Ölper, formerly a village, is a quarter (''Stadtteil'') of the city of

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It lies to the north of the city centre on the river

Oker The Oker () is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a left tributary of the River Aller (Germany), Aller, in length and runs in a generally northerly direction. Origin and meanin ...

. It is part of the ''

Stadtbezirk A (; also called ''Ortsbezirk'' in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate) is an administrative division in Germany, which is part of a larger city. It is translated as "borough". In Germany, usually only exist in a metropolis with more than 150,000 in ...

'' Lehndorf-Watenbüttel.

History

The first mention of the village of Ölper, then called Elbere, is in 1251. In 1642, the Ölper Tower (''Ölper Turm'') was built as an outer defence for Braunschweig and a customs post, but it was demolished in 1825 and replaced with a dance hall which still carries the name. An important part of the early economy of Ölper was a large

water mill 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 ...

, the ''Ölpermühle''. At one time, the mill had eleven mill-wheels and was one of the largest mills in northern Germany. It fell out of use in the 19th century. In 1761 during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, a force of Brunswick and

Hanoverian The adjective Hanoverian is used to describe: * British monarchs or supporters of the House of Hanover, the dynasty which ruled the United Kingdom from 1714 to 1901 * things relating to; ** Electorate of Hanover ** Kingdom of Hanover ** Province of ...

troops defeated a joint Franco-

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

force in the first Battle of Ölper. In 1809, during the

War of the Fifth Coalition The War of the Fifth Coalition was a European conflict in 1809 that was part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars. The main conflict took place in Central Europe between the Austrian Empire of Francis I and Napoleon's French Emp ...

, troops of the

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a client state of First French Empire, France in present-day Germany that existed from 1807 to 1813. While formally independent, it was ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, ...

attempted to block the advance of the

Black Brunswickers The Brunswick Ducal Field-Corps (), commonly known as the Black Brunswickers, was a volunteer military unit raised by Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel during the Napoleonic Wars. The Duke was a strong opponent of Napoleon's occ ...

under

Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (; 9 October 1771 – 16 June 1815), was a German prince and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Oels. Nicknamed "The Black Duke", he was a military officer who led the Black Brunswickers agai ...

in the second Battle of Ölper. Although the Brunswickers were unable to achieve a breakthrough, the Westphalians withdrew during the night allowing the Brunswickers to continue their march and ultimately escape to England. The village of Ölper was incorporated into the city of Braunschweig in 1934. Recent developments have included the construction of a motorway junction in 1974–78 and the creation of the ''Ölpersee'', a large lake in former gravel workings. Today, although it is now largely a

dormitory suburb A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

, there are still four active farms in Ölper including the only dairy farm within the city boundaries. Amongst local clubs and societies, BSV Ölper 2000 is the local

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team.

Gallery

File:Ölper Turm Blok.jpg, The original Ölper Tower, which was demolished in 1825. File:BS Oelper Turm 0.JPG, The present Ölper Tower. File:MühlenmodellUnterwasser.JPG, A model of Ölper Mill as it appeared in 1800. File:BS Oelper Obelisk.JPG, The memorial to the Battle of Ölper (1809). File:Oelpersee.jpg, The ''Ölpersee'', formerly gravel workings.

References

Boroughs and quarters of Braunschweig Former municipalities in Lower Saxony {{Braunschweig-geo-stub