Wennigsen is a municipality in the district of Hanover, 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 situated near the

Deister The Deister is a chain of hills in the German state of Lower Saxony, about 15 mi (25 km) southwest of the city of Hanover. It runs in a north-westerly direction from Springe in the south to Rodenberg in the north. The next in the chai ...

hills, approx. 15 km southwest 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 ...

Geography

Wennigsen borders on (from north and clockwise)

Gehrden Gehrden is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately southwest of Hanover. Notable people * Werner von Siemens (1816-1892), inventor, founder of electrical engineering and industrialist * Ca ...

, Ronnenberg, Springe and Barsinghausen. The highest elevation is the Bröhn, the highest hill of the

with 405 meters.

History

The founding date of Wennigsen is unknown. It possibly dates back to 5th to 8th century. The first dated occurrence (1199 to 1206) is a copy of a certificate from bishop Hartbert of

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 L ...

. At this time there was a settlement of Bernhard, earl of Poppenburg, in Wennigsen. He had three roses each with five leaves in his coat of arms. Today Wennigsen bears one of them in its coat of arms. 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 ...

Wennigsen was near to be completely destroyed. Duke George William of

(later of Brunswick-Lüneburg) split the Großvogtei Calenberg and founded a new Amt Calenberg in which Wennigsen became court place. The Magistrates' Court of Wennigsen still exists. Rathaus Wennigsen (Deister)

Notable people

* Adolph Freiherr Knigge (1752-1796), born in Bredenbeck, writer of the Enlightenment. * Heinz Erhardt (1909-1979), comedian, musician and actor, lived at the Wennigser Mark * Gesine Meissner (born 1952), politician (FDP), a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

* Hans-Georg Wenzel (1949-1999), geodesist, geophysicist and university lecturer * Christoph Meineke (born 1979), former mayor of Wennigsen (Deister)

References

Hanover Region {{Hanover-geo-stub