Braunschweig
History
Foundation and early history
The date and circumstances of the town's foundation are unknown. Tradition maintains that Brunswick was created through the merger of two settlements, one founded by Brun(o), a Saxon count who died in 880, on one side of the River Oker – the legend gives the year 861 for the foundation – and the other the settlement of a legendary Count Dankward, after whom Dankwarderode Castle, which was reconstructed in the 19th century, is named.The town's original name of Brunswik may be a combination of the name Bruno and Low German wik, a place where merchants rested and stored their goods. The town's name, therefore, may indicate a resting place, consistent with its location by a ford across the Oker River. An alternative explanation of the city's name is that it comes from Brand, or burning, indicating a place which developed after the landscape was cleared through burning. The city was first mentioned in documents from the St. Magni Church from 1031, which give the city's name as Brunesguik.
Middle Ages and early modern period
Up to the 12th century, Brunswick was ruled by the Saxon noble family of the Brunonids; then, through marriage, the town fell to the House of Welf. In 1142, Henry the Lion of the House of Welf became duke of Saxony and made Braunschweig the capital of his state. He turned Dankwarderode Castle, the residence of the counts of Brunswick, into his own Pfalz and developed the city further to represent his authority. Under Henry's rule, the Cathedral of St. Blasius was built and he also had the statue of a lion, his heraldic animal, erected in front of the castle. The lion subsequently became the city's landmark.Henry the Lion became so powerful that he dared to refuse military aid to the Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, which led to his banishment in 1182. Henry went into exile in England. He had previously established ties to the English crown in 1168, through his marriage to King Henry II of England's daughter Matilda, sister of Richard the Lionheart. However, Henry's son Otto, who regained influence and was eventually crowned Holy Roman Emperor, continued to foster the city's development.
During the Middle Ages, Brunswick was an important center of trade, one of the economic and political centers in Northern Europe and a member of the Hanseatic League from the 13th century to the middle of the 17th century. By the year 1600, Brunswick was the seventh largest city in Germany. Although formally one of the residences of the rulers of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire, Brunswick was de facto ruled independently by a powerful class of patricians and the guilds throughout much of the Late Middle Ages and the Early modern period. Because of the growing power of Brunswick's burghers, the Princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who ruled over one of the subdivisions of Brunswick-Lüneburg, finally moved their Residenz out of the city and to the nearby town of Wolfenbüttel in 1432. The Princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel did not regain control over the city until the late 17th century, when Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, took the city by siege.
In the 18th century Brunswick was not only a political, but also a cultural centre. Influenced by the philosophy of the Enlightenment, dukes like Anthony Ulrich and Charles I became patrons of the arts and sciences. In 1745, Charles I founded the Collegium Carolinum, predecessor of the University of Technology|Brunswick University of Technology], and in 1753 he moved the ducal residence back to Brunswick. With this he attracted poets and thinkers such as Lessing, Leisewitz, and Jakob Mauvillon to his court and the city. Emilia Galotti by Lessing and Goethe's Faust were performed for the first time in Brunswick.
19th century
In 1806, the city was captured by the French during the Napoleonic Wars and became part of the short-lived Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807. The exiled Duke Frederick William raised a volunteer corps, the Black Brunswickers, who fought the French in several battles.After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Brunswick was made capital of the re-established independent Duchy of Brunswick, later a constituent state of the German Empire from 1871. In the aftermath of the July Revolution in 1830, in Brunswick duke Charles II was forced to abdicate. His absolutist governing style had previously alienated the nobility and bourgeoisie, while the lower classes were disaffected by the bad economic situation. During the night of 7–8 September 1830, the ducal palace in Brunswick was stormed by an angry mob, set on fire, and destroyed completely. Charles was succeeded by his brother William VIII. During William's reign, liberal reforms were made and Brunswick's parliament was strengthened.
During the 19th century, industrialisation caused a rapid growth of population in the city, eventually causing Brunswick to be for the first time significantly enlarged beyond its medieval fortifications and the River Oker. On 1 December 1838, the first section of the Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway line connecting Brunswick and Wolfenbüttel opened as the first railway line in Northern Germany, operated by the Duchy of Brunswick State Railway.
