Einbeck

Einbeck

Street with timbered houses in Einbeck

Coat of arms
Einbeck

Coordinates: 51°49′N 9°52′E / 51.817°N 9.867°E / 51.817; 9.867Coordinates: 51°49′N 9°52′E / 51.817°N 9.867°E / 51.817; 9.867
Country Germany
State Lower Saxony
District Northeim
Government
 • Mayor Sabine Michalek (CDU)
Area
 • Total 231.31 km2 (89.31 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
 • Total 31,591
 • Density 140/km2 (350/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 37574
Dialling codes 05561, 05562
Vehicle registration EIN, GAN, NOM
Website www.einbeck-online.de

Einbeck is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road.

History

Prehistory

The area of the current city of Einbeck is inhabited since prehistoric times. Various artifacts have been unearthed in the city of Einbeck itself and in the little villages and lost villages around it over the years. They date back to the Paleolithic Era.[2]

Medieval Period

In the Early Middle Ages a number of villages did exist along the river Ilme in the middle Leine valley before Einbeck was founded. On January 1, 1158 Einbeck was first mentioned in a deed of Friedrich Barbarossa which mentioned … in loco qui Einbike vocatur ….[3] The deed related to a transfer of an estate in the 11th century. Count Udo of Katlenburg owned an estate on the bank of a brook, the Krummes Wasser. His grandson founded the stift Sankt Alexandri, that subsequently developed into an important sanctuary. On the other side of this brook a market town developed at the end of the 12th century, mainly due to convenient access for traffic. A church was built there as well, the market church (St. Jacob). The floodplain between market and stift was filled in and covered with buildings. The market and stift were walled in and a moat was built. In 1252 Einbeck received a town charter and a town council was established. In 1279 the town received through its sovereign, Heinrich Mirabilis, an extension of its town charter. Einbeck was topographically extended and a town wall is mentioned that enclosed the market church St. Jacob and the stift St. Alexandri. St Jacob was (and is) located in the center of the city around the ‘old market’, St. Alexandri was built only some hundred meters away. Extensions were called the ‘new market’, first mentioned 1389 as was the ‘new town’. The new town received its own church, St. Mary, first mentioned 1318.[4]

The city gained importance during the reign of the dukes of Grubenhagen. Smaller villages as Oldendorf or Tiedexen were deserted and inhabitants moved inside the city walls. Written evidence about the export of Einbecker beer dates back to 1351. The beer was brewed in larger houses that had the entitlement to brew. These houses are still easily identified through their arched wide doors, necessary to move in the brewing kettle, called a brewing pan. The organization of the process and the marketing of the beer was led by the city council. Einbeck joined the Hanse in 1368 thus broadening the distribution area which now reached from Antwerp in the west to Riga in the east and from Stockholm in the north to Munich in the south. In the 14th and 15th century a number of monasteries were created: Sisters of Maria and Magdalen, an Austin hermit monastery, and a monastery of the Order of the Poor Ladies. A system of sconces and towers were built outside the city walls as an early warning system against enemies.[5] At this time Einbeck was one of largest cities in Northern Germany. It was a golden age for Einbeck.

Diek Tower with replica cage

Modern period

In July 1540 the city of Einbeck was nearly completely destroyed by a fire. The fire was started by an arsonist. What role the religious upheaval following the very recently introduced reformation played is unknown. The arsonist, Heinrich Diek, was convicted for the crime and died in an iron cage. The cage is still on display in the town hall. As the town had been quite wealthy before the fire, it was rebuilt very fast. Einbeck joined the Schmalkaldic League, a system of military defence of Lutheran princes and cities, which was a very costly exercise. In 1549 a fire once again swept through the city. This time the southern part of the city was mainly affected and 580 houses burned down. In 1580 the city council signed the Formula of Concord which completed reformation.[6] In 1597 the plague took a huge death toll. During the Thirty Years' War the city was occupied by enemy troops during 1632 and 1641 and some hundred houses destroyed. During the Seven Years' War, in North America known under the name French and Indian War, the city gates were taken down and most of the city walls were destroyed.

Etching by Matthäus Merian of the City of Einbeck after Buno dated 1654

This all led to times of economic and political weakness. Whereas the neighbouring village Rotenkirchen developed into the administrative seat of the area, the sovereign was able to curb the autonomy of the city. Later Einbeck became a garrison for infantry units. The economic difficulties eased a bit. During the Napoleonic Wars it became the administrative seat of the district of Einbeck from 1807 to 1813. In 1826 the area around St. Maria burned down and a new county courthouse “Amtsgericht” was erected. After Prussia had won the war against the Kingdom of Hannover in 1866, barracks for the Prussian Army were built, now the ‘New Town Hall’ and administrative building of the city council. Einbeck had resisted plans to connect it to the railway line Hannover – Kassel, and in 1879 a connection line between Salzderhelden and Einbeck was built. In 1885 Einbeck was made seat of the newly formed county of Einbeck. Since 1890 the bicycle manufacturing and trading company of August Stukebrok developed into the largest mail order business in Germany. It later went into receivership during the depression in 1931. In 1896 the garrison was closed and the building used as a technical college until 1907.

