is designated as nature parks, i.e.: Dümmer , Elbhöhen-Wendland , Elm-Lappwald , Harz , Lüneburger Heide , Münden , Terra.vita , Solling-Vogler , Lake Steinhude , Südheide , Weser Uplands , Wildeshausen Geest , Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen . Lower Saxony falls climatically into
7350-479: The regions that used to be independent, especially the heartlands of the former states of Brunswick , Hanover , Oldenburg and Schaumburg-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
7448-512: The right-wing group Phalanx 18 was banned by the city-state of Bremen. One of the two mayors ( Bürgermeister ) is elected President of the Senate ( Präsident des Senats ) and serves as head of the city and the state. The current mayor is Andreas Bovenschulte . Provisional results; the AfD did not reach the 5% threshold in Bremerhaven (and will hence only receive seats for votes from Bremen),
7546-540: The seven East Frisian Islands offshore are popular with tourists. In the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland , an economically emerging but rather sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plain , is almost invariably flat except for the gentle hills around the Bremen geestland . Towards the south and southwest lie
7644-539: The south, Tostedt and Buchholz in der Nordheide to the southwest, Hollenstedt and Beckdorf to the west and Neu Wulmstorf to the northwest. At the centre of this hill country is the municipal district of Rosengarten (which consists of ten separate villages and covers an area of some 64 km² (25 sq. miles)). The geographic centre of the Harburg Hills is the Buchholz motorway ( Autobahn ) interchange on
7742-602: The southern borough of Neustadt-Neuenland and is Germany's 12th-busiest airport . Bremen is a major cultural and economic hub of Northern Germany. The city is home to dozens of historical galleries and museums, ranging from historical sculptures to major art museums, such as the Bremen Overseas Museum ( Übersee-Museum Bremen ) or the Weserburg . The Bremen City Hall and the Bremen Roland form
7840-509: The southwestern parts of the country. Bremen's economy boomed in line with the West German Wirtschaftswunder of the 1950s and 60s. This saw the growth, and permanent settlement, of a large migrant worker population, drawn largely from Turkey and southern Europe. A new wave immigration occurred after the turn of new century, following the entry of Poland , Bulgaria and other former East Bloc countries into
7938-469: The state capital Hanover , Braunschweig (Brunswick), Oldenburg , Osnabrück , Wolfsburg , Göttingen , Salzgitter , Hildesheim , mainly situated in its central and southern parts, except Oldenburg and Lüneburg. Lower Saxony is the only Bundesland that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas. The northwestern area of the state, on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia and
8036-495: 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 the Bezirksregierungen (regional governments) were again split into separate bodies. 1946–1978: 1978–2004: On 1 January 2005
8134-494: The successor to Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf. He was replaced in 1970 by Alfred Kubel . The arguments about the Gorleben Nuclear Waste Repository , that began during the time in office of minister president Ernst Albrecht (1976–1990), have played an important role in state and federal politics since the end of the 1970s. In 1990 Gerhard Schröder entered the office of minister-president. On 1 June 1993,
8232-612: The temporal power of the Church , and after the Thirty Years' War with Sweden , the masters of the surrounding Duchy of Bremen-Verden . George 1 Louis , the Elector of Hannover (and from 1714, King of Great Britain and Ireland ) who in 1715 acquired Bremen-Verden, recognized Bremen as a free city in 1720. The city was captured in 1806 and then annexed by France in 1810, before it regained independence in 1815. In 1871, Bremen
8330-485: The time in office of Heinrich 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 of refugees from Germany's former territories in the east (such as Silesia and East Prussia ), which had been annexed by Poland and the Soviet Union . Lower Saxony
8428-558: The varieties of language in the Low German dialect group. The establishment of permanent boundaries between what later became Lower Saxony and Westphalia began in the 12th century. In 1260, in a treaty between the Archbishopric of Cologne and the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg the lands claimed by the two territories were separated from each other. The border ran along the Weser to a point north of Nienburg. The northern part of
8526-429: The year 2014 has been the warmest year on record averaging 11.1 °C (52.0 °F), making Bremen the second-warmest German state after Berlin in 2014. While Bremen is located in the comparatively cloudy northwestern part of Germany, there has been a significant increase in average sunshine hours over the last decades, especially in the months of April, May, and July, causing the annual mean to rise by 121 hours between
8624-555: The year and can lead to heat waves in the summer and prolonged periods of frost in the winter. In general though, extremes are rare in Bremen and temperatures below −15 °C (5.0 °F) and above 35 °C (95.0 °F) occur only once every couple of years. The record high temperature was 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) on 9 August 1992, while the official record low temperature was −23.6 °C (−10.5 °F) on 13 February 1940. On 13 October 2018, Bremen recorded its warmest October day on record with 28.6 °C (83.4 °F). However,
8722-657: Was a single Duchy 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 the House of Welf from the Electorate of Saxony on one hand, and from the Duchy of Westphalia on the other. The name and coat of arms of the present state go back to the Germanic tribe of Saxons . During the Migration Period some of
8820-478: 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 from Silesia . In 1950 there was still a shortage of 730,000 homes according to official figures. During the period when Germany was divided, the Lower Saxon border crossing at Helmstedt found itself on
8918-535: Was drawn by Prussia into the German Empire . With its new sea anchorage and wharves at Bremerhaven, it was the principal port of embarkation for German and central European emigrants to the Americas, and an entrepôt for Germany's late developing colonial trade. The Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL), founded in Bremen in 1857, became one of the world's leading shipping companies. In the twentieth century, Bremen,
9016-704: Was formed by a merger of the Free States of Brunswick , of Oldenburg and of Schaumburg-Lippe with the previously formed State of Hanover. But there were exceptions: The demands of Dutch politicians that the Netherlands should be given the German regions east of the Dutch-German border as war reparations , were roundly rejected at the London Conference of 26 March 1949. In fact only about 1.3 km (0.50 sq mi) of west Lower Saxony
9114-485: Was made with the eastern part of the old Saxon lands from the central German principalities later called Upper Saxony for dynastic reasons. 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
9212-411: 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 1961 Georg Diederichs took office as the minister president of Lower Saxony as
9310-537: Was proposed in the southeast to include the Regierungsbezirk of Hildesheim and the district 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 of Vechta protested on 12 June 1946 against being incorporated into the metropolitan area of Hanover ( Großraum Hannover ). If the State of Oldenburg
9408-457: Was replaced by Sigmar Gabriel . From 2003 to his election as Federal President in 2010 Christian Wulff was minister president in Lower Saxony. The Osnabrücker headed a CDU-led coalition with the FDP as does his successor, David McAllister . After the elections on 20 January 2013 McAllister was deselected . At the end of 2014, there were almost 571,000 non-German citizens in Lower Saxony. At
9506-475: Was to be dissolved, Vechta District would much rather be included in the Westphalian region. Particularly in the districts where there was a political Catholicism the notion was widespread, that Oldenburg Münsterland and the Regierungsbezirk of Osnabrück should be part of a newly formed State of Westphalia. Since the foundation of the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Hanover on 23 August 1946
9604-561: Was transferred to the Netherlands, in 1949. → see main article Dutch annexation of German territory after World War II The first Lower Saxon parliament or Landtag 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 the Social Democrat , Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf ,
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