Lüneburg

Infobox German Location
Art = Stadt
Name = Lüneburg
Wappen = Wappen_Lueneburg.pnglat_deg = 53 |lat_min = 15 |lat_sec = 9
lon_deg = 10 |lon_min = 24 |lon_sec = 52
Lageplan =
Bundesland = Niedersachsen
Landkreis = Lüneburg
Höhe = 17
Fläche = 70.34
Einwohner = 72057
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 21335–21337–21339
PLZ-alt = 2120
Vorwahl = 04131
Kfz = LG
Gemeindeschlüssel = 03 3 55 022
Gliederung = 14 districts
Adresse = Am Ochsenmarkt
21335 Lüneburg
Website = [http://www.lueneburg.de/ www.lueneburg.de]
Bürgermeister = Ulrich Mädge
Bürgermeistertitel= Oberbürgermeister
Partei = SPD

Lüneburg, also known as Lueneburg and Lunenburg in English, is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. The city is located about 45 km (30 miles) southeast of Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and one of Hamburgs inner suburbs. It is the capital of the district of Lüneburg. The city has metropolitan population of 103,000 including the surrounding communities like Adendorf, Bardowick and Reppenstedt. Since 2007 Lüneburg is allowed to use the name "Hansestadt" (Hanseatic city) as it has been a member of the Hanseatic League. It's official name now is Hansestadt Lüneburg.

Geography

The Ilmenau River, a tributary of the Elbe, flows through Lüneburg.

History

The ancient town is probably to be identified with Leufana or Leuphana ( _el. Λευφάνα), a town listed in Ptolemy (2.10) in the north of Germany on the west of the Elbe, but this identification is not universally accepted. Lüneburg was first mentioned in 956.

In mediæval times, the town was remarkably rich due to the salt trade. There were several salterns surrounding the town. The salt was exported to the neighbouring fiefs. Along the Old Salt Route it was transported via Lauenburg to Lübeck and from there shipped to all the Baltic coasts. Lüneburg was for a long time one of the capitals of the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg; the town and its salt were major factors of power and wealth of the Hanseatic League.

After a long period of prosperity, its importance declined after 1600. The town became part of the Electorate of Hanover in 1708, the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814, and the Prussian Province of Hanover in 1866. After World War II, it became part of the new state of Lower Saxony.

The salt mine was closed in 1980, ending the thousand-year tradition of salt mining. The town gained new relevance from its university, which was founded in 1989. The deforestation of the surrounding area for the salt production created the unique landscape of the Lüneburg Heath.

The Polabian name of Lüneburg is "Glain" (spelled "Chlein" or "Glein" in older German reference material), propably derived from "glaino" (< Slavic *"glina") ‘mud’, ‘clay’.

Infrastructure

* Hospitals: Stätisches Krankenhaus Lüneburg, Landeskrankenhaus Lüneburg
* Theaters: Theater Lüneburg
* Movie theaters: Cinestar, Scala Kino
* Hotels: 8
* Museums: 8
* Transport: Lüneburg is part of the transportation company Hamburger Verkehrsverbund. There are 11 buslines in the urban area of Lüneburg. The city has a main railroad station and a smaller one located in Bardowick. The next bigger cities within easy reach by train are Hamburg, Hannover, Lübeck, Lauenburg, Uelzen and Winsen.

Education

* Universities: Leuphana Universität Lüneburg
* Schools:
* Gymnasien: 5
* Realschulen: 4
* Hauptschulen: 5
* Gesamtschulen: 0
* vocational schools: 6
* special schools: 3
* private schools: 3
* elementary schools: 12

Sports

Soccer is the most popular sport like allover in Germany. Icehockey and Basketball are popular too. The most teams compete in the Regionalliga. It's like the 3rd ranked league in Germany.

* Soccer: FC Hansa Lüneburg(former Lüneburger SK), Oberliga
* Basketball: MTV Treubund Lüneburg, 2.Regionalliga (Women) Stadtliga (Men)
* Icehockey: Adendorfer EC, Regionalliga
* Handball: HSG Lüneburg, Regionalliga
* Volleyball: SVG Lüneburg, Regionalliga
* Baseball: Lüneburg Woodlarks, Regionalliga
* American Football: Lüneburg Jayhawks, Oberliga

Interesting facts

* Lüneburg has the second most bars per mile and per resident in europe after Madrid, Spain.
* The buildings in downtown Lüneburg survived from the 16th century until today. So the downtown district looks very old and because of the rareness of that many tourists visit the city.
* The most populated district(10000) is Kaltenmoor which is known for much violence, crime and unemployment.
* The city has a very famous and active (legal) Graffiti scene and is home to many Graffiti Hall of Fames.
* On May 23, 1945, the Nazi war criminal Heinrich Himmler commited suicide in Lüneburg after he had been captured by the British Army. He swallowed a potassium cyanide capsule before his interrogation could begin. His body is buried in a nearby forest in an unmarked location.

Sister Cities

* Scunthorpe, England.
* Clamart, France.
* Naruto, Tokushima, Japan.
* Ivrea, Italy
* Viborg, Denmark
* Tartu, Estonia

Gallery

Notable people

* Fritz Heinemann
* Esther Marie Mengelkamp
* Bernhard Riemann — studied for his "Abitur" at the Johanneum Lüneburg
* Mike Mareen - Successful Disco artist who grew up in Lüneburg.
* J S Bach - Bach attended the Lüneburg school and sang in its choir ["The New Bach Reader", p37] [http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/luneburg.html - "Johann Sebastian and a friend Georg Erdmann turned their steps toward the north, both boys carrying all their worldly belongings in a two-hundred mile trek to Lüneburg. At the Michaelisschule their duties were to sing in the church choir on Sundays...".]
* Katarina Waters a.k.a. Katie Lea Burchill in WWE, professional wrestler

References

*

See also

* Brunswick-Lüneburg
* Lüneburg-Celle
* Lüneburg Heath

External links

* [http://www.lueneburg.de/ Official website] de icon
* [http://www.lueneburg.de/index.htm?baum_id=3221&lang=en Official website] en icon
* [http://www.leuphana.de/ Leuphana University] de icon