Einbeck was hit hard by the economic difficulties following the end of World War I. The vote for non-democratic parties increased, specifically from 1930 onwards. During the last free vote before Hitler took power the NSDAP had a share of 40,9 % of the electorate in Einbeck.[7] During the pogrom of November 1938[8] fire was set to the Synagogue by NSDAP followers. Of the 58 Jews in Einbeck 21 were forced to emigrate, 32 died in concentration camps or elsewhere, 3 took their lives, and five could not be traced.[9] The later city manager of Einbeck surrendered the city of Einbeck unauthorized to US troops on April 9, 1945, so that Einbeck survived the war physically undamaged.

In 1946 the number of inhabitants in Einbeck doubled through the influx of displaced persons from the former Eastern territories of Germany, mainly from Silesia, who found a new home in the city and county of Einbeck. This led to a boom in the construction of new residential houses and later industrial buildings. The extension of the city was mainly in an easterly direction for residential housing and for industrial buildings in a southerly direction. Some substantial companies did set up shop in Einbeck, the largest today (2013) being KWS.

In 1971 the villages Holtensen, Hullersen, Immensen, and Odagsen were incorporated into the city of Einbeck. The county of Einbeck was disbanded in 1974. At the same time Einbeck incorporated further 27 villages from the old county of Einbeck, Gandersheim, and Northeim. Einbeck is as of 2013 administratively a ‘Medium Center’, which means it provides services like high school, hospital‚ notary public, local court, etc. In 2005 a fire destroyed one historical building and damaged five more. Seven years later two more heritage listed buildings were destroyed.

On October 19, 2011, the city council adopted a resolution to incorporate the neighbouring community of Kreiensen as of January 1, 2013.[10] On January 1, 2013, a state law came into force about "The incorporation of the community of Kreiensen and the city of Einbeck". Einbeck therefore is the legal successor of Kreiensen and grew substantially again in terms of territory and number of inhabitants.[11]

Geography

Einbeck has 46 municipalities, which were previously independent villages. The city lies directly south of the Hube (hills), where the Ilme flows into the Leine. In January 2013, the former municipality Kreiensen joined Einbeck.

Climate

Climate data for Einbeck
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Daily mean °C (°F) 0.1
(32.2)		 0.6
(33.1)		 3.8
(38.8)		 8.1
(46.6)		 12.7
(54.9)		 16.0
(60.8)		 17.4
(63.3)		 17.0
(62.6)		 13.9
(57)		 9.5
(49.1)		 4.8
(40.6)		 1.5
(34.7)		 8.78
(47.81)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 52.6
(2.071)		 36.4
(1.433)		 45.2
(1.78)		 51.3
(2.02)		 64.4
(2.535)		 76.7
(3.02)		 64.5
(2.539)		 60.9
(2.398)		 44.6
(1.756)		 40.6
(1.598)		 49.4
(1.945)		 57.3
(2.256)		 644.1
(25.358)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 33.9 59.6 96.5 140.2 174.4 174.7 174.1 175.0 124.3 90.2 45.1 29.5 1,317.5
Source: DWD[12]

Economy

Einbeck had various industries over time that came and went. Yet from very early on beer has been the product Einbeck is famous for over many centuries, still sold under the brand Einbecker Bier. Einbeck is the birthplace of bock beer, a beer with a high alcohol content. In medieval times a brewmaster from Einbeck was hired to brew „Einpöckisch Bier“ in Munich. The name was corrupted and developed into „Oanpock“, and subsequently into „Bock“. The export of beer was a very important business so that in the harbor city of Hamburg Einbeck had it´s own distribution center (and pub), called the Eimbeck'sches Haus. A brewery is still operating in Einbeck under the name Einbecker Brewery. The company is listed on the Hanover Stock Exchange.

Another business in Einbeck has a very long tradition: Einbecker Blaudruck, a traditional way to print on fabric. The privately owned business was founded in 1638 and is the oldest business of the kind still in existence in Europe.[13]

A worldwide business headquartered in Einbeck is KWS SAAT AG, listed in the German SDAX. It grew out of breeding seed for sugar beet and is now a full line seed supplier to the farming industry worldwide. KWS operates more than 60 subsidiaries worldwide with sales of close to 1 billion € and a total of 3,800 employees.[14] The main research and development activities are based in Einbeck.

