Holzminden (; nds, Holtsminne) is a town in southern
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 is the capital of the district of
Holzminden
Holzminden (; nds, Holtsminne) is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Holzminden. It is located on the river Weser, which at this point forms the border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Histor ...
. It is located on the river
Weser
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
, which at this point forms the border with the state of
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
.
History
Holzminden is first mentioned in the 9th century as ''Holtesmeni''. However, the name did not at this time refer to the present city, but to the village of Altendorf, the "old village", which was incorporated into the city in 1922.
During the reign of
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
(814–840), monks from the
Abbey of Corbie
Corbie Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in Corbie, Picardy, France, dedicated to Saint Peter. It was founded by Balthild, the widow of Clovis II, who had monks sent from Luxeuil. The Abbey of Corbie became celebrated both for its library ...
in France came to this part of Germany and founded a daughter house at Hethis in the
Solling
The Solling () is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Inside Lower Saxony it is the second largest range of hills ...
. As it became clear that this site was unviable (owing to lack of access to water) it was abandoned, and a new monastery, ''Corbeia nova'' (
Corvey Abbey
The Princely Abbey of Corvey (german: link=no, Fürststift Corvey or Fürstabtei Corvey) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling '' princely ...
), opened close to the river. Old documents show that many pious donations were given to the ''Holtesmeni'' (monastery).
The settlement is believed to have come into being, along with other settlements in the vicinity, in the 6th-7th centuries. Other villages were subsequently abandoned as Holzminden was granted municipal liberties, allowing greater privileges to its inhabitants, and attracting new settlers from the surrounding hinterland.
In 1200 the town was brought under the protection of the prince’s castle of Everstein, and by 1245 it had received a
charter. This was granted by the
count of Everstein
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
. The town's coat of arms shows the Everstein lion rampant within the open town gate.
From 1408 the town belonged to the
Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to:
*Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious
*Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau
*Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...
en princes; and from the 16th century to the
princes of Brunswick of the Wolfenbüttel line. From the 16th century until 1942, Holzminden therefore lay within
Brunswick-Lüneburg.
In 1640, during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, the town was destroyed by the Imperial troops, a blow from which it only slowly recovered. Until the 20th century Holzminden remained a provincial town of small farmers and holdings.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Holzminden was the site of a large
civilian internment camp on the outskirts of the town, which held up to 10,000 Polish, Russian, Belgian and French nationals, including women and children (1914–18); and also of a smaller
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...
for captured British and British Empire officers (1917–18).
Economy
![HolzmindenStadt1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/HolzmindenStadt1.JPG)
Crafts and farming have long ceased to be the main town's sources of income. Holzminden is now a largely industrial town.
In the late 19th century, Dr
Wilhelm Haarmann
Gustav Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm Haarmann (24 May 1847 – 6 March 1931) was a German chemist and together with Karl Reimer and Ferdinand Tiemann as scientific consultant founded the Haarmann & Reimer chemical plant for the production of vanillin. ...
began developing the scent and flavours industry. In 1874, with
Ferdinand Tiemann
Johann Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Tiemann (June 10, 1848 – November 14, 1899) was a German chemist and together with Karl Reimer discoverer of the Reimer-Tiemann reaction.
Beginning in 1866, Tiemann studied pharmacy at the TU Braunschweig wh ...
, he succeeded in synthesising
vanillin
Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin is now u ...
from
coniferyl alcohol
Coniferyl alcohol is an organic compound with the formula HO(CH3O)C6H3CH=CHCH2OH. A colourless or white solid, it is one of the monolignols, produced via the phenylpropanoid biochemical pathway. When copolymerized with related aromatic compounds, ...
. More products were subsequently developed. The modern successor of their enterprise is the
Symrise factory: Holzminden is a centre of the flavour and fragrance ingredient industry, its products being used throughout the world in cosmetic and food manufacture.
The large
Stiebel Eltron
Stiebel Eltron is a company based in Holzminden, Germany, that manufactures central heating products such as heat pumps. The UK office was set up on the Wirral Peninsula in 2008.
