Winsen (Luhe) () is the capital of the district of
Harburg, 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. It is situated on the small river
Luhe, near its confluence with the
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
, approx. 25 km southeast of
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, and 20 km northwest of
Lüneburg
Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also called ...
.
History
Winsen was first mentioned in a document of the
Diocese of Verden
The Diocese of Verden was a diocese of the Catholic Church. It was founded around AD 768 as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mainz. It was suppressed in 1648 as part of the Peace of Westphalia. The diocese was centered on the city of Verden an de ...
in 1158.
Winsen Castle Winsen can refer to:
*Winsen (Luhe) (also: Winsen an der Luhe), capital of the district Harburg, Lower Saxony, Germany
*Winsen an der Aller
Winsen an der Aller () or Winsen (Aller) is a town in the district of Celle in the German state of Lower Sa ...
, first mentioned in 1315, was built at a crossing over the Luhe to protect the harbor. At the beginning of the 15th century, the Church of Saint Mary was built.
In 1593,
Dorothea of Denmark, widow of
William the Younger, moved into Winsen Castle and lived there until her death in 1617. During this time, the Marstall (stables) was built. In 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 ...
, Danes invaded the town and burned down about 25 houses.
On 1 May 1847, Winsen was connected to the
Hanover–Hamburg railway
The Hanover–Hamburg railway is one of the most important railway lines in Lower Saxony and Germany. It links the Lower Saxon state capital of Hanover with Hamburg, running through Celle, Uelzen and Lüneburg.
History
The main section of th ...
of the
Royal Hanoverian State Railways.
On 1 July 1972, thirteen previously independent villages, Bahlburg, Borstel, Gehrden, Hoopte, Laßrönne, Luhdorf, Pattensen, Rottorf, Roydorf, Sangenstedt, Scharmbeck, Stöckte and Tönnhausen, were incorporated into the town.
Main sights
Winsen Castle
Winsen Castle was first mentioned explicitly in 1315. Another document from 1277 indicates that the castle probably already existed at that time. The castle served long periods of its history as an administrative building and was the seat of
Großvögte,
Amtmänner and Landräte. Today, it is the seat of the
Amtsgericht
An ''Amtsgericht'' (District Court) in Germany is an official court. These courts form the lowest level of the so-called 'ordinary jurisdiction' of the German judiciary (German ''Ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit''), which is responsible for most cri ...
; therefore, the rooms are generally not open to the public. In 2008, an exhibition was opened in the castle tower.
Marstall
The Marstall was originally used for horse and carriage. Although a timber-beam shows the year 1599, the year of construction is unknown. Today, the four-story half-timbered building contains the tourist information center, the public library, the museum of local history and an event room. On the eastern gable, a modern carillon is installed.
Church of Saint Mary
The construction of the late
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 ...
hall church
A hall church is a church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was invented in the mid-19th century by Wilhelm Lübke, a pioneering German art historian. In contrast to an archi ...
started around 1415. The
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
was covered in 1437, the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
in 1465. The church has only one
side aisle and the
vault
Vault may refer to:
* Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards
Architecture
* Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space
* Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored
* Burial vault (enclosure ...
of the nave never was finished. In the 1950s, the interior decoration was changed. The colorful windows were designed and produced by
Claus Wallner between 1958 and 1966. The
altarpiece, the
baptismal font and the bronze pulpit plates were made by
Fritz Fleer.
Friedrich Meinecke
Friedrich Meinecke (October 20, 1862 – February 6, 1954) was a German historian, with national liberal and anti-Semitic views, who supported the Nazi invasion of Poland. After World War II, as a representative of an older tradition, he criti ...
, born in Winsen, created the statue of Luther. Like the 62-meter-high neo-Gothic
bell tower, it was completed in 1899.
Blaufärberhaus
The oldest still existing residential house is located in the Luhestraße. The Blaufärberhaus (blue-dyer's house) was built on the Luhe island immediately after the great town fire in 1585. The gable is richly decorated with Renaissance motifs. The building is not open to the public.
Saint George's Chapel
Formerly outside the town, a
leprosarium
A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. ''M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Afr ...
, the ''St. Georg'' foundation, was established in 1401. The
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
was first documented in 1445. The present hospital building was constructed in 1766, the chapel was built in 1750 and got its current appearance in 1903.
