Meine is a municipality in the district of Gifhorn, 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 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 a village and member municipality of the Samtgemeinde Papenteich. The Municipality Meine includes the villages of Abbesbüttel, Bechtsbüttel, Grassel, Gravenhorst, Meine, Meinholz, Martinsbüttel, Ohnhorst, Wedelheine, Wedesbüttel.

Geography

Neighbourhood

* distance from downtown

Geographical position

Meine is situated north of

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

, between the Harz and the Lüneburg Heath. The

Mittellandkanal The Mittelland Canal, also known as the Midland Canal, (german: Mittellandkanal, ) is a major canal in central Germany. It forms an important link in the waterway network of that country, providing the principal east-west inland waterway connec ...

is crossing the community area. Administratively it belongs to the district of Gifhorn. Meine is situated at the German highway 4 and around 7 km to the north of the interchange ''Brunswick North'' ( A2 / A391). Other bigger towns nearby are:

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's hea ...

Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven ''Oberzentren'' of Lower ...

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 ...

Gifhorn Gifhorn () is a town and capital of the district of Gifhorn in the east of Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about 42,000 and is mainly influenced by the small distance to the more industrial and commercially important cities nearby, ...

Peine Peine (; Eastphalian: ''Paane'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of the district Peine. It is situated on the river Fuhse and the Mittellandkanal, approximately west of Braunschweig, and east of Hanover. History A deed from 11 ...

and

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

History

The first documentary mentioning of Meine was in the year 1007. In former times the village was known as ''Meynum''. It is expected that Meine is much older and it may have been erected during the

Saxon Wars The Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer, to 804, when the last rebellion of tribesmen was defeated. In all, 18 campaigns were fought ...

by troops of

Charles the Great Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

. From 11th century on, Meine was a frontier town between the

Bishopric of Hildesheim The Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim (german: Hochstift Hildesheim, Fürstbistum Hildesheim, Bistum Hildesheim) was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the Middle Ages until its dissolution in 1803. The Prince-Bis ...

and the

Bishopric of Halberstadt The Diocese of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese (german: Bistum Halberstadt) from 804 until 1648.

. The latest significant upturn started with the construction of a

Sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...

factory in 1883. On 18 August 2011 a new

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 ...

called ''Philipp Melanchthon Gymnasium'' was opened in Meine. The

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the teacher, staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school ...

is Stephan Oelker.

Culture

Religion

Meine is by the majority

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

. It forms an evangelic

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

together with the villages Meine, Abbesbüttel, Wedelheine, Wedesbüttel, Grassel, Gravenhorst, Ohnhorst, Meinholz, Martinsbüttel as well as the village of

Vordorf Vordorf is a municipality in the district of Gifhorn, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a member municipality of the Samtgemeinde Papenteich. The Municipality Vordorf includes the villages of Eickhorst, Rethen and Vordorf. Municipal Council The ...

. The catholic church is the Saint

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

church, built in 1971.

Politics

Municipal Council

The council of the Municipality Meine consists of 23 councilmen and women: * Christian Democratic Union 9 mandates *

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

11 mandates *

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

3 mandates * Free Democratic Party 0 mandates * Others 1 mandate * Vacant since 2013 1 mandate (Status: community election 11. September 2011 with a voter participation of 57,98%)

References

External links

Homepage of the Municipal Meine

Samtgemeinde Papenteich
{{Authority control Gifhorn (district)