The company dates back to 1924 in Berlin, when Dr. Theodor Stiebe ...
company, which produces heating and hot water products, has its headquarters in Holzminden.
Owens-Illinois operates a glassworks in the town.
Religion
As a part of the former territory of Brunswick, Holzminden maintains a
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
tradition. The church of St. Pauls in Altendorf, dating from before 1200, is the oldest of the town's churches. In its unadorned simplicity it offers a serene place for rest and contemplation. Other churches in the town are named after Luther, St. Michael, St. Thomas and St. Joseph(catholic).
Sights
![holzminden weserufer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Holzminden_weserufer.jpg)
The Tilly House of 1609 is located on the Johannis Square. It has a fine
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
door, which survived the fires of the Thirty Years' War.
Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, commander of the Imperial forces, is said to have spent a night here.
The ''Reichspräsidentenhaus'' links the old part of the town with the Hafendamm and was opened in 1929. The beautiful ''Glockenspiel'' (
carillon) is very popular, and plays well known tunes at set times.
The steeple of the Lutheran church has become a symbol of Holzminden. The interior was remodelled in 1577, when it was made into a two-room church.
The ''Severinsche Haus'' is a richly decorated house dating from 1683. It is the largest of the
bourgeois houses, is decorated with a distinctive weathercock, and is known for its slanting floors.
There is a good viewing platform on the
Emperor William Tower, south of the town.
Museums
* The town museum
* The doll and toy museum (private)
Educational institutions
*HAWK, the ''Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaft und Kunst'', was founded in 1831/32 by Friedrich Ludwig Haarmann as the first college of architecture in Germany. The ''Bauschule'' is now a prominent feature of the town, and many student activities, such as the traditional master's procession, are regular events on the Holzminden calendar.
*LSH, the
Internat Solling', is a private
boarding school founded in 1909 as part of an educational reform movement that sought to cultivate "Mind, Heart and Hand" equally. The campus occupies large parklike grounds on a western slope of the
Solling
The Solling () is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Inside Lower Saxony it is the second largest range of hills ...
.
Internat Solling
/ref>
* Campe-Gymnasium. A Gymnasium is a top school for strongly emphasizes academic learning and comparable to the British grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
system or with prep schools in the United States.
*The other secondary schools are the Dr. Jasper-Realschule and the Johannes-Falk-Schule (Hauptschule).
*There are also a '' Förderschule'', Schule an der Weser and Anne-Frank-Schule.
International relations
Holzminden is twinned with:
* Leven Leven may refer to:
People
* Leven (name), list of people with the name
Nobility
* Earl of Leven a title in the Peerage of Scotland
Placenames
* Leven, Fife
Leven ( gd, Inbhir Lìobhann) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central ...
, Fife, Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
Notable people
* Erwin Böhme
Erwin Böhme (29 July 1879 – 29 November 1917), PlM, was a German World War I fighter ace credited with 24 aerial victories. He was born in Holzminden on 28 July 1879. Both studious and athletic, he became a champion swimmer, proficient ice ska ...
(1879–1917), World War I flying ace
* Ulrich Brinkhoff
Ulrich Brinkhoff (born 1940 in Holzminden/Weser, Germany) is a German photographer and writer.
Life and work
Brinkhoff was born at the beginning of World War II, his father an Air Force pilot and his mother a bookseller. He was primarily raised ...
(born 1940), Photographer and writer
* Carl Wilhelm Gerberding (1894–1984), industrialist and founder of Dragoco
* :de:August Hampe (1866–1945), politician, Minister of Justice of the Braunschweig District
* Adolf Heusinger
Adolf Bruno Heinrich Ernst Heusinger (4 August 1897 – 30 November 1982) was a German military officer whose career spanned the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany and West Germany. He joined the German Army as a volunteer in 1915 ...
(1897–1982), German general and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
* :de:Eberhard Itzenplitz (1926–2012), film director
* Leopold Scherman (died 1970), architect
Other notable people who have lived in Holzminden
* Jyhan Artut
Jyhan Artut (born 9 October 1976) is a German professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
Career
Artut defeated Wayne Mardle 3–0 in the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship in the first round. He was ...
