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119-413: The palace is one of the five most important Ottonian and Salian palaces in modern Lower Saxony (The other four are Goslar , Dahlum , Grona , Pöhlde ). The palace complex is located about 15 km south of Wolfenbüttel and northeast of Goslar . It is located in the free lands between Schladen und Werlaburgdorf. There is no direct access for vehicles. However, there is a carpark on the road between

238-414: A European Capital of Culture for 2010. For the application Wolfenbüttel district also commissioned a study published in 2003 which proposed a lavish reconstruction of the palace. The project was cancelled in 2005 when Braunschweig's application was rejected in favour of Essen with Ruhr.2010 , Pécs and Istanbul . The excavations have not come to an end as of September 2012; a comprehensive publication

357-585: 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

476-514: 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

595-568: A daughter of the Babenberg duke Henry of Franconia . Otto possibly accompanied King Arnulf on his 894 campaign to Italy ; the marriage of his daughter Oda with Zwentibold , Arnulf's illegitimate son, documents the efforts of the Carolingian ruler to win the mighty Saxon dynasty over as an ally. According to the Saxon chronicler Widukind of Corvey , Otto upon the death of the last Carolingian king Louis

714-716: A family monastery and burial ground. Liudolf already held the high social position of a Saxon dux , documented by the marriage of his daughter Liutgard with Louis the Younger , son of the Carolingian king Louis the German in 869. Liudolf's sons Bruno and Otto the Illustrious ruled over large parts of Saxon Eastphalia , moreover, Otto acted as lay abbot of the Imperial abbey of Hersfeld with large estates in Thuringia. He married Hedwiga ,

833-473: A grave richly supplied with ceramic grave goods from the late Baalberg Culture was discovered. It contained the skeleton of an older woman and a small child. The etymology of Werla is not entirely clear. In 1935 the etymologist Edward Schröder proposed the theory that Werla meant Männerwald (Forest of Man). In his view, the name derived from the Latin or Germanic words for "man" ( vir and wer respectively) and

952-534: A metalworking area. Finally, the excavations focussed on the fortification system of the inner bailey. In the investigation of the walls and ditches, an embankment was discovered which was located immediately behind the walls. In October 2010 the Braunschweig district archaeologists discovered three female skeletons dated to around 3700 BC in the course of a field school excavation with students. The women's ages at death were determined to be 4, 20 and 45 years old, with

1071-728: A notable cultural movement (especially new literary traditions) known as the Ottonian Renaissance . After the end of Ottonian rule in 1024, the Salian dynasty went on to occupy the Imperial throne for just over a century, until 1125. In the 9th century, the Saxon count Liudolf held large estates on the Leine river west of the Harz mountain range and in the adjacent Eichsfeld territory of Thuringia . His ancestors probably acted as ministeriales in

1190-461: 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

1309-455: Is evidence of renewed building activity. Inside the donjon, graves and cellar buildings were built, whose purpose is not entirely clear. Into the 14th century it is still possible to detect signs of habitation, but Werla and its parish church seem to have fallen into ruin by 1550 at the latest. Some of the residents probably moved to Burgdorf to the east, which is now called Werlaburgdorf. The villagers and in some cases Heiningen Abbey made use of

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1428-578: Is located. The nearby town of Werlaburgdorf first acquired its name in 1958. Before that it was simply called Burgdorf. The main fortress was a cross-shaped complex with a diameter of about 150 m. It sat on the Kreuzberg hill with two sides directly abutting on steep 17-metre-high (56 ft) banks of the river Oker. This fortified area was surrounded by a metre thick enceinte and a 9-metre-wide and 4-metre-deep moat. The curtain walls linked two or more gates and several towers. Three baileys were connected to

1547-412: Is still pending. However, the latest results shed further light on the continual change and development of Werla, providing an insight into its economic life and providing important data for the projected reconstruction and visualisation. In spring 2007, renewed excavations began in the donjon. The chapel, the buildings, gates and walls were uncovered until 2008 and re-surveyed. The evidence later provided

1666-551: 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 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

1785-645: Is well-developed agriculturally . In the west lie the County of Bentheim , Osnabrück Land , Emsland , Oldenburg Land , Ammerland , Oldenburg Münsterland , and on 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

