Ölper, formerly a village, is a

quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25. Quarter or quarters may refer to: Places * Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town Placenames * Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland * Le Quartier, a settlement ...

(''Stadtteil'') of the city of

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It lies to the north of the city centre on the river

Oker The Oker is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a left tributary of the River Aller, in length and runs in a generally northerly direction. Origin and meaning of the name The ...

. It is part of the ''

Stadtbezirk A ''Stadtbezirk'' (also called ''Ortsbezirk'' in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate) is an administrative division in Germany, which is part of a larger city. It is translated as "borough". In Germany, ''Stadtbezirke'' usually only exist in a metropo ...

Lehndorf-Watenbüttel Lehndorf-Watenbüttel is a '' Stadtbezirk'' (borough) in the northwestern part of Braunschweig, Germany. The Stadtbezirk comprises the quarters Kanzlerfeld, Lamme, Lehndorf, Ölper, Völkenrode, and Watenbüttel. History The district consists o ...

History

The first mention of the village of Ölper, then called Elbere, is in 1251. In 1642, the Ölper Tower (''Ölper Turm'') was built as an outer defence for Braunschweig and a customs post, but it was demolished in 1825 and replaced with a dance hall which still carries the name. An important part of the early economy of Ölper was a large

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production o ...

, the ''Ölpermühle''. At one time, the mill had eleven mill-wheels and was one of the largest mills in northern Germany. It fell out of use in the 19th century. In 1761 during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

, a force of Brunswick and Hanoverian troops defeated a joint Franco-

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

force in the first Battle of Ölper. In 1809, during the

War of the Fifth Coalition The War of the Fifth Coalition was a European conflict in 1809 that was part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars. The main conflict took place in central Europe between the Austrian Empire of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis ...

, troops of the

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the ...

attempted to block the advance of the

Black Brunswickers The Brunswick Ducal Field-Corps (german: Herzoglich Braunschweigisches Feldcorps), commonly known as the Black Brunswickers in English and the ''Schwarze Schar'' (Black Troop, Black Horde, or Black Host) or ''Schwarze Legion'' (Black Legion) in G ...

under

Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 9 October 1771 – 16 June 1815), was a German prince and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Oels. Nicknamed "The Black Duke", he was a military officer who led th ...

in the second Battle of Ölper. Although the Brunswickers were unable to achieve a breakthrough, the Westphalians withdrew during the night allowing the Brunswickers to continue their march and ultimately escape to England. The village of Ölper was incorporated into the city of Braunschweig in 1934. Recent developments have included the construction of a

motorway junction In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

in 1974–78 and the creation of the ''Ölpersee'', a large lake in former gravel workings. Today, although it is now largely a

dormitory suburb A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

, there are still four active farms in Ölper including the only dairy farm within the city boundaries. Amongst local clubs and societies,

BSV Ölper 2000 BSV Ölper 2000 is a German association football and sports club from the city of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. History The club was formed on 15 June 2000 as a merger between ''Braunschweiger SV 1922'' and ''Sportfreunde Ölper''. Both clubs had ...

is the local

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team.

Gallery

File:Ölper Turm Blok.jpg, The original Ölper Tower, which was demolished in 1825. File:BS Oelper Turm 0.JPG, The present Ölper Tower. File:MühlenmodellUnterwasser.JPG, A model of Ölper Mill as it appeared in 1800. File:BS Oelper Obelisk.JPG, The memorial to the

Battle of Ölper (1809) The Battle of Ölper is a battle that took place on 1 August 1809 in Ölper, currently a district of the town of Brunswick, as part of the War of the Fifth Coalition. It pitched troops of the Kingdom of Westphalia against the Black Brunswic ...

. File:Oelpersee.jpg, The ''Ölpersee'', formerly gravel workings.

References

Boroughs and quarters of Braunschweig Former municipalities in Lower Saxony {{Braunschweig-geo-stub