Alfeld is a town in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. Located on the Leine river, it is the second biggest city in the district of Hildesheim in southern Lower Saxony and part of the Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg. Alfeld is a member of the Leinebergland region and on the German Timber-Frame Road. With the Fagus Factory, Alfeld became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.

History

The town was founded before 1214, with the name ''Alvelde'' recorded in 1214, 1221, and 1233. The toponymic element "-feld" means "open area", "an undeveloped, open field", or "an untilled field". "Al-" likely derives from the Indoeuropean root "el-/ol-" meaning "water", "damp", or "flowing". In 1426, Alfeld joined the

Saxon League of Towns The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic peoples, Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxo ...

, thus becoming an indirect member of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

. The town was one of the smallest cities in the

, but had become prosperous in the fourteenth and fifteenth century through its trade in beer, hops, linen, and yarn. Alfeld originally belonged to the Diocese of Hildesheim, but was transferred to the

Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (german: Fürstentum Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel) was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, whose history was characterised by numerous divisions and reunifications. It had an area of 3,828 ...

after the Hildesheim Diocesan Feud (1519-1523). In retrospect, this Brunswick period constituted Alfeld's Golden Age, its economy and culture flourishing before the Thirty Years' War.

Main Sights

Sights in Alfeld include the town hall (1586) with its octagonal tower, the church Saint Nicolai and the Fillerturm, a medieval watchtower, and the Fagus Factory of 1911, a fine example of early modernist architecture by Walter Gropius. More famous are the Seven Hills ( German: ''Sieben Berge'') in the north and the ''Lippoldshöhle'' ("Lippold's cave"), where a legendary robber-knight is said to have lived.

Culture

The assertion that the popular fairy tale of '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' was born in Alfeld is false. Even though the miners who mined ore In the Seven Mountains believed in the existence of dwarfs, it is more likely that the cradle of the fairy tale is to be searched in France. The version the brothers Grimm heard and wrote down, as they travelled through the Seven Mountains, on the so-called ''Märchenstrasse'' (Street Of Fairytales) is just one of many. The most popular beer in Alfeld is Einbecker Brauherrn, from

Einbeck Einbeck (; Eastphalian: ''Aimbeck'') is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, on the German Timber-Frame Road. History Prehistory The area of the current city of Einbeck is inhabited since prehistoric times. Vario ...

, about 12 kilometers or so, away, south of Alfeld. Veltins Pilsner, Flensberger Pils and Gottinger Pils are also popular beers in Alfeld.

Economy

The biggest employer of the city is the SAPPI (South African Pulp and Paper Industry) factory with its big chimney, which has become one of Alfeld's landmarks. Even more famous than SAPPI is the Fagus Werk, rebuilt in 1910-1915 after the blueprints of architect Walter-Gropius, what is said to be trend-setting for modern architecture.

Popular culture

Alfeld is a strategically important town fought over repeatedly by NATO and the Soviet Red Army forces in

Tom Clancy's ''Tom Clancy's'' is a branding used by video game company Ubisoft for video games, some of which feature the works of American author Tom Clancy, while others do not. Various sub-series are often unrelated to each other with a few exceptions, al ...

novel '' Red Storm Rising'', due to the bridges over the Leine River.

International relations

Alfeld is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Wakefield, United Kingdom

Notable people

Augustine of Alfeld Augustine of Alfeld (1480 – c. 1535) was a teacher and Minister Provincial of the Franciscan Order in Saxony, who was opposed to Martin Luther on the question of papal authority. Life He was born in Alfeld, near Hildesheim, and was a profes ...

(1480–1535), Franciscan and controversial theologian *

Walter Kappe The Free Society of Teutonia was one of the earliest Nazi organizations in the United States. It was officially a German American organization, but also publicly expressed a strong support for Nazi Germany and Nazism in general. History It was f ...

(1905–1944), German Nazi, who, as an emigrant in the US in the 1930s, created propaganda and committed espionage in service of Nazism * Uwe Schmidt (born 1954), German politician (SPD) and since July 2009, head of the district Kassel *

Albrecht von Goertz Count Albrecht von Goertz, also known as Albrecht Goertz (German: ''Albrecht Graf von Schlitz genannt von Goertz und von Wrisberg''; 12 January 1914 – 27 October 2006), was a German industrial designer who designed cars for BMW, including t ...

(1914–2006), German industrial designer *

Zbigniew Żedzicki Zbigniew Żedzicki (born 28 June 1945 in Alfeld) is a Polish former wrestler who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics, in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and in the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenan ...

(born 1945), Polish wrestler

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Lower Saxony Hildesheim (district) Members of the Hanseatic League