1904-516: The Archbishopric of Magdeburg at his long-time residence. Co-ruler with his father since 961 and crowned emperor in 967, Otto II ascended the throne at the age of 18. By excluding the Bavarian line of Ottonians from the line of succession, he strengthened Imperial authority and secured his own son's succession to the Imperial throne. During his reign, Otto II attempted to annex the whole of Italy into

2023-692: The Bishopric of Bamberg in 1007, intertwining the secular and ecclesiastical authority over the Empire. Henry II was canonized by Pope Eugene III in 1146. As his marriage with Cunigunde of Luxembourg remained childless, the Ottonian dynasty became extinct with the death of Henry II in 1024. The crown passed to Conrad II of the Salian dynasty , great-grandson of Liutgarde , a daughter of Otto I. When King Rudolph III of Burgundy died without heirs on 2 February 1032, Conrad II successfully claimed also this kingship on

2142-728: 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

2261-605: The Carolingian dynasty . The Ottonians are associated with the notable military success that transformed the political situation in contemporary Western Europe: "It was the success of the Ottonians in molding the raw materials bequeathed to them into a formidable military machine that made possible the establishment of Germany as the preeminent kingdom in Europe from the tenth through the mid-thirteenth century." They are also associated with

2380-650: The Congress of Gniezno in Poland , establishing the Archdiocese of Gniezno and confirming the royal status of the Piast ruler Bolesław I the Brave . Expelled from Rome in 1001, Otto III died at age 21 the next year, without an opportunity to reconquer the city. The childless Otto III was succeeded by Henry II, a son of Duke Henry II of Bavaria and thereby a member of the Bavarian line of

2499-462: The Early Middle Ages (8th/9th centuries). The number of pottery finds from this time period proved very low and none of the buildings that were uncovered can be dated to this period. Evidence for habitation on the surface is first apparent in the 9th century. A sort of fortified farmstead existed at this time. A ring wall encompassed several wooden buildings in the area of the later donjon. At

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2618-616: The Lower Saxon Ministry for Scholarship and Culture purchased the surrounding fields. Meanwhile, around 1.5 million euro were invested in the project. Work was carried out with the advice of the Ostfalen Open-air and Experiential Museum and the Harz – Brunswick Land – Eastphalia National Geopark , beginning in autumn 2010. On 14 September 2012 the Minister-President David McAllister officially inaugurated

2737-455: 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

2856-619: 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 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

2975-823: The North German Plain , is almost invariably flat except for the gentle hills around the Bremen geestland . Towards the south and southwest lie 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

3094-533: 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

3213-428: 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

3332-432: 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

3451-502: The (older) donjon: the 1st and 2nd inner baileys and the outer bailey. Altogether, an area of around 20 hectares was enclosed within the fortifications. The baileys had similarly deep ditches, but with earthworks (probably equipped with palisades ) instead of a wall. There were further buildings within the main fortress: A reconstructed model of Werla Palace is on display in the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum . It shows

3570-527: The 1000s) was held on the palace grounds. 300 actors, 130 tents, a dozen horses and five guns entertained around 17,000 visitors with three time periods: "Europe around 1000 AD," " Welf and Staufen period in the Middle Ages" as well as "the Late Middle Ages" looking at the defensive techniques and crafts of an urban community. The festival was meant to support Braunschweig's (unsuccessful) application to be

3689-518: 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) the North Sea , the states of Schleswig-Holstein , Hamburg , Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , Brandenburg , Saxony-Anhalt , Thuringia , Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia , and

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3808-461: 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

3927-610: The Bauinspektor of Goslar Palace, E. F. A. Schulze dug a small ditch and revealed some foundations which were seen as clear evidence of the palace. In commemoration a stone was set up inscribed Kaiserpfalz Werla and a linden tree was planted which can still be seen today. Further scholarly investigations were not undertaken, however. Around 1920 a teacher in Schladen, Franz Kaufmann, became interested in Werla and called archaeological interest to

4046-700: The Child in 911 was already a candidate for the East Frankish crown, which however passed to the Franconian duke Conrad I . Upon Otto's death in 912, his son Henry the Fowler succeeded him as Duke of Saxony . Henry had married Matilda of Ringelheim , a descendant of the legendary Saxon ruler Widukind and heiress to extended estates in Westphalia . The Ottonian kings Holy Roman emperors were: Although never emperor, Henry

