Hann. Münden (short for Hannoversch Münden) is a town in

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. Münden lies in the district of

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

at the confluence of the

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

and

Werra The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the t ...

rivers, which join to form the

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 of Bre ...

. It has about 24,000 inhabitants (2013). It is famous for its half-timbered houses, some of them more than 600 years old.

History

The place is first mentioned in the deeds of donation of ''Gimundi'' to the

abbey of Fulda The Abbey of Fulda (German ''Kloster Fulda'', Latin ''Abbatia Fuldensis''), from 1221 the Princely Abbey of Fulda (''Fürstabtei Fulda'') and from 1752 the Prince-Bishopric of Fulda (''Fürstbistum Fulda''), was a Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastic ...

, in 802. The town's name means "confluence" in old German; the prefix ''Hannoversch'', or " Hanoverian", was added in the 19th century to help distinguish the town from its similarly-named Prussian neighbour,

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

. City rights might have been granted during the latter half of the 12th century. The French inventor Denis Papin built a steam-pump-powered paddlewheel boat, probably pedal-driven in 1704, and as a demonstration used it to navigate down the Fulda River from Kassel to Münden in 1707. Hann. Münden was the site of the

Royal Prussian Academy of Forestry Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

: the city's botanical gardens with many different trees were primarily established for this academy. Later the academy was merged into the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, moving to a new building on the main campus in 1970.

Main sights

Many tourists visit the city to see its some 700 well-preserved half-timbered medieval houses. The large Lutheran church of St Blasius (14th–15th centuries), in

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, contains the sarcophagus of Duke Eric I of Brunswick-Calenberg (d. 1540). Other sights include: * Renaissance Town Hall, built in the 14th century (now the central Gothic hall remains) with a façade renewed between 1603 and 1618. * Old Werrabrücke, the bridge over the Werra river: one of the oldest stone bridges in the country *

Forstbotanischer Garten in Hannoversch Münden The Forstbotanischer Garten in Hannoversch Münden (2.87 hectares) is a forest botanical garden and arboretum located at Mitscherlichstraße 5, Hannoversch Münden, Lower Saxony, Germany. The garden was established in 1868 at the founding of the ...

, an

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

* Remains of the medieval 12th century city walls (renewed in the 15th century) * ''Tillyschanze'', an observation tower built from 1881 to 1885 by citizens of the town in memory of the siege of the town by

Count Tilly Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly ( nl, Johan t'Serclaes Graaf van Tilly; german: Johann t'Serclaes Graf von Tilly; french: Jean t'Serclaes de Tilly ; February 1559 – 30 April 1632) was a field marshal who commanded the Catholic League's ...

in 1626. * Welfenschloss, originally built by Duke Eric I in the

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

in 1501, as both a residence and administrative center. After its destruction by a fire in 1560, Duke Eric II had it rebuilt in

Weser Renaissance Weser Renaissance is a form of Northern Renaissance architectural style that is found in the area around the River Weser in central Germany and which has been well preserved in the towns and cities of the region. Background Between the star ...

style. The southern wing was again destroyed by a fire in 1849, but not rebuilt.

Notable people

Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 122 ...

(1532–1568), duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg *

Ludolph Büsinck Ludolph Büsinck (c.1600–1669) was a German painter and wood-engraver, born at Hann. Münden in the 1590s. He worked in Paris between 1623 and 1630, where he produced a series of chiaoscuro woodcuts, the first to be made in France. His name ...

(1600–1669), wood-engraver, customs administrator of the city of Hann. Münden *

Johann Andreas Eisenbarth Johann Andreas Eisenbarth (March 27, 1663 – November 11, 1727) was a German surgeon who was a native of Oberviechtach, Bavaria. Eisenbarth was an oculist and barber-surgeon who specialized in treatment of cataracts, calculus surgery, and the t ...

(1663–1727), surgeon and eye surgeon *

Hermann Friedrich Teichmeyer Hermann Friedrich Teichmeyer (30 April 1685 – 5 February 1746) was a German physician and botanist born in Hannoversch Münden. He was father-in-law to Albrecht von Haller (1708–1777). The botanical genus ''Teichmeyeria'' ( Scop., 1777) is l ...

