Neustadt am Rübenberge, Lower Saxony, Germany

🇩🇪 Neustadt am Rübenberge (Niestadt) is a town in the district of Hannover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. At 357 km² (138 sq mi), it is the 9th largest settlement in Germany by area (following Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne). It is in a region known as the Hanoverian Moor Geest.

History Relics from numerous epochs in human history have been found in today's urban area. Finds from gravel pits, such as in Poggenhagen, can be assigned to the Upper Palaeolithic. In addition, there are also mammoth remains, especially teeth from the time of the Leinetal Paleolithic.

After the ice age, the landscape also began to change radically in the area of Neustadt, from a tundra landscape to a more lush vegetation with partly dense forests. From the Mesolithic era, there are finds of residential places, especially around the Steinhuder Meer, where people specialized in fishing.

With the settlement of humans, testimonies of the funnel cup culture can be found in the Neustädter Land. These include destroyed large stone graves that were located on the road between Neustadt and Schneeren on the so-called Breitensteinberg.

Furthermore, burial mounds and urn fields from the Bronze Age are known. From this time, forest forges are documented for Neustadt.

Early and Middle Ages Early traces of a settlement can be seen from the Lüningsburg south of the city in the area of today's cemetery of the same name. These were the remains of an early medieval ring wall around the 10th century. century, which probably served the population as a centrifugal castle.

Buildings in Neustadt • The Ev.-luth. Liebfrauenkirche was founded in the 13th. century as a Romanesque basilica and renewed in 1502 by Erich I. Since then, the nave has been a Gothic brick building. In 1828, the partially destroyed tower was built as it still exists today. However, it was extensively renovated between 2004 and 2006. 34] • Landestrost Castle with fortifications and southern fort as well as arcade made of hornbeans • Bastion Erichsberg as the remnant of the urban fortress • Wallburg Lüningsburg at the municipal cemetery Lüningsburg • Town Hall, Marktstraße 4. The half-timbered building with hipped roof built over a high sandstone base was rebuilt in 1728/29 after a city fire. In 1830 it was redesigned in classicist forms. On the plastered front, a double staircase leads to the main portal. • The Wachthaus, located directly opposite the town hall, was built in the 19th century. century as the residence of the night watchman. It also served as a syringe house. • Residential buildings. The image of the city centre was originally shaped by gable half-timbered plank houses, of which only a few examples have survived after several city fires and since the demolitions that took place in the post-war period. Mittelstraße 29 is particularly attractive. The small half-timbered plank house dates from the first half of the 18th century. century. The Dielentor was restored only a few years ago. Among the last remaining residential buildings that were spared in the great city fire of 1727 are Windmühlenstraße 19 and 20. They were probably created in 1672. Further half-timbered buildings can be found in the vicinity of the Church of Our Lady. At Liebfrauenkirche 2, a two-storey house with a crippled hipped roof, was most likely built after 1728. However, the classicist portal only comes from a reconstruction that took place between 1831 and 1833. A little later, the very simple half-timbered houses No. 4 and 6 were created. No. 8, which serves as a boys' school, was built around 1703 to 1707. In the front part, the passable hallway is still available. A pair of storks has been breeding on the chimney of the building for many years. The left-hand development of Wallstraße with simple half-timbered buildings did not take place until after 1851. On Hannoversche Straße (No. 1) there is a single-storey eaves of eleven axes, which was built around 1815. The Richterhaus (Schloßstraße 2) was built around 1830 as a two-storey classicist plaster building. It is closed by a hipped roof and has a rusting on the ground floor. The nearby residential building Schloßstraße 3 is originally a half-timbered plank house built around 1800, which was built towards the end of the 19th century. century, a Gothic brick facade was presented, so that it now gives the impression of a solid building.

Neustadt am Rübenberge was founded around 1200 by Count Bernhard II of Wölpe and mentioned in 1215 as "nova civitas" (translated: "new city"). 6] Various other place names have been handed down in documents of later centuries, such as 1426 Nienstadt vor dem Rouwenberge and 1523 Nygestadt. The surrounding land belonged to the county of Wölpe at the time, which had the Wölper Silberpfennige shaped in Neustadt. In addition to the creation of the secular centre Neustadt, Count Bernhard had the Cistercian convent Mariensee, where nuns lived secluded, in his sphere of power as a spiritual centre, the county was sold to the Guelph Duke Otto to the strict of Braunschweig and Lüneburg.

