Alfhausen

Alfhausen

Coat of arms
Alfhausen

Coordinates: 52°30′07″N 7°57′05″E / 52.50194°N 7.95139°ECoordinates: 52°30′07″N 7°57′05″E / 52.50194°N 7.95139°E
Country Germany
State Lower Saxony
District Osnabrück
Municipal assoc. Bersenbrück
Government
  Mayor Klaus Wübbolding (CDU)
Area
  Total 39 km2 (15 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
  Total 3,782
  Density 97/km2 (250/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 49594
Dialling codes 05464
Vehicle registration OS
Website www.alfhausen.de

Alfhausen is a village in the collective municipality (Samtgemeinde) of Bersenbrück in the district of Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany.

Geography

Location

Alfhausen is located just under 27 km north of Osnabrück.

Climate

The area has a mild maritime climate affected by the moist northwest wind from the North Sea. The average annual temperature in Alfhausen is 8.5° - 9.0 °C and average annual precipitation is around 700 mm. Between May and August there is an average of 20-25 "summer days" (the climatological name for days on which the maximum temperature exceeds 25 °C).

History

Alfhausen was founded in 974. The name Alfhausen comes from the Low German and means "eleven houses". Its exact history is however unknown. The majority of the population is Roman Catholic. However there are other religious communities in the town. In Early Modern times, the town came under the rule of the Kingdom of Hanover. Quite a number of its inhabitants emigrated to Baltimore in the United States.

Sights

The lake of Alfsee

In 1971, the Alfsee lake was created as a flood control storage basin for the River Hase; it was named after its closeness to the municipality of Alfhausen. As a popular destination for holiday makers and day trippers, the lake has gained great importance in recent years. The retention basin was extended in the 1990s by a second, in order to hold water from a larger catchment area.

The newly renovated Church of St John, built in the 13th century, is popular with couples getting married. Its interior partly dates to the Gothic era, for example the Bentheim font and the Madonna.

There are a number of 16th-century buildings in the old village centre.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alfhausen.