(1685–1746), forensics physician *

Christian Kalkbrenner Christian Kalkbrenner (Hann. Münden, September 22, 1755 – Paris, August 10, 1806) was a German Kapellmeister, violinist, organ and keyboard player, and composer. Almost an exact contemporary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he was a prolific composer ...

(1755–1806), Kapellmeister *

Eduard Huschke Georg Philipp Eduard Huschke (26 June 18017 February 1886) was a German jurist and authority on church government. He was born at Hannoversch Münden, a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 1817 Huschke went to Göttingen to study law. He was encou ...

(1801–1886), jurist *

Ferdinand Wüstenfeld Heinrich Ferdinand Wüstenfeld (31 July 1808 – 8 February 1899) was a German orientalist, known as a literary historian of Arabic literature, born at Münden, Hanover. He studied theology and oriental languages at Göttingen and Berlin. He ...

(1808–1899), orientalist * Heinrich Christian Burckhardt (1811–1879), forest scientist and from 1844 to 1849 first teacher of the forest school Münden; Honorary citizen of Hann. Münden *

Ernst Wollweber Ernst Friedrich Wollweber (29 October 1898 – 3 May 1967) was a German politician who was State Secretary of State Security from 1953 to 1955 and Minister of State Security of East Germany from 1955 to 1957. Biography Born in Hann. Mün ...

(1898–1967), politician

SED sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs, and is available today for most operating systems. sed wa ...

, Minister for State Security of the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

* Gustav Eberlein (1847–1926), sculptor, lived and worked here *

Anne-Marie von Schutzbar genannt Milchling , house = Schutzbar-Milchling (by birth)Bernstorff (by marriage)Oldenburg (by marriage) , father =Rudolf von Schutzbar gennant Milchling , mother =Rose Marston , birth_date = , birth_place = Hann. Münden, King ...

(1903–1991), second wife of

Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg , house = Holstein-Gottorp , father = Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg , mother = Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin , birth_date = , birth_place = Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg , death ...

Christa Schroeder Emilie Christine Schroeder, also known as Christa Schroeder (19 March 1908 – 28 June 1984) was one of Adolf Hitler’s personal secretaries before and during World War II. Early life She was born in the small town of Hannoversch Münden a ...

(1908–1984), personal secretary to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Adam von Trott zu Solz Friedrich Adam von Trott zu Solz (9 August 1909 – 26 August 1944) was a German lawyer and diplomat who was involved in the conservative resistance to Nazism. A declared opponent of the Nazi regime from the beginning, he actively participated in ...

(1909–1944), diplomat, resistance fighter during the Nazi period, studied here 1922–1927 *

Hanne Wieder Hanne Wieder (May 8, 1925 – May 11, 1990) was a German television and film actress. Selected filmography * ''Rosemary'' (1958) * '' Heiße Ware'' (1959) * ''Labyrinth'' (1959) * '' Marili'' (1959) * '' The Haunted Castle'' (1960) * ' (1961) * ...

(1925–1990), cabaret artist, actress, singer *

Niclas Huschenbeth Niclas Huschenbeth (born 29 February 1992) is a German chess grandmaster and a two-time German Chess Champion (2010, 2019). He played in the Chess Olympiads of 2008 and 2010. Chess career Huschenbeth won the German championship in 2010. He came ...

(born 1992), chess grandmaster

Twin towns – sister cities

Hann. Münden is twinned with: *

Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,145 as of 2016. The nearest communes are Nanterre, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud an ...

, France (1959) *

Holon Holon ( he, חוֹלוֹן ) is a city on the central coastal strip of Israel, south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan Gush Dan area. In it had a population of . Holon has the second-largest industrial zone in Israel, after Haifa. ...

, Israel (1988) *

Chełmno Chełmno (; older en, Culm; formerly ) is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river with 18,915 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of the Chełmno County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Due to its regional importan ...

, Poland (1992)

References

;Attribution *

External links