(born 1976), darts player
* Jonatan Briel
Jonatan Karl Dieter Briel (9 June 1942 – 26 December 1988) was a German director, screenplay author, and actor. He was born in Bodenwerder, Lower Saxony, and died in Berlin. He was strongly influenced by the works of the 19th-century poets ...
(1942–1988), film director and actor
* Robert Bunsen
Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (;
30 March 1811
– 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bu ...
(1811–1899), chemist
* Niels Jannasch
Niels Windekilde Jannasch (July 5, 1924 – November 9, 2001) was a German-Canadian mariner, marine historian and the founding director of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.
He was born on July 5, 1924, in Holzminden, Germany. Jannasch served ...
(1924–2001), mariner, curator and maritime historian
* Nicolas Kiefer
Nicolas Kiefer (; born 5 July 1977) is a German former professional tennis player. He reached the semifinals of the 2006 Australian Open and won a silver medal in men's doubles with partner Rainer Schüttler at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Kiefer ...
(born 1977), tennis player
* Christian Meyer (born 1975), politician for the Alliance '90/The Greens and Minister of Lower Saxony
* Wilhelm Konrad Hermann Müller (1812–1890), a philologist of Germanic studies
* Wilhelm Raabe
Wilhelm Raabe (; September 8, 1831November 15, 1910) was a German novelist. His early works were published under the pseudonym of Jakob Corvinus.
Biography
He was born in Eschershausen (then in the Duchy of Brunswick, now in the Holzminden Distr ...
(1831–1910), novelist
* Annika Roloff
Annika Roloff (born 10 March 1991) is a German athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She competed collegiately for the University of Akron
The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the Unive ...
(born 1991), athlete who specializes in the pole vault
* Carola Roloff
Carola Roloff (born 1959 in Holzminden, West Germany) is a German Buddhist nun. Her monastic name is Bhiksuni Jampa Tsedroen. An active teacher, translator, author, and speaker, she is instrumental in campaigning for equal rights for Buddhist n ...
(born 1959), Buddhist nun, Tibetologist, University Professor
* Uwe Schünemann (born 1964), CDU politician and Minister of Lower Saxony
* Meinolf Sellmann
Meinolf Sellmann, born in Holzminden, Germany, computer scientist, best known for algorithmic research, with a special focus on self-improving algorithms, automatic algorithm configuration and algorithm portfolios based on artificial intelligence, ...
, computer scientist
* Generaloberst Nikolaus von Falkenhorst
Paul Nikolaus von Falkenhorst (17 January 1885 – 18 June 1968) was a German general and a war criminal during World War II. He planned and commanded the German invasion of Denmark and Norway in 1940, and was commander of German troops during ...
(1885–1968), Convicted war criminal. Did not follow the Commando Order. Guilty on 8 other charges
* Prince Wilhelm-Karl of Prussia
Wilhelm Karl Adalbert Erich Detloff Prinz von Preussen (30 January 1922, in Potsdam – 9 April 2007, in Holzminden) was the third son of Prince Oskar of Prussia, and the last surviving grandson of Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor. He was the ...
(1922–2007)
* Heinz H. Weissenstein (1912–1996), photographer
See also
*Holzminden internment camp
Holzminden internment camp was a large World War I detention camp (''Internierungslager'') located to the north-east of Holzminden, Lower Saxony, Germany, which existed from 1914 to 1918. It held civilian internees from allied nations. It was th ...
*Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp
Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp was a World War I prisoner-of-war camp for British and British Empire officers ('' Offizier Gefangenenlager'') located in Holzminden, Lower Saxony, Germany. It opened in September 1917, and closed with the final re ...
*Holzminden (district)
Holzminden () is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany, with the town of Holzminden as its administrative capital. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Hamelin-Pyrmont, Hildesheim and Northeim, and by the state of North ...
*Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a ...
References
External links
Holzminden homepage
{{Authority control
Holzminden (district)
Duchy of Brunswick