Kayser Automotive Systems is an international supplier of components for the car industry. Kayser is a family business headquartered in Einbeck. A branch of the car component supplier Dura Automotive Systems is active in Einbeck. E. Oppermann is a family controlled international belt webbing manufacturer. The chain manufacturer Renold has its German subsidiary in Einbeck. Kurt König is a service and sales company for building and construction machinery.

Politics

City Council

A by-election was held on 20. Januar 2013 for the city council and all village councils due to the incorporation of the former community of Kreiensen into the city of Einbeck. The results were as follows:

Party Seats
2013 		Seats
2011 		Seats
2006
SPD 19 14 16
CDU 14 9 14
UWG-Gemeinsam für Einbeck 4 8 —
BL-Unabhängige Wählergemeinschaft Kreiensen 3 — —
GRÜNE 2 2 1
FDP 2 2 4
LINKE — 1 1

Former City Managers

Full-time Mayors

Suburbs

Of the 33,000 inhabitants of Einbeck only about 15.000 live in the city of Einbeck, the next largest suburb is Kreiensen with about 2,500 inhabitants. The city of Einbeck began to incorporate the first neighbouring villages in 1971, a larger batch followed in 1974. In 2013 Einbeck incorporated Kreiensen which itself had previously incorporated 15 villages. So the geographical size of Einbeck is unusually large. In total Einbeck has 46 suburbs in 2013:

  • Ahlshausen-Sievershausen
  • Andershausen
  • Avendshausen
  • Bartshausen
  • Bentierode
  • Beulshausen
  • Billerbeck
  • Bruchhof
  • Brunsen
  • Buensen
  • Dassensen
  • Dörrigsen
  • Drüber
  • Edemissen
  • Erzhausen
  • Garlebsen
  • Greene
  • Haieshausen
  • Hallensen
  • Holtensen
  • Holtershausen
  • Hullersen
  • Iber
  • Immensen
  • Ippensen
  • Kohnsen
  • Kreiensen
  • Kuventhal
  • Naensen
  • Negenborn
  • Odagsen
  • Olxheim
  • Opperhausen
  • Orxhausen
  • Rengershausen
  • Rittierode
  • Rotenkirchen
  • Salzderhelden
  • Strodthagen
  • Stroit
  • Sülbeck
  • Vardeilsen
  • Vogelbeck
  • Voldagsen
  • Volksen
  • Wenzen

Culture and places of interest

North side of Tiedexer Straße
The wood carvings were only coloured at the beginning of the 20th century
Market square with church St. Jakobi

The historical center of Einbeck provides a nearly complete example of a late medieval town built in the half-timbered construction method. This is why Einbeck was made part of the German Timber-Frame Road.

After the fire of July 1540, that nearly destroyed all residential buildings, the city was very swiftly rebuilt during the next 15 years. The year of construction is very often carved into the frames. This is why a very similar style of buildings is found in the center of the city. The old cellars or basements below the buildings, not affected by the fire, were re-used to build the new houses in the same place. A very pretty example is the northern side of „Tiedexer Straße”. The wide arched doors, necessary to go in out with a wagon, can be seen here. More than half of these buildings had entitlements to brew.

Places to see

Churches

Horsepower Store (PS-Speicher)

Theater

Museums, Archives, Library

Green Fountain, Stiftsgarten

Media

The local daily newspaper "Einbecker Morgenpost" is published Monday through Saturday. Einbecker Morgenpost has its own staff and content for local news and takes international and national pages from "Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung". There is an advertising paper for the Einbeck region called "Die Eule" distributed Wednesday and Sunday.

Education

Primary Schools

Stiftsgarten

Secondary Schools

Vocational Schools

Parks

Monuments and Memorials

Christmas Market on Market Square

Recurring events

Notable persons

Einbeck is the birthplace of Henry Mühlenberg, who emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1742 and became the patriarch of the Muhlenberg family dynasty as well as the founder of the Lutheran church in the American colonies. Friedrich Sertürner, discoverer of morphine (1804), opened his first pharmacy here. Architect Conrad Wilhelm Hase may also be mentioned.

GAPP

For many years, the city's high school has had an exchange program, known as GAPP or German-American Partnership Program, with Roy High School and Ogden High School (Utah) in Utah. Every other year Einbeck students fly to Roy in October to spend two weeks with host families and attend Roy and Ogden High Schools. After their two-week stay the German students travel to places in the US such as Moab, Las Vegas and California. The Roy and Ogden High students visit Einbeck every other year during their summer break.

Since 2002, Einbeck has been a partner city with Keene, New Hampshire, USA. A delegation of high school football (soccer) players, coaches and city officials visited Keene on July 1, 2010 and spent a week touring the city, playing exhibition games and watching the World Cup with the locals.

