Lower Saxony


Lower Saxony is a German state in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with, and fourth-largest in population among the 16 Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are spoken to varying degrees.
Lower Saxony borders on the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other its seaport, Bremerhaven. Lower Saxony thus borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland. The state's largest cities are the state capital Hanover, Braunschweig, Oldenburg, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg, Göttingen, Salzgitter, Hildesheim, mainly situated in its central and southern parts, except Oldenburg.
Lower Saxony 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 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, is the largest heathland area of Germany. In 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. 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 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.

Geography

Location

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 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 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, while 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 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 in 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 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 the core of the Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region.

Regions

General

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, the areas surrounding the Hanseatic cities of Bremen and Hamburg are much more oriented towards those centres.

List of regions

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.

Climate

Lower Saxony falls climatically into 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: while the northwest experiences an Atlantic to Sub-Atlantic climate, with comparatively low variations in temperature during 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 and in 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 ; in the Altes Land and in the district of Cloppenburg.

Administration

Lower Saxony is divided into 37 districts :
Furthermore, there are eight urban districts and two cities with special status:
;Notes

Historical subdivisions

Between 1946 and 2004, the state's districts and independent towns were grouped into eight regions, with a different status for two regions, comprising the formerly free states of Brunswick and Oldenburg. In 1978 these regions were merged into four governorates. In 2005 the Bezirksregierungen were again split into separate bodies.
1946–1978:
1978–2004:
On 1 January 2005 the four administrative regions or governorates, into which Lower Saxony had been hitherto divided, were dissolved. These were the governorates of Braunschweig, Hanover, Lüneburg and Weser-Ems.

Largest towns

The largest towns in Lower Saxony as of 31 December 2017:
RankCityPopulation
1Hanover535,061
2Braunschweig248,023
3Oldenburg167,081
4Osnabrück164,374
5Wolfsburg123,914
6Göttingen119,529
7Salzgitter104,548
8Hildesheim101,744
9Delmenhorst77,521
10Wilhelmshaven76,316
11Lüneburg75,192
12Celle69,706
13Garbsen60,875
14Hamelin57,228
15Lingen 54,117
16Langenhagen53,790
17Nordhorn53,278
18Wolfenbüttel52,357
19Goslar51,128
20Emden50,607

History

Regional history prior to foundation of Lower Saxony

The name of Saxony derives from that of the Germanic confederation of tribes called the Saxons. Before the late medieval period, there 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.