Early to mid-20th century
On 8 November 1918, at the end of World War I, a socialist workers' council forced Duke Ernest Augustus to abdicate. On 10 November, the council proclaimed the Socialist Republic of Brunswick under one-party government by the Social Democratic Party of Germany">Social Democratic Party of Germany">Social Democratic Party of Germany ; however, the subsequent Landtag election on 22 December 1918 was won by the Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany, and the USPD and MSPD formed a coalition government. An uprising in Braunschweig in 1919, led by the communist Spartacus League, was defeated when Freikorps troops under Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker took over the city on order of the German Minister of Defence, Gustav Noske. An MSPD-led government was subsequently established; in December 1921, a new constitution was approved for the Free State of Brunswick, now a parliamentary republic within the Weimar Republic, again with Braunschweig as its capital.After the Landtag election of 1930, Brunswick became the second state in Germany where the Nazis participated in government, when the National Socialist German Workers' Party formed a coalition government with several conservative and right-wing parties. With the support of Dietrich Klagges, Brunswick's minister of the interior, the NSDAP organized a large SA rally in Braunschweig. On 17–18 October 1931, 100,000 SA stormtroopers marched through the city; street fights between Nazis, socialists, and communists left several dead or injured. On 25 February 1932, the state of Brunswick granted Adolf Hitler German citizenship to allow him to run in the 1932 German presidential election. In Braunschweig, Nazis carried out several attacks on political enemies, with the acquiescence of the state government.
After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, several state institutions were placed in Braunschweig, including the Luftfahrtforschungsanstalt in Völkenrode, the Hitler Youth Academy for Youth Leadership, and the SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig. With the Reichswerke Hermann Göring in Salzgitter and the Stadt des KdF-Wagens, as well as several factories in the city itself, the Braunschweig region became one of the centres of the German arms industry.
During the Second World War, Braunschweig was a sub-area headquarters of Wehrkreis XI, and was the garrison city of the 31st Infantry Division that took part in the invasions of Poland, Belgium, and France, largely being destroyed during its retreat following the invasion of Russia. In this period, thousands of Eastern workers were brought to the city as forced labor, and in the 1943–1945 period at least 360 children taken away from such workers died in the Entbindungsheim für Ostarbeiterinnen.
In 1944, two subcamps of the Neuengamme concentration camp were established in Braunschweig. The subcamp Schillstraße or Büssing-NAG/Schillstraße, located where the BraWo Park's parking lot is today, held about 800 male prisoners, who were forced to work in the arms production at Büssing-NAG. After about 300 had died due to disease, hunger, and maltreatment over the course of just a few months, a further 200 were transferred to the infirmary of a nearby subcamp in early January 1945 in order to reduce the number of deaths. However, this was only effective to some degree, as another 80 bodies landed in the city's crematory until the subcamp's closing in March 1945, when Büssing-NAG had to halt production due to severe bombing damages. Today the , located very close to the former premises of the subcamp, documents Braunschweig's history during the Third Reich. Büssing-NAG also had another subcamp in the nearby Vechelde, which held a further 400 male prisoners.
The subcamp SS-Reitschule, named so as it was located on the former premises of the SS-Junker School's riding school, held approximately 800 prisoners, all female, who were tasked with clearing away rubble. This subcamp was commissioned by the city of Braunschweig. Although it was only open for two months - from December 1944 until February 1945, there were at least 17 deaths and a transfer of about 50 prisoners to a nearby subcamp's infirmary. The number of survivors is unknown.
Piera Sonnino, an Italian author, writes of her imprisonment in Braunschweig in her book, This Has Happened, published in English in 2006 by MacMillan Palgrave.
The Allied air raid on October 15, 1944, destroyed most of the city's churches, and the Altstadt, the largest homogeneous ensemble of half-timbered houses in Germany. 100 out of 800 half-timbered houses survived as well as the most important places and streets, preserved in 5 areas of the old town.
The city's cathedral, which had been converted to a Nationale Weihestätte by the Nazi government, still stood.
Postwar period to the 21st century
About 10% of the inner city survived Allied bombing and remain to represent its distinctive architecture. The cathedral was restored to its function as a Protestant church. Outside the old town city centre large historic quarters remain like Östliches Ringgebiet with its Gründerzeit architecture.Politically, after the war, the Free State of Brunswick was dissolved by the Allied occupying authorities, Braunschweig ceased to be a capital, and most of its lands were incorporated in the newly formed state of Lower Saxony.
During the Cold War, Braunschweig, then part of West Germany, suffered economically due to its proximity to the Iron Curtain. The city lost its historically strong economic ties to what was then East Germany; for decades, economic growth remained, on average, below the rest of the country while unemployment was above-average for West Germany.
On 28 February 1974, as part of a district reform in Lower Saxony, the rural district of Braunschweig, which had surrounded the city, was disestablished. The major part of the former district was incorporated into the city of Braunschweig, increasing its population by roughly 52,000 people.
In the 1990s, efforts increased to reconstruct historic buildings that had been destroyed in the air raid. The façade of the Braunschweiger Schloss was rebuilt, and buildings such as the Alte Waage now stand again.