Twin towns/sister cities

Transport

Road

There is direct access to Federal Highway “B 3” Bundesstraße 3 running in a North/South direction, connecting Hannover to Kassel, each about 70 km away. Until the 1970 “B 3” ran through the city center, but there is now a bypass open.

Access to National Highway “A 7” Bundesautobahn 7 is about 10 km away. “A 7” connects Flensburg, on the German/Danish border, with Basle in Switzerland and roughly runs in a North/South direction as well.

Rail

The railway Station Einbeck-Salzderhelden is located on the main North/South train connection between Hannover and Kassel. Trains run in about an hours interval in both directions.

The larger railway station in Einbeck is Kreiensen, which provides in addition to the services mentioned above, train connections to the West (Holzminden, Altenbeken) and North East (Seesen, Goslar, Brunswick).

The next high speed train station is Göttingen, about 35 km away. Göttingen can be reached from Salzderhelden in hourly intervals.

Einbeck has a small railway company, Ilmebahn, which runs rail freight services. So Einbeck is still connected to the international rail network, yet no passenger trains are running at this time. The railway line Einbeck Mitte - Einbeck-Salzderhelden is due to be reopened within the next few years.

Bus

Einbeck is part of a network of coach lines in the South of Lower Saxony, VSN. This network connects virtually all smaller villages with the cities in South Lower Saxony. Ilmebahn, the local transport company runs local bus services, as does RBB (Regionalbus Braunschweig).

Air

The next international airport is Hannover Airport, with connections to major European cities. This airport can be reached by train. A smaller airport mainly for holiday travelers Kassel-Calden is about 90 km away.

References

  1. ↑ Landesbetrieb für Statistik und Kommunikationstechnologie Niedersachsen, 102 Bevölkerung - Basis Zensus 2011, Stand 31. Dezember 2013 (Tabelle K1020014)
  2. ↑ Ursula Werben (1991) (in German), Zur ur- und frühgeschichtlichen Besiedelung des Einbeck Raumes, in: Geschichte der Stadt Einbeck, Band 1,, Einbeck, pp. 7
  3. ↑ A reprint of the original deed can be found in: Andreas Heege (2002) (in German), Einbeck im Mittelalter. Eine archäologisch-historische Spurensuche, Oldenburg: Isensee, pp. 15 (German) The original deed was sealed with a seal of gold, very unusual even for imperial deeds at the time
  4. ↑ Hans Dörries (1925) (in German), Die Städte im oberen Leinetal Göttingen, Northeim und Einbeck, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, pp. 31
  5. ↑ Lageplan 1575
  6. ↑ Vgl. BSLK, S. 766; vgl. S. 17
  7. ↑ Gerd Tölke: Zur Geschichte Einbecks in der Zeit der Weimarer Republik (1918-1933) in: Geschichte der Stadt Einbeck, Vol. 2, pp. 170, ed. Einbecker Geschichtsverein e.V, Einbeck 1992 (German)
  8. ↑ Erich Plümer: Schicksale der Einbecker Juden von 1933 bis 1945, sowie Kurt Heinrichs: Der 9. November 1938 in Einbeck, in: Zur Geschichte der Juden in Einbeck, Begleitbroschüre zur Erinnerungs-Ausstellung zur Reichsprogromnacht 1988 in Einbeck, hrsg. von der Stadt Einbeck, 1988(German)
  9. ↑ Hinrich Lange: Einbeck zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus (1933-1945) in: Geschichte der Stadt Einbeck, Vol. 2, pp. 192, ed. Einbecker Geschichtsverein e.V, Einbeck 1992 (German)
  10. ↑ Artikel der Einbecker Morgenpost vom 20. Oktober 2011: Rat stimmt mit deutlicher Mehrheit für die Fusion (German)
  11. ↑ Gesetz über die Vereinigung der Gemeinde Kreiensen und der Stadt Einbeck, Landkreis Northeim. In: Nds. GVBl. Nr. 16/2012, ausgegeben am 26. Juli 2012, S. 268(German)
  12. ↑ Deutschen Wetterdienst, Normalperiode 1961–1990
  13. ↑ Älteste Blaudruckerei Europas(German)
  14. ↑ http://www.kws.de/aw/KWS/company_info/Company/~efhd/About_KWS/
  15. ↑ Die Neustädter Kirche St. Marien, pdf-Datei
  16. ↑ A convenient online cataloque is available online at http://einbeck-opac.customer.findus-internet-opac.de/cgi-bin/findus-ohne-cookies.pl?customer=einbeck (German)
  17. ↑ http://www.altesynagoge-einbeck.de/index.html (German)
  18. ↑ http://www.hna.de/lokales/northeim/geschichte-mobilitaet-ps-speicher-rund-bewegung-raedern-einbeck-oeffnet-juli-3443881.html (German)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Einbeck.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Einbeck.
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