Peine (; Eastphalian: ''Paane'') 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 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 betwee ...

, capital of the district Peine. It is situated on the river Fuhse and the Mittellandkanal, approximately west 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 ...

, and east of

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

History

Niederschlagsmittelwerte Peine 1961-1990

A deed from 1130 mentions Berthold von Pagin,

ministerialis The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minis ...

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 Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected King of Germany in 1125 before b ...

, emperor of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, who gave his name to the town in the form of Peine. The Peine Castle, no longer existing today, dated to this era or before. The 1201 ''

Hildesheim Chronicle Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of th ...

'' describes a

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one par ...

between the bishop Hartbert von

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

and the brothers Ekbert and Gunzelin von

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 ...

. Earl Gunzelin von Wolfenbüttel was the commander-in-chief of the German army and

seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

in attendance of Otto IV, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Gunzelin prevailed and won control of Burg Peine and the surrounding area. South of the castle, Gunzelin founded the town of Peine in 1218 or 1220. In 1223, the settlement gained

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

. Gunzelin's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

has been the town's symbol ever since. In 1256, Peine was conquered by Duke Albrecht of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, and after Gunzelin's death in 1260, his sons ''(see: House of Asseburg)'' lost the

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

of Peine to the bishop of Hildesheim. Otto I of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, bishop of Hildesheim, 1260–1279, gave Earl Wedekind von Poppenburg the castle, town and county of Peine as a fief. Otto later incorporated Peine as a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

. Also in 1260, Peine earned the right to mint and issue coins and was, with a few interruptions, a

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAE ...

for the Bishopric of Hildesheim until 1428. In 1954 and 1956, two of the largest German medieval treasures of silver (95 pieces of round

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes fro ...

, weighing 7.5 kg, dating from the 14th century) were found under the streets ''Stederdorfer Straße'' and ''Horstweg''.

Subdivisions

Twin towns – sister cities

Peine is twinned with: * Heywood, England, United Kingdom (1967) * Aschersleben, Germany (1990) * Tripoli, Greece (2000)

Notable people

Friedrich von Bodenstedt Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (22 April 1819 – 19 April 1892) was a German author. Biography Bodenstedt was born at Peine, in the Kingdom of Hanover. He was trained as a merchant in Braunschweig and studied in Göttingen, Munich and Berli ...

(1819–1892), author * Rudolf Otto (1869–1937),

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

theologian, philosopher and

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

ist * Fritz Hartjenstein (1905–1954), SS functionary * Solomon Perel (born 1925), Israeli author *

Hans-Hermann Hoppe Hans-Hermann Hoppe (; ; born 2 September 1949) is a German-American economist of the Austrian School, philosopher and political theorist. He is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Senior Fellow of t ...

(born 1949),

paleolibertarian Paleolibertarianism (also known as the "Paleo strategy") is a libertarian political activism strategy aimed at uniting libertarians and paleoconservatives. It was developed by American anarcho-capitalist theorists Murray Rothbard and Lew Rockwel ...

and

anarcho-capitalist Anarcho-capitalism (or, colloquially, ancap) is an anti-statist, libertarian, and anti-political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property enforce ...

political theorist *

Caren Miosga Caren Miosga (born 11 April 1969 in Peine) is a German journalist and television presenter. Early life and education Caren Miosga grew up in Groß Ilsede, Lower Saxony, and attended the local grammar school. She studied history and Slavic stud ...

(born 1969), journalist and television presenter * Herma Auguste Wittstock (born 1977), performance artist

Gallery

Altes Rathaus von 1827 am Marktplatz in Peine IMG 2551.jpg, Former town hall from 1827 on the market square Image-Peineburgpark 2005.JPG, The Burgpark Peine Jakobi-Kirche.jpg, Jakobi-Kirche Töpfers Mühle in Peine IMG 2562.jpg, Töpfers Mühle Peine Stahlwerk.jpg, Steel Factory Peine Wasserturm.jpg, Water Tower in southern Peine Bahnhof Peine.JPG, Railway station

References

External links

* {{Authority control Peine (district) Towns in Lower Saxony