*16. Century * In 1505, the 35-year-old Duke Erich I. von Calenberg, who was born on the medieval Neustädter Rouvenburg, made the place the second seat of government. Parts of the castle fell victim to a fire in 1563. His son Duke Erich II the Younger began reconstruction in 1573, during which the representative Landestrost Castle was built in the architectural style of the Weser Renaissance. 7] At the same time, he made the castle defensive and left the immediately adjacent town of Neustadt one for the 16th. century typical city fortress. Castle and place were surrounded by fortifications by acute-angled bastions. For this purpose, ramparts were built from earth and deep water ditches were excavated. Place and castle with a floor area of 10 ha were surrounded by a wall-based wall of 1800 m length. The walls had a height of 9 m and a thickness of 2.3 m. The entire wall had a width of 37 to 42 m. The construction of the entire fortress corresponded to the requirements that the development of powder guns had created. Bastionary fortifications in Italy and the Netherlands served as a model. Italian engineers were commissioned with the construction, who also worked in other places. Due to its elaborate fortifications, the fortified castle was one of the strongest fortresses in north-western Germany during this time. With the construction, the duke renamed the city of Neustadt to "Landestrost". However, the citizens of Neustadt called it "land spoilage" because of the enormous costs for the fortification and the many people who lost their lives when dismantling the stones. Only the castle retained the name "Landestrost", because after the death of the Duke in 1584, the city resumed its original name.

Neustadt and the surrounding country became Evangelical-Lutheran in 1543. In the Thirty Years' War, the city surrendered in 1626 after a fifteen-day siege by around 1000 men of the imperial Catholic general Tilly. City and fortress, which held 200 Danish musketeers, were shelled with cannons. The reason for the surrender was probably not the damage, but the lack of supplies in the city and the lack of defensive artillery. Tilly quartered four companies of Fußvolk as a garrison force in Landestrost Castle, which used it as a barracks for nine years. In 1635, the city was depleted after three months of starvation.

In the third and largest city fire in 1727, 100 of the city's 108 residential buildings were destroyed, and in the two following years Neustadt was rebuilt according to today's floor plan. 8]

How abundantly Georg II was able to donate is shown, among other things, by the year 1727, in which he donated 100,000 thalers from his own funds to rebuild the cremated Neustadt am Rübenberge. 9]

In 1687–88, the Lion Bridge was built over the leash. The three-leg solid bridge made of sandstone masonry was renovated in 2003. The superstructure was replaced by a wider road construction.

19. Century In 1847, on the 12th. December the first railway that ran the Hanover-Bremen line at Neustädter Bahnhof. At the time, the city had 176 residential buildings with 1507 inhabitants. 10]

Since 1855, the city has been the seat of the district court of Neustadt am Rübenberge.

In 1855, there were plans to build a glassworks between the village and the Toten Moor and to heat it with the peat gained there. After difficulties with the entrepreneurs involved, the government approved the construction of a metallurgical plant for the production of railway tracks in 1856. The railway connection of Neustadt and the hope of being able to use peat as fuel was beneficial for the industrial settlement. As early as 1857, 1100 recruited workers from Silesia and Westphalia were engaged in construction, drainage and de-mating work. After completion, blast furnaces, poodle furnaces, steam engines and a rolling mill with peat firing ran. However, the company was bankrupt after a short time in 1858. The cause was the risky financing as well as too optimistic calculations about possible sales at other steel plants. Peat was also eliminated as fuel for iron smelting and hard coal had to be bought. The citizens of Neustadt were also affected by bankruptcy, as both a number of jobs were lost and investments of the place became useless. In 1869, the entrepreneur Bethel Henry Strousberg acquired the hut to produce rails for railway construction in Romania. Around 500 employees worked there as early as 1869. After the arrest of Strousberg in St. Petersburg In 1875, his companies went bankrupt, including the metallurgical plant in Neustadt in 1878. The hut operation was finally discontinued in 1888. After that, a company for roofing felt production and peat processing used the factory buildings until 1975.

In 1885, the district of Neustadt am Rübenberge was founded. It also included the county of Wölpe. Within the next 30 years, the first schools and the first closed settlement were built in Neustadt.

20. Century South of today's district Eilvese in the Toten Moor, after two years of construction, the 260 m high Funkenturm was completed in 1913 as the highest German structure at the time. During commissioning in June 1914, the first radio contact between Europe and the USA was established. For this event, Kaiser Wilhelm II stayed in Neustadt and Eilvese. Until its demolition in 1931, the broadcaster transmitted telegrams overseas.