Population
Braunschweig has a population of 272,000 and is the 2nd largest city in Lower Saxony. Braunschweig is considered as one of the oldest cities in Germany, founded in 1031 by Henry the Lion. Braunschweig first reached its peak of over 100,000 in 1890. In the 1960s and 1970s industrialization boomed in Braunschweig due to automobile and other companies coming to Braunschweig and surrounding cities like Wolfsburg and Salzgitter. Braunschweig's population reached its highest peak of population in 1975 with population of about 273,000 and is expected to exceed this count during the year 2025 and other years. Braunschweig's population started to decline in the 1980s. In the 1990s - after the German reunification - it began to grow again as many East Germans moved there due to its close proximity to former East Germany, 75% of the Germans living in Braunschweig come from different parts of Germany; most are from Former East Germany, Hessen and North Rhine Westphalia. Currently, Braunschweig has a strong focus on research and development. According to 2019 data, it has the highest R&D intensity in the entire EU and over 4% of all employed people are R&D personnel.Religion
In 2015, 91,785 people were Protestant and 34,604 people were Roman Catholic; 126,379 people either adhered to other denominations or followed no religion.Islam
Roughly 27,000 Muslimswere in Braunschweig during 2024. Mosques like DMK Moschee, Fatih Moschee Braunschweig and cultural clubs are present throughout the city but mosque buildings with minerates have not been built in Braunschweig but can be seen in its urban area for example the Grüne Moschee in Wolfenbüttel, Fatih Moschee Salzgitter and the Albanischer-Kulturverein in Gifhorn. The region had around 95,000 to 105,000 Muslims, accounting to approximately 10% of the total region's population.
Immigration
A total of 102,156 of Braunschweig's residents, including citizens with second passport, had a migration background in 2024. People from over 175 nations live in Braunschweig, contributing to its cosmopolitan atmosphere and demographics. Among the 37.5% of people with a migration background, 26% or 70,828 were Non-German citizens or Germans with a second passport but without a migration background. A high proportion of foreigners in the city come from Asia and Africa, something not seen in many cities in a similar size range. One of the main asylums, for refugees and asylum seekers, of Lower Saxony is located in Braunschweig as well as multiple smaller asylums are present throughout the city too, contributing to a higher amount of migrants and refugees in the city compared to other parts of the state though a high number of them are not counted as residents. The city's universities and interest in increasing the number of families from foreign countries has led to a higher trend in immigration. Braunschweig has had a relatively stable population because of multiple housing restrictions and other factors but many Germans are leaving the city so in order to take up their spaces, many foreigners are coming to the city. Multiple residential areas are being constructed in order to withstand the high inflow of migrants to the city.By the year 2030, over 44% of the population in Braunschweig is projected to have a foreign background, this includes first and second generation foreigners and naturalized foreigners due to around 51% of the population below 18 having foreign ancestry and high immigration rate. The population is also expected to increase by 20% by the year 2030 from 2020.
Weststadt has the highest migration percentage of all districts being 63.2%, followed by Nordstadt-Schunteraue with 55.8%, Westliches Ringgebiet with 52.4% and Mitte with 49.6%. The following table lists up the largest minority groups, including citizens with a migration background from a specific nation or region:
| Nationality | Population | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 PolandUrban agglomerationThe urban agglomeration area of Braunschweig is approximately 551,000 in 2024, making it one of the largest regiopolis in Germany and the largest one in Lower Saxony. This area includes Wolfenbüttel, Meine, northern parts of Salzgitter, Weddel, Sickte, Timmerlah, Lengede and other towns and regions within a 15 kilometer radius though Salzgitter is an exception being 20 kilometers away. The field area and green spaces are not counted because a high amount of the areas are not registered. Braunschweig's urban area makes it a bigger city compared to others with a similar size e.g. Aachen, Wiesbaden or Gelsenkirchen, and since the urban area is not significantly smaller than Hanover, it makes itself an important and major city in Lower Saxony. Companies like New Yorker, Salzgitter AG, Jägermeister, Siemens, Bosch, Volkswagen, Nordzucker, Continental, and others are headquartered or have a branch in this area.The metropolitan population of Braunschweig is 1.66 million and is considered as Region Braunschweig, including cities and towns such as Wolfsburg, Goslar or Gifhorn, which is the further range of Braunschweig and is not the same as the smaller ranged urban aggomeration. The metropolitan region of Braunschweig is a subdivision of the larger Metropolregion Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg. Information about the urban agglomeration in 2024
The population of the urban aggomeration with a migration background in 2024 was 246,995: almost 45% of the population. This makes the agglomeration one of the most diverse in Germany and the most in Lower Saxony. Over 70% of the Germans in the urban agglomeration come from different parts of Germany with most of them coming from eastern States due to the proximity. The city is unique because unlike most cities with immigrant populations concentrated inside the city itself, higher number of migrant populations are also found in surrounding areas. Braunschweig's urban agglomeration has a higher migration percentage compared to its city due to industrialization and other major factors since 2011. One of the largest Chinese, Indian, Cameroonian, Russians, Polish, Vietnamese and Tunisian communities in Germany are located in the surroundings and within Braunschweig.
|
Germany