4165-697: The Empire, bringing him into conflict with the Byzantine emperor and with the Saracens of the Fatimid Caliphate . His campaign against the Saracens ended in 982 with a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Stilo . Moreover, in 983 Otto II experienced a Great Slav Rising against his rule. Otto II died in 983 at the age of 28 after a ten-year reign. Succeeded by his three-year-old son Otto III as king, his sudden death plunged

4284-455: The Fowler was arguably the founder of the imperial dynasty. While East Francia under the rule of the last Carolingian kings was ravaged by Hungarian invasions , he was chosen to be primus inter pares among the German dukes. Elected Rex Francorum in May 919, Henry abandoned the claim to dominate the whole disintegrating Carolingian Empire and, unlike his predecessor Conrad I, succeeded in gaining

4403-613: The Great . It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin in the German stem duchy of Saxony . The family itself is also sometimes known as the Liudolfings ( Liudolfinger ), after its earliest known member Count Liudolf (d. 866) and one of its most common given names. The Ottonian rulers were successors of Conrad I , who was the only German king to rule in East Francia after

4522-587: 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, 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

4641-555: 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 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

4760-628: 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 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

4879-506: The Ottonian dynasty into crisis. During her regency for Otto III, Empress Theophanu abandoned her late husband's imperialistic policy and devoted herself entirely to furthering her own agenda in Italy. When Otto III came of age, he concentrated on securing the rule in the Italian domains, installing his confidants Bruno of Carinthia and Gerbert of Aurillac as popes. In 1000 he made a pilgrimage to

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4998-434: The Ottonians. Duke of Bavaria since 995, he was crowned king on 7 June 1002. Henry II spent the first years of his rule consolidating his political power on the borders of the German kingdom. He waged several campaigns against Bolesław I of Poland and then moved successfully to Italy where he was crowned emperor by Pope Benedict VIII on 14 February 1014. He reinforced his rule by endowing and founding numerous dioceses, such as

5117-617: 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

5236-612: 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

5355-439: 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

5474-442: 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

5593-520: The Saxon stem duchy, which had been incorporated into the Carolingian Empire after the Saxon Wars of Charlemagne . The family's substantial holdings in Thuringia suggest that they originated from that region, and their Saxon lands may have been granted as a reward for their service to the Carolingians. Liudolf married Oda , a member of the Frankish House of Billung . About 852 the couple together with Bishop Altfrid of Hildesheim founded Brunshausen Abbey, which, once relocated to Gandersheim , rose to

5712-427: 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

5831-410: The appearance of the buildings as a whole. 52°02′16″N 10°33′17″E  /  52.0377°N 10.5548°E  / 52.0377; 10.5548 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

5950-563: 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,

6069-654: 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 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

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6188-498: The bailey has to be divided into at least two phases. In the palatial period, then, the bailey was considerablyu smaller than it was later and was first expanded to the west and fortified with an additional ditch in the High Middle Ages. Part of this development is probably indicated by another ditch, which was discovered in the area of the so-called Chapel Hill ( Kapellenberg ). On this hill, the external remains of stone buildings were discovered which were probably built in connection with

6307-421: The basis of an inheritance Emperor Henry II had extorted from the former in 1006, having invaded Burgundy to enforce his claim after Rudolph attempted to renounce it in 1016. Historians have written extensively about how the Ottonian kings and emperors ruled their lands. For some historians, following in the wake of Karl Leyser, Ottonian government was primarily conducted through oral and ritual means, in which

6426-405: The beginning of the 10th century, the construction of the fortified palace complex occurred. The first documentary attestations also belong to this period. In his Saxon Chronicle the Saxon chronicler Widukind of Corvey records a stay by King Henry the Fowler which depending on the interpretation of the evidence occurred in either 924 or 926. The king took shelter there with his untrained army in

6545-413: The building material as a cheap building material. In the following centuries, the name was used several times in reference to the fields on the hilltop in documents. Until 1817 a chapel still stood on the site, its origin no longer known to the locals. With the disappearance of the last visible walls, knowledge of the royal palace disappeared from the memory of man. However, around 50 textual references to

6664-463: The building remains. Despite the use of advanced techniques, the documentation of the excavations suffers from significant technical issues. Finds were constantly reinterpreted and published results corrected. The poor-quality and hasty interpretation of discoveries cannot be fully explained by Schroller's lack of professional training – an important factor was the strong ideological influence of Nazism . A specific idea of an Ottonian palace