During the Second World War, there was a larger barracks camp in Neustadt for the Reich Labor Service (RAD), which served as a collection point for the training departments returned by East Prussia and Poland in 1945. From here, the transfer to the Wehrmacht took place.

In the war, only the "lion bridge" built in 1687 was destroyed over the leash. The German Wehrmacht blew it up in April 1945, when British troops were on it and advanced to the place. 24 British soldiers died.

About the events in Neustadt from the 7th April 1945 reported in the "Hannoverschen Presse", district supplement Neustadt, from the 5th May 1950: On the 7th April 1945, in the afternoon, Neustadt set up for the occupation of the city. [… ] At 3 p.m. the English had invaded Bordenau from Wunstorf Airport and at 4 p.m. some farmers came to the city, who reported: "In Poggenhagen they are and cook tea". [… ] At 6 p.m., District Administrator S., the police chief, district fire master C. and Amtmann F. had gathered in the district office. Kaufmann B. asked the district administrator for mediation to prevent the bridge explosion, which would possibly cause serious suffering for the city. But District Administrator S. saw himself unable to do anything against the military order. They had probably given up hope of still being able to save the bridge. [… ] At this moment at 11 p.m. a terrible bang tore the silence of the night and at the same time the hopes of the inhabitants. [… ] The next morning, some Neustadt dared to put themselves on a leash. The western arch of the 250-year-old bridge lay in the water and the blood splashes revealed the drama that had taken place here. Just when the English were in droves on the bridge, the German sergeant had triggered the explosive charge behind the Schützenplatzhäuser.

"Kreisfeuermeister C". refers to the then district fire brigade commander Karl Coldewe (1889–1953), who by order of the 18th April 1940 had been appointed "district leader of the volunteer fire brigade" and honorary official in the fire brigade technical field and on the 12th April 1945 was again appointed by the British military government as a district fire brigade leader. 11]

After the war, the number of inhabitants of the city rose by leaps and bounds, as Neustadt had been largely spared from the destruction of the war and therefore many refugees and displaced persons from the Soviet occupation zone and the former German eastern territories sought refuge there.

Until 1948, the city wall had been almost completely preserved, but it had to give way due to the immense lack of space (the wall interior was just 1 km²). In the course of the renovation of the city centre, the traffic flow in Neustadt changed in 1981. A new concrete bridge now absorbs the traffic load past the historic city center. After the Second World War, the refugee youth camp Poggenhagen existed in Poggenhagen.

In the 1960s, Neustadt had so many inhabitants that a grammar school could be built and the students no longer had to go to the neighboring cities of Nienburg or Wunstorf; a few years later, a cooperative comprehensive school (KGS Neustadt) was added. In addition, several sports facilities (sports, tennis courts and the indoor pool) were built. As a district town, Neustadt received its own district hospital, today's Klinikum Neustadt am Rübenberge, which belongs to the Klinikum Region Hannover.

In the years 1965 to 1966, the Hibbe department store was built according to plans by the architect Karl-Heinz Lorey. 12]

At the district reform on the 1st In March 1974, the district of Neustadt am Rübenberge was dissolved and merged with other districts to form the district of Hanover (without the city of Hanover). On the 1st In November 2001, this merged with the city of Hanover to form the Hanover region.

Until the 31st. In December 2004, Neustadt am Rübenberge belonged to the administrative district of Hanover, which, like all other Lower Saxony administrative districts, was dissolved on that day. 13]

The license plate number of the former district of Neustadt am Rübenberge was NRÜ. Vehicles that were registered for road traffic before the territorial reform of 1974 still carry this license plate. These are mainly agricultural and forestry vehicles and trailers.

Incorporations In the course of the territorial reform in Lower Saxony, which took place on the 1st March 1974, the previously independent municipalities of Amedorf, Averhoy, Basse, Bevensen, Bordenau, Borstel, Brase, Büren, Dudensen, Eilvese, Empede, Esperke, Evensen, Hagen, Helstorf, Laderholz, Lutter, Luttmersen, Mandelsloh, Mardorf, Marie 14]

Geography: Location The city is located on the line north-east of Steinhuder Meer and Totem Moor. In a broader sense, Neustadt is located in the so-called bacon belt of Hanover, but in the narrower sense Neustadt is relatively rural. The average population density is 124 inhabitants per km²; if you subtract the core city, it is about 56 inhabitants per km². With its area of 357.52 km² - this is about one thousandth of the area of Germany - Neustadt is one of the largest cities in Germany and is the largest district city of the "old federal states".

