Kneitlingen is a municipality in the

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

district in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

state of

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 ...

. It is part of the ''Samtgemeinde''

Elm-Asse Elm-Asse is a ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Wolfenbüttel, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was named after the hill ranges Elm and Asse. Its seat is in the town Schöppenstedt. It was formed on 1 January 2015 by the m ...

. The most recent German census counted a population of just 853 people.

Geography

Kneitlingen is situated in

Brunswick Land Brunswick Land (german: Braunschweiger Land) is a historical region in the Southeast of the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, centred around the city of Braunschweig. It refers to the core territory of the historic Duchy of Brunswick and its s ...

between the

Elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

and

Asse Asse () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. It comprises the towns of Asse proper, Bekkerzeel, Kobbegem, Mollem, Relegem and Zellik. Asse is also situated in the Pajottenland. As of 2020, Asse had a total popula ...

hill ranges. The municipality consists of the following four villages: * Ampleben * Bansleben * Eilum * Kneitlingen

History

Kneitlingen in the medieval

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the C ...

was first mentioned in an 1135 deed issued by Emperor

Lothair III Lothair III, sometimes numbered Lothair II and also known as Lothair of Supplinburg (1075 – 4 December 1137), was Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 until his death. He was appointed List of rulers of Saxony, Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected List o ...

, whereby he granted the estates to the newly established

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey of

Königslutter Königslutter am Elm is a town in the district of Helmstedt in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography It is located on the northeastern slopes of the Elm hill range, within the Elm-Lappwald Nature Park, about east of Brunswick, west of the distric ...

. The Romanesque parish church was erected by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

about 1141; its

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

and

groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: L ...

are preserved in the original condition. From 1235 onwards, the area belonged to the

Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig und Lüneburg), or more properly the Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was a historical duchy that existed from the late Middle Ages to the Late Modern era within the Holy Roman ...

, the lordship was

enfeoffed In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...

to various local noble families. The village of Kneitlingen is known as the birthplace of the legendary trickster

Till Eulenspiegel Till Eulenspiegel (; nds, Dyl Ulenspegel ) is the protagonist of a German chapbook published in 1515 (a first edition of ca. 1510/12 is preserved fragmentarily) with a possible background in earlier Middle Low German folklore. Eulenspiegel is ...

. According to the tradition, he was baptised around 1300 in the chapel of nearby Ampleben Castle, whereupon the christening party proceeded to the local tavern. On the way home in the afternoon, Till's tipsy midwife, crossing a brook, slipped on the gangplank and together with the child fell into a mud puddle, baptising him for the second time. Neither the nurse nor the baby was harmed, however, Till was put into the bathtub at home, therefore baptised the third time that very day. The former robber baron castle of Ampleben was purchased by Duke Magnus I of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1355, upon its slighting the surrounding estates including the Romanesque parish church were acquired by the city of Brunswick in 1454. The citizens laid out a stone pit in the Elm range quarrying for

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. Ampleben, Bansleben and Eilum were incorporated into the Kneitlingen municipality on 1 March 1974.

References

External links

Official site of Samtgemeinde Schöppenstedt

Ampleben private site

(Emergency Currency) Series 1 and 2. Til Eulenspiegel. http://webgerman.com/Notgeld/Directory/K/Kneitlingen.htm {{Authority control Wolfenbüttel (district)