6783-492: The building stone provided the foundations for determining the weight of the central buildings. The transport costs and workload associated with the construction of the building could therefore be roughly calculated for the first time. This indicated that the construction of the donjon would have taken many years and that the majority of the construction materials came from the surrounding region. The relationship of Werla with Schladen and Burgdorf also needs to be rethought. Schladen

6902-496: The central buildings of the donjon. Numerous new finds in the baileys show that a permanent settlement developed at Werla. Metal and textile workshops seem to have developed in the pit-houses of the baileys during this time. In 1180 the palace was visited by an Emperor for the last time. Frederick Barbarossa ended his conflict with his enemy Henry the Lion here, close to Braunschweig , and issued an ultimatum to his followers calling for them to surrender. That Barbaroosa returned to

7021-433: The central government. They were to co-ordinate the excavations planned to follow. In the year 1934 the first excavation campaign organised by the Werla commission began. It was led by civil engineer Karl Becker. Prehistoric finds were expected and Hermann Schroller of the Hannover Provincial Museum was consulted on these. For the first time, the surrounding area was subjected to scholarly investigation. Becker became ill in

7140-409: The child spatially associated with the twenty-year-old woman. More than thirty vessels from the Baalberge group were also discovered. Building on the plans made when the 2007 excavations were begun, the remains of the palace were turned into a public park, the "Archaeological and Wilderness park of the Imperial Palace of Werla" ( Archäologie- und Landschaftspark Kaiserpfalz Werla ). Therefore, in 2008

7259-429: 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 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

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7378-407: The complex in its 10th-century incarnation, with individual stone buildings and a stone ring wall. The model represents the state of research on Werla as of 1985. Subsequent excavations have altered the picture somewhat. The raised area above the Oker was probably settled in prehistoric times as indicated by numerous finds from that period, mainly ceramic, but also stone and bone tools. In autumn 2010

7497-409: The complex to fall into decay. On the contrary, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the first bailey was massively expanded to the west and strengthen with a new, secondary donjon. Later a second outer bailey was added as well. The palace complex thus grew to cover an area of almost 20 hectares. In addition, the fortifications were strengthened by new ditches and towers and major additions were made to

7616-414: 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 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,

7735-422: 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

7854-436: 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

7973-405: 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): Ottonians The Ottonian dynasty ( German : Ottonen ) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman emperors , especially Otto

8092-405: 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

8211-481: The excavations. Scholars, party officials and classes of school children were shown around the site and the latest discoveries were published in the press. A film was even produced for educational purposes. Through his numerous political contacts, Scholler who was an NSDAP member, was able to secure the support of the Reichsarbeitsdienst and even the Army Aviation School of Hildesheim for the excavation. In 1937 aerial investigation making use of stereophotography for

8330-472: The face of an attack by the Hungarians. At the same time a Hungarian leader was captured as well. This was probably Zoltán , son of the Hungarian Grand Prince Árpád . In exchange for freeing him, Henry was later able to organise a nine-year truce, which enabled him to strengthen the defenses of the Empire. Under the Ottonians Werla experienced its first golden age, as shown by documents recording fourteen royal visits between 924 and 1013. All Ottonians visited

8449-430: The first time and the significance of the renovations during the High Middle Ages to the development of the palace came to be recognised. During the excavations, thousands of individual finds were preserved, mostly pottery, but also iron and bronze items. The coins discovered came from Rostock , Göttingen , Bremen and other mints and mostly dated from the 13th century. Evidence for short visits by high-ranking individuals

8568-426: The first time ever brought sensational revelations. Areas of soil discolouration were apparent from the photos which revealed the outlines of the palace and its baileys (c. 600 x 600 m). The new evidence led to great interest among experts. Also new and innovative was the use of modern chemical analysis and the interdisciplinary interaction between architectural historians, archaeologists and geologists in identifying

8687-464: 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

8806-409: The following year and was no longer able to undertake excavations, so the architectural historian Heinrich Steckeweh was appointed acting head of excavations. But in 1937, for unclear reasons the Werla commission decided to put Hermann Schroller in charge of the whole excavation, even though he specialised solely in prehistory. At any rate, he endeavoured to further increase the high official interest in

