Bleckmar is a village administered by the Lower Saxon town of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

in the northern part of

Celle district Celle () is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Uelzen, Gifhorn, Hanover and Heidekreis. Geography The district is located in the southernmost parts of the L ...

on the Lüneburg Heath in North

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 about north of Bergen on the B 3 federal road and has 464 inhabitants (2019). It is administratively responsible for the neighbouring hamlet of Dageförde.

History

Bleckmar was first mentioned in the records in 866 under the name of ''Blecmeri''. This farming village originally grew from two farms, but by 1820 it had a population of 150. This number grew to over 300 inhabitants in 1900. In 1910 Bleckmar was given a railway halt on the

Celle–Soltau railway The Celle–Soltau railway is a standard gauge railway in the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany that belongs to the East Hanoverian Railways (''Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen'' or ''OHE''). It is the OHE's busiest line. History The init ...

which now ran through the village. Street names were not introduced in Bleckmar until 2001 after the majority of inhabitants voted in favour of them. The River Meiße, which flows in a north–south direction through Bleckmar, was dammed to form a pond here used to power a corn mill. The old mill building has now been restored and converted into a residential property. Dageförde is a small farm hamlet where there are timber-framed farmhouses with ornate decorations, as well as typical heathland barns - the ''

Treppenspeicher A ''Treppenspeicher'' (literally "staircase store") is the German term for a granary or secondary farm building used for storage and typical of the Lüneburg Heath area in northern Germany. The upper storey of the store was usually accessed via a f ...

'' - from the 18th century.

Politics

Since the merging of local councils as part of the Lower Saxon administrative reforms of 1971, Bleckmar has been part of the town of

. Bleckmar is represented by a parish council (''Ortsrat'') and a chairman (''Ortsbürgermeister''). The council is empowered, ''inter alia'', to make decisions about public services in the village, is responsible for maintaining the appearance of the village and for overseeing its clubs and societies, and has to be consulted by the town of Bergen on all important matters affecting the village. It consists of five elected representatives who, together with the mayor, sit on the Bergen town council. The parish council elects its own mayor. The current incumbent is Elisabeth Tasto-Iseken.

Mission work

Since 1892 there has been a Lutheran church mission in Bergen-Bleckmar. The

Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church (german: Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, abbreviated SELK) is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and of the International ...

(SELK) is the sponsor of this mission. Mission work is led by the current head of mission, Markus Nietzke. It has sent missionaries in South Africa, Botswana, Brazil, Australia and Germany. It has its own seminary in which missionaries are trained. Image:BleckmDagefdBHs.jpg, Farmhouse in Dageförde Image:BleckmDagefdTrpSp.jpg, ''

'' barn in Dageförde, from the 18th century Image:BleckmarMeiße.jpg, The River Meiße near Bleckmar

References

Literature

*Alfred Keseberg u. a.: ''Festschrift der Gemeinde Bleckmar zu ihrer 1.100-Jahr-Feier Bleckmar 1966'' *Markus Nietzke: ''Ein Missionshaus in Bleckmar!?'' Heimatkalender. Jahrbuch für die Lüneburger Heide 2007.

External links

The official Bleckmar home page

Official home page of the Lutheran Church Mission - Bleckmarer Mission e. V.
{{Authority control Villages in Lower Saxony Bergen, Lower Saxony Lüneburg Heath Celle (district)