Friedland is a municipality in the district of Göttingen, in

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 is situated on the river

Leine The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is long. The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About downriver ...

, approx. 13 km south of

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

. Its seat is in the village of Groß Schneen, one of fourteen communities in the municipality. The others are Friedland proper, Ballenhausen, Deiderode, Elkershausen, Klein Schneen, Lichtenhagen, Ludolfshausen, Mollenfelde, Niedergandern, Niedernjesa, Reckershausen, Reiffenhausen and Stockhausen.

Friedland Refugee Camp

In September 1945, the Control Commission for Germany - British Element (CCG/BE) built a camp in Friedland, near the American (

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

) and

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

occupation (

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

) zones. The camp was designed as the first way station for refugees, evacuees, and returning soldiers. Starting in 1947, the camp was administered by the federal state of Lower Saxony. During the period of mass expulsions from 1944 to 1945, the camp offered services to large waves of

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s. Thereafter, it functioned primarily as a way station for German (or ethnic German) emigrants from Eastern bloc countries, especially from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, and the Soviet Union. Between 1950 and 1987, approximately 1.4 million people of German extraction came to the

Federal Republic A federal republic is a federation of Federated state, states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means a country that is governed by elected re ...

from the East; more than 60% of these emigrants came from Poland. Today Friedland is an initial reception center for asylum seekers and refugees from all over the world.https://www.dw.com/en/tv/friedland/s-32405 Documentary ''Transit Camp Friedland'', Deutsche Welle Lichtenhagen Am Foersterberg

References

{{Authority control Göttingen (district)