8925-513: 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 ),

9044-404: 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

9163-550: The foundation of another donjon. New aerial photographs and a systematic survey of the area helped to more closely determine the layout and arrangement of various workshops within the bailey. Some of these buildings may be examined more closely in the future. Through wide-scale excavations paved streets, pit-houses, waste pits and traces of a hay barrack were brought to light. Remains of looms and loom-weights in one spot indicate an area used for textile production, while clay nozzles of bellows and slag in another location indicate

9282-547: 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

9401-477: The foundations for a reconstruction within the scope of the "Archäologie- und Landschaftsparks Kaiserpfalz Werla." Along with the sighting and checking of already known finds, new discoveries were also made. Thus, the wall plan of the earlier 9th century complex was accurately documented. In addition, new techniques in mortar analysis and comparison to similar buildings enabled individual buildings to be dated more accurately and certainly. A geological investigation of

9520-520: 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

9639-539: 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,

9758-676: 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

9877-439: 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

9996-492: The new information historians were focused on the archaeological finds for many years. The role of the palace as a defensive fortificationa against the Hungarians increasingly retreated into the background. Instead, focus fell in particular on the role of the palace as an important regional centre of government and economy. On the 21 and 22 May 2005 a festival entitled Pfalz Werla – Leben vor 1000 Jahren (Werla Palace: Life before

10115-567: The newly established palace at Goslar , which controlled the rich vein of silver at Rammelsberg . However, Werla's palace status was not abolished as the Sachsenspiegel would later claim. In 1086 Henry IV leased around 400 Hufen of the palace's estate to Udo von Gleichen-Reinhausen , Bishop of Hildesheim , probably a gift to secure the bishop's support in the Investiture Controversy . The loss of political significance did not cause

10234-667: 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

10353-469: The old palace after such a long period of time shows that it had retained an important symbolic role in the collective consciousness of the Saxons. In 1240 the Bishop of Hildesheim gave the tithe of Werla to Heiningen Abbey  [ de ] . The church of the old palace was taken over by the abbey as well, having been under the administration of Dorstadt Abbey for a little while. In the 13th century there

10472-477: The outbreak of the Second World War , the excavations came to an early end. At the resumption of excavation in 1957, Hermann Schroller was once again appointed as the head of excavation. After his unexpected death in 1959, his students Gudrun Stelzer and Carl-Heinrich Seebach continued the excavations until 1964. A large part of the donjon was excavated; it is considered almost completely explored. Furthermore, traces of earlier structures were documented in detail for

10591-670: The palace at least once; Otto the Great is recorded at Werla on five separate occasions. The visit of the Salian Conrad II in 1035 during a meeting of the Imperial Diet is doubtful, however. At least twice the royal succession was decided at the Palace. Thus, during the succession crisis in 1002 , the Bavarian duke Henry IV was accepted at Werla as successor to Otto III , who had died without children. The chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg reports he had provoked an uproar when he wasted

10710-405: The palace's demesne . Furthermore, a geomagnetic survey of the baileys was carried out. The resulting data enabled a new reconstruction of the palace's history. West of the north tower, a wall was discovered, which later excavations dated to the 10th or 11th century by means of ceramic finds. Surprisingly, this wall appeared to divide the inner bailey from north to south. Thus the construction of

10829-606: The palace's existence from the 10th to the 13th century remained, including royal documents and chronicles. The first attempts to locate Werla palace took place in the 19th century. Suspected candidates included the Burg Werle in Mecklenburg and Werl in Westphalia . Hermann Adolf Lüntzel's study of the documents in the middle of the 19th century narrowed the location down to the neighbourhood of Schladen. Local farmers had reported that they had ploughed up stones on Kreuzberg. In 1875,

10948-566: The palace. This led to a one-day test excavation under the leadership of the architectural historian Uvo Hölscher of the Technical University of Hannover . As a result of increased scholarly interest Goslar District bought part of the land in the area of the donjon in 1929 in order to protect it from further ploughing damage. In 1933 the Werla Commission was founded which consisted of scholars and representatives of Goslar District and

11067-508: 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

11186-432: The park. Through the restoration of the earthworks and ditches, the impressive scale of the donjon and bailey complex has been made clear. For their protection the foundations of the original earthworks were covered over with the earth of the new earthworks. In the area of the donjon the walls of the buildings were partially reconstructed and the "West tower" (tower II of the donjon) was fully reconstructed to give an idea of

