Gifhorn (district)

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Gifhorn
Map of Lower Saxony highlighting the district Gifhorn
State	Lower Saxony
County seat	Gifhorn
Area	1563 km²
Population	172,000 (2001)
Pop. density	107 inh./km²
Car identification	GF
Web page	www.gifhorn.de

Gifhorn is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Coat of arms
4 Towns and municipalities
5 External links

[edit] Geography

The district is located at the border of Saxony-Anhalt and extends from the southern edge of the Lüneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide) in the north to the suburbs of Braunschweig and Wolfsburg in the south. The Aller River enters the district in the southeast, runs through the town of Gifhorn, is joined by the Ise and Oker river and leaves the district in the west. Also in the district, at Edesbüttel, the Elbe-Seitenkanal diverge from the Mittellandkanal.

It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the district of Helmstedt, the cities of Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, the districts of Peine, Hanover, Celle and Uelzen, and by the state of Saxony-Anhalt (districts of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel and Ohrekreis).

The deepest point of the administrative district Gifhorn lies at the Aller near Müden (46 ms about NN). The highest point lies in the north of the district near Sprakensehl (124 ms about NN).

[edit] History

The district was established in 1885 by the Prussian government. In 1932, the former district of Isenhagen became the northern part of the Gifhorn district. The city of Wolfsburg originally was a part of the district, but became a district-free city in 1951. In 1974 the district again lost parts of its territory, when the city of Fallersleben was incorporated into Wolfsburg.

[edit] Coat of arms

The lion as well as the hearts are heraldic symbols of Lüneburg - Gifhorn was a part of the duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg for many centuries. The horn symbolises the syllable "horn" in the word Gifhorn.

[edit] Towns and municipalities

(numbers of inhabitants from the 30th June, 2005)

Communities

Gifhorn, Town, autonomous community (42.658)
Sassenburg (10.946) [Seat: Westerbeck
Wittingen, Town (12.268)

Samtgemeinden with their local communities

* Seat of Samtgemeinde government

1. Samtgemeinde Boldecker Land
(9.802)

Barwedel (1.077)
Bokensdorf (950)
Jembke (1.901)
Osloß (1.981)
Tappenbeck (1.245)
Weyhausen * (2.648)

2. Samtgemeinde Brome
(15.335)

Bergfeld (952)
Brome * (3.397)
Ehra-Lessien (1.629)
Parsau (1.946)
Rühen (4.672)
Tiddische (1.268)
Tülau (1.471)

3. Samtgemeinde Hankensbüttel
(9.739)

Dedelstorf (1.521)
Hankensbüttel * (4.525)
Obernholz (940)
Sprakensehl (1.309)
Steinhorst (1.444)

4. Samtgemeinde Isenbüttel
(15.502)

Calberlah (5.236)
Isenbüttel * (6.183)
Ribbesbüttel (2.133)
Wasbüttel (1.950)

5. Samtgemeinde Meinersen
(20.944)

Hillerse (2.615)
Leiferde (4.335)
Meinersen * (8.415)
Müden (Aller) (5.579)

6. Samtgemeinde Papenteich
(23.458)

Adenbüttel (1.724)
Didderse (1.404)
Meine * (8.070)
Rötgesbüttel (2.280)
Schwülper (6.627)
Vordorf (3.353)

7. Samtgemeinde Wesendorf
(14.576)

Groß Oesingen (2.029)
Schönewörde (983)
Ummern (1.593)
Wagenhoff (1.150)
Wahrenholz (3.839)
Wesendorf * (4.982)|}

Area without community (uninhabited)

Giebel (10,36 km²)

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Gifhorn

Official website (German)

	Urban and rural districts in the Federal State of Lower Saxony in Germany
Region	Hanover
Urban districts	Brunswick \| Delmenhorst \| Emden \| Oldenburg \| Osnabrück \| Salzgitter \| Wilhelmshaven \| Wolfsburg
Rural districts	Ammerland \| Aurich \| Grafschaft Bentheim \| Celle \| Cloppenburg \| Cuxhaven \| Diepholz \| Emsland \| Friesland \| Gifhorn \| Goslar \| Göttingen \| Hamelin-Pyrmont \| Harburg \| Helmstedt \| Hildesheim \| Holzminden \| Leer \| Lüchow-Dannenberg \| Lüneburg \| Nienburg \| Northeim \| Oldenburg \| Osnabrück \| Osterholz \| Osterode \| Peine \| Rotenburg \| Schaumburg \| Soltau-Fallingbostel \| Stade \| Uelzen \| Vechta \| Verden \| Wesermarsch \| Wittmund \| Wolfenbüttel