Further buildings
Historic buildings of the old town are situated on the Luhe island, specifically in Deichstraße, Mühlenstraße, Luhestraße, and Kehrwieder.
The Alte Stadtschule (old town-school) was erected in Eckermannstraße in 1893 in
historicism
Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely ...
style. It is the oldest school in Winsen and nowadays a pure
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
. In the upper floor of the main building, there is a historic
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
that is used for events. On the opposite side of the street, the
gym
A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...
of the MTV Winsen built in 1889 was located. It was destroyed to the ground in a fire in April 2016. The half-timbered building was the first gymnasium in Winsen.
The historic town hall was built in 1896. The former Amtsschreiberhaus (
criveners house) was mentioned in a document in 1714. The hotel "Zum Weißen Ross" already existed in 1684. It was the residence of
Edwin von Manteuffel
Edwin Karl Rochus Freiherr von Manteuffel (24 February 180917 June 1885) was a Prussian ''Generalfeldmarschall'' noted for his victories in the Franco-Prussian War, and the first Imperial Lieutenant (german: Reichsstatthalter) of Alsace–Lorrai ...
, commander of the
Prussian Army in
Austro-Prussian War, in 1866. The carefully restored Buchengasse, a connection between Rathausstraße and Plankenstraße, invites to linger. The ducal
watermill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
was first mentioned in 1385 and moved to the southern end of the Luhe island (Mühlenstraße) in 1750. The brick-facade was added in 1940.
Twin towns – sister cities
Winsen is
twinned with:
*
Drezdenko
Drezdenko (; german: Driesen) is a town in western Poland, in Lubusz Voivodeship, in Strzelce-Drezdenko County. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 9,804.
History
The area was a site of a border fort of the medieval Polish state. ...
, Poland
*
Fukui Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, G ...
, Japan
*
Le Pont-de-Claix
Le Pont-de-Claix (, literally ''The Bridge of Claix''; frp, Lo Pont-de-Cllês) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit The urban unit of Grenoble (french: unité urbaine de Grenoble) ...
, France
*
Pritzwalk
Pritzwalk () is a town in the district of Prignitz, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 20 km west of Wittstock, and 33 km northeast of Wittenberge. The river Dömnitz flows through Pritzwalk.
History
Pritzwalk obtained municip ...
, Germany
Notable people
*
Johann Peter Eckermann
Johann Peter Eckermann (21 September 1792 – 3 December 1854), German poet and author, is best known for his work '' Conversations with Goethe'', the fruit of his association with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during the last years of Goethe's life ...
(1792–1854), poet and friend of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
* Wilhelm Moritz Keferstein (1833–1870), professor of zoology and comparative anatomy in
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911.
General information
The ori ...
* Rudolf Sievers (1841–1921), businessman, Senator and member of the Reichstag (NLP)
* Eduard Schlöbcke (1852–1936), building officer,
*
Agnes Stavenhagen (1860–1945), born Denninghoff; operatic soprano and chamber singer
* Ernst Preczang (1870–1949), author and co-founder of books Gutenberg
*
Franz Evers (1871–1947), author and editor of the monthly magazine ''Litterarische Blätter''
* Willem Fricke (1928–2009), actor
* Erich Brüggemann (born 1928), freelance artist, known for marquetry, sculpture, painting, drawing, carpentry
* Jürgen Peter Ravens (1932–2012), journalist, newspaper publisher and author
* Hans-Peter Voigt (1936–2014), politician (CDU) and member of the German Bundestag
* Björn-Hergen Schimpf (born 1943), radio and television presenter
* Monika Wörmer-Zimmermann (born 1944), politician (SPD) and Member of Parliament
*
Marlene Charell (born 1944), dancer, singer and presenter
* Hans-Henning Lühr (born 1950), diploma administration-host, politician (SPD), a lawyer and State Council in Bremen
* André Wiese (born 1975), politician (CDU), former Member of Parliament, Mayor of Winsen since 2011
* Sanny van Heteren (born 1977), actress and director
* Birte Gutzki-Heitmann (born 1977), furniture carpenter, politician (SPD), a member of the Hamburg Parliament
* Esther Möller (born 1977), athlete
* Benjamin Maack (born 1978), journalist and author
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Towns in Lower Saxony
Harburg (district)