11305-565: The patronage of Otto and his immediate successors caused a limited cultural renaissance of the arts and architecture. He confirmed the 754 Donation of Pepin and, with recourse to the concept of translatio imperii in the succession of Charlemagne , proceeded to Rome to have himself crowned Holy Roman emperor by Pope John XII in 962. He even reached a settlement with the Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes by marrying his son and heir Otto II to John's niece Theophanu . In 968 he established

11424-472: The rest of the name would be the suffix -la(h) , an alternative word for "forest". Schröder then suggested that the name referred to a "holy forest area" in the region of the later palace in which Gau officers met to discuss matters. Another view, advanced by W. Flechsig. The most recent excavations revealed indications of a gap in habitation between the Roman Imperial period (1st-3rd centuries AD) and

11543-566: The savior of Christendom and the epithet "the Great". He transformed the Church in Germany into a kind of proprietary church and major royal power base to which he donated charity and for the creation of which his family was responsible. By 961, Otto had conquered the Kingdom of Italy , which was a troublesome inheritance that none wanted, and extended his kingdom's borders to the north, east, and south. In control of much of central and southern Europe,

11662-487: 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

11781-463: 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 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

11900-481: 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,

12019-536: The support of the Franconian , Bavarian , Swabian and Lotharingian dukes. In 933 he led a German army to victory over the Hungarian forces at the Battle of Riade and campaigned both the land of the Polabian Slavs and the Duchy of Bohemia . Because he had assimilated so much power through his conquest, he was able to transfer power to his son Otto I . Otto I, duke of Saxony upon the death of his father in 936,

12138-479: 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

12257-570: The time reserved for an audience with visiting Abbesses. Even before the election of Conrad II in 1024, the Saxons had held discussions at Werla. In total, four meetings of Saxon nobles are known; this is not evidence for a regularly occurring Landtag , however. During the palatial period, the ring walls and the most important public buildings within the main fortress were built. To the north an original bailey developed, which at first covered only three hectares, however. Already under Henry II Werla had begun to lose its political importance on account of

12376-494: The two places, on the right hand side as one travels from Schladen, from which the complex can be reached on foot in a few minutes. Alternatively, one can follow a trail along the Wedde and then left along the banks of the Oker. The heritage house Alte Mühle (Old Mill) in Schladen is a convenient starting point. After two kilometres one is confronted with a 17m high plateau on which the palace

12495-490: 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

12614-584: 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

12733-458: Was able to suppress their uprisings, in consequence, the various dukes, who had previously been co-equals with the king, were reduced to royal subjects under the king's authority. Otto's decisive victory over the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955 ended the threat of Hungarian invasions and secured his hold over his kingdom. The defeat of the pagan Magyars earned King Otto the reputation as

12852-526: 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

12971-520: Was elected king within a few weeks. He continued the work of unifying all of the German tribes into a single kingdom, greatly expanding the powers of the king at the expense of the aristocracy. Through strategic marriages and personal appointments, he installed members of his own family in the kingdom's most important duchies. This, however, did not prevent his relatives from entering into civil war: both Otto's brother Duke Henry I of Bavaria and his son Duke Liudolf of Swabia revolted against his rule. Otto

13090-678: 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

13209-486: Was hitherto understood as the location of the Curtis , the palace's economic centre. However, this may be contradicted by the new evidence which might show that the baileys were inhabited in several periods and were used for a much longer time than previously thought. With respect to Burgdorf, the 9th/10th century graveyard is important, since it was likely the burial ground of a village ( Dorf ) whose inhabitants probably worked in

13328-610: Was imposed on Werla, which was referred to as the "Cradle of the First Reich ", which the Nazis considered to be the direct ancestor of Nazi Germany . Accordingly, attempts were made to date the finds to the Ottonian period as much as possible, and preferably to the reign of the so-called "Reich-founder" Henry I . Furthermore, there were vicious internal conflicts among the leaders of the excavations. The resulting interpretative errors have continued to trouble scholarly literature to this day. With

13447-428: Was lacking and the early royal presence was reflected only in the construction work at the complex. The two baileys were only patchily investigated. The approximate course of the fortifications was determined by large test trenches, in which remains of workshops and pit-houses were revealed for the first time. The theory that the baileys had served purely as "army-forts" ( Heerburgen ) was therefore disproven. On account of

13566-477: 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

13685-411: 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

13804-525: 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

13923-454: 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

14042-469: 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

14161-541: 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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