City division Neustadt am Rübenberge is a unified municipality and consists of the core city (the former district town) and 33 surrounding current districts (formerly: municipalities), which are also grouped under the name "Neustädter Land": • Amedorf  • Averhoy  • Basse  • Bevensen  • Bordenau  • Borstel  • Brase  • Büren  • Dudensen • Eilvese • Empede  • Esperke • Evensen  • Hagen • Helstorf  • Laderholz  • Lutter  • Luttmersen  • Mandelsloh • Mardorf  • Mariensee • Metel  • Niedernstöcken  • Nöpke  • Otternhagen  • Poggenhagen  • Scharrel  • Schneeren  • Stöckendrebber  • Suttorf  • Vesbeck  • Welze  • Wulfelade.

Neustadt continues to include some smaller, formerly partially independent settlements. These are Baumühle and Brunnenborstel (belong to Laderholz),Dinstorf (belongs to Brase), Himmelreich (to Empede), Mecklenhorst, Moordorf (to Poggenhagen), Scharnhorst (to Basse) and Warmeloh (to Esperke).

Several former municipalities (for example Amedorf, Basse, Bordenau, Evensen, Hagen, Helstorf, Laderholz, Mandelsloh, Mariensee, Niedernstöcken, Nöpke, Stöckendrebber, Vesbeck, Warmeloh and Wulfelade) there are chronicles about history and current situation, which have been written by experts interested.

Buildings in the districts • St. Osdag (Mandelsloh) • Hoof forge Helstorf • Bock windmill Dudensen • Water mill loader wood • Ten-s Barn Amedorf • Mariensee Monastery • Johanneskapelle Metel • Rittergut Evensen • Chapel Esperke • St. Gorgonius Niedernstöcken • Birthplace of Gerhard von Scharnhorst (Bordenau)

Parks In the village there is a park on the fortress plateau of Landestrost Castle. The nearby Steinhuder Meer Nature Park is well known.

Natural monuments The Blankes Flat nature reserve with a moor lake is well known.

Regular events • The Stiftung Kulturregion Hannover has been the owner of Landestrost Castle since 1997. One task of the foundation is to make Schloss itself and its environment a centre for cultural activities. The offers of the foundation include ◦ the event series "Culture in the Castle" (with concerts, readings, cinema evenings and exhibitions), ◦ the Renaissance festival, which takes place regularly in May, and ◦ the "SchlossLeuchten" event. • Since 2006, a festival of lights has been held regularly in the Neustadt city centre at the beginning of December.

Economy The purchasing power (sum of disposable income) is €18,576 per inhabitant (2006) and the purchasing power indicator is currently 119.5 (compared to the national average of 100). The unemployment rate is 6.3% (as of March 2012).

Traffic Neustadt is located on the federal highway B 6. In the village, the B 442 begins, which leads in a southern direction to Coppenbrügge.

The Neustadt am Rübenberge station is located on the Bremen-Hannover railway line. It is served hourly by local public transport alternating from the RE 1 Norddeich Mole - Hannover Hbf and the RE 8 Bremerhaven-Lehe - Hannover Hbf. The S-Bahn Hannover continues with the S 2 Nienburg - Haste every hour in Neustadt.

RE 1 Norddeich Mole - Emden - Leer - Oldenburg - Bremen - Verden - Nienburg - Neustadt am Rübenberge -Hannover Hbf.

RE 8 Bremerhaven-Lehe - Bremerhaven - Bremen - Verden - Nienburg - Neustadt am Rübenberge - Hannover Hbf.

S 2 Nienburg (Weser) - Linsburg - Hagen (Han) - Eilvese - Neustadt am Rübenberge - Poggenhagen - Wunstorf -Dedensen-Gümmer - Seelze - Letter - Hannover-Leinhausen - Hannover-Nordstadt - Hannover Hbf -Hannover Bismarckstraße - Hannover-Linden/Fischerhof - Hannover.

The Hagen (Han), Eilvese and Poggenhagen stations are served exclusively by the S 2. The inland development, the connection of the districts with each other and with some neighboring towns are taken over by bus lines of the Regiobus Hannover. Neustadt is in the tariff network of the Großraum-Verkehr Hannover.