Vienenburg
| Vienenburg | ||
|---|---|---|
| Stadtteil of Goslar | ||
 | ||
| ||
  Vienenburg | ||
| Coordinates: 51°57′11″N 10°33′40″E / 51.95306°N 10.56111°ECoordinates: 51°57′11″N 10°33′40″E / 51.95306°N 10.56111°E | ||
| Country | Germany | |
| State | Lower Saxony | |
| District | Goslar | |
| Town | Goslar | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 71.14 km2 (27.47 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 141 m (463 ft) | |
| Population (2012-12-31) | ||
| • Total | 10,668 | |
| • Density | 150/km2 (390/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) | |
| Postal codes | 38690 | |
| Dialling codes | 05324 | |
| Vehicle registration | GS | |
| Website | www.vienenburg.de | |
Vienenburg is a town and a former municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2014, it is part of the town Goslar. It is situated in the north of the Harz mountain range on the river Oker, approx. 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Goslar. Neighbouring municipalities are Bad Harzburg in the south and Schladen in the north.
The town consists of Vienenburg proper and the surrounding villages Immenrode, Lengde, Weddingen, Lochtum and Wiedelah. Situated in a mainly agricultural area, the town is known for the Harzer cheese, although the production was transferred to Saxony in 2004.
History
Vienenburg Castle was first mentioned in a 1306 deed, it was erected by the Counts of Wernigerode at the behest of the Hildesheim Prince-bishops. The adjacent settlement received town privileges in 1935.
Wöltingerode Abbey
In 1174 the Counts of Wohldenberg established a Benedictine monastery at their ancestral seat west of Vienenburg, which converted into a Cistercian nunnery a few years later, confirmed by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1188 and by Pope Honorius III in a 1216 deed. The abbey affiliated to the Bishopric of Hildesheim generated several filial monasteries and left a collection of notable manuscripts, now kept at the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel.
In 1523 the Prince-bishop of Hildesheim had to cede Wöltingerode to Duke Henry the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel as a result of the Great Diocesan Feud. Henry's son Duke Julius turned Protestant in 1568 and in consequence a Lutheran abbess was installed as head of the monastery.
During the Thirty Years' War the Hildesheim Prince-bishop Ferdinand of Bavaria, backed by the Catholic League and his Wittelsbach relatives, took the occasion to regain the lost territories. Referring to the 1629 Edict of Restitution issued by Emperor Ferdinand II, he had the nuns expelled and put the abbey under Jesuit rule. Nevertheless in 1632 the Catholic canons again had to abscond from the approaching Swedish army and Wöltingerode, though it finally fell back to the Hildesheim Bishopric in 1643, remained Lutheran until the 1803 German Mediatisation.
Today Wöltingerode is known for its abbey church, a Romanesque basilica of the late 12th century with an attached cloister and a crypt, which serves for storage of the Wöltingerode Korn, distilled here since 1682.
Harlyburg
The Harlyberg hill (256m/840 ft) north of the town was the site of a castle built in 1203 by the Welf Emperor Otto IV to threaten the trade route to Goslar, as the town supported his Hohenstaufen rival Duke Philip of Swabia. After Otto's death in 1218 the castle became a property of the Welf duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg while the garrisons of the castle were notorious for permanently robbing bypassing merchants. Therefore the Hildesheim Prince-bishop Siegfried II declared war against Duke Henry the Admirable and in 1291 took and slighted the castle. Some moats are still visible today. A modern observation tower stands nearby.
Politics
Seats in the municipal assembly (Stadtrat) as of 2006 elections:
- Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD): 14 (49.73%)
- Christian Democratic Union (CDU): 11 (39.45%)
- Green Alternative Voters (GAW): 2 (8.00%)
- National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD): 1 (2.82%)
Transport
Vienenburg's railway station, opened in 1840 on the Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway of the Duchy of Brunswick State Railway, is the oldest preserved one in Germany and a regional railway hub. From Vienenburg, railway lines run in four directions: north to Brunswick, southeast to Halberstadt–Halle, south to Bad Harzburg and southwest to Oker–Goslar. The hourly Regionalbahn trains from Brunswick continue to run alternately to Bad Harzburg and Oker–Goslar. Hourly services run to Halberstadt–Halle, alternating between the HarzElbeExpress (HEX) from Vienenburg to Halle and the Regionalexpress from Hanover via Bad Harzburg and Vienenburg to Halle. All these trains (apart from the HEX operated by Connex Group) are operated by DB Regio AG. In addition, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays the Harz-Berlin Express (Connex Group) works on the Vienenburg–Berlin Ostbahnhof route. The old goods line to Langelsheim was a victim of the division of Germany and was never reactivated. From 2014 Vienenburg should also be served by the RegioStadtBahn Braunschweig from Brunswick.
Vienenburg lies on the B 82 (link to the A 7 Hannover/Kassel) and 241 (Goslar) federal highways as well as the 395 motorway (link to the A 2; Brunswick, Berlin/Dortmund) and the B 6/B 6n (links to the A 14 Halle/Leipzig−Magdeburg and to Goslar and Bad Harzburg).
Notable people
- Christoph Gudermann (March 25, 1798 - September 25, 1852), mathematician.
Town twinning
References
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