Höfer is a village and a former municipality in the
district of Celle, 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 ...
. Since 1 January 2014, it is part of the municipality
Eschede
Eschede () is a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Situated approximately 15 km northeast of Celle, Eschede lies at the border of the Südheide Nature Park, a protected area of large forests and heaths. Today ar ...
, of which it is an ''
Ortschaft Ortschaft is a term in German speaking countries for a human settlement. In several states of Germany, it is also used for administrative subdivisions of municipalities. These have been defined in the ''Gemeindeordnung'' or ''Kommunalverfassung'' o ...
''.
Hauptsatzung der Gemeinde Eschede
March 2014. The ''Ortschaft'' Höfer contains the villages Höfer, Aschenberg
Aschenberg is a small village in the district of Celle, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is part of the ''Ortschaft'' Höfer within the municipality of Eschede
Eschede () is a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Situat ...
and Ohe.
Höfer has an abandoned mine named Mariaglück, about 910 m deep, from which the sum of 13.2 million tons of common salt and potash salt was mined between 1916 and 1977. As the maximum, in 1943 about 241,000 tons of salt were produced. The excavation left a hole of 5 million cubic metres.
In World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
some military equipment was manufactured underground, safe from bombing raids.
Radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons r ...
from the deep geological repository
A deep geological repository is a way of storing hazardous or radioactive waste within a stable geologic environment (typically 200–1000 m deep). It entails a combination of waste form, waste package, engineered seals and geology that is suited ...
Schacht Asse II
The Asse II mine (Schacht Asse II) is a former salt mine used as a deep geological repository for radioactive waste in the Asse Mountains of Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany.
History
The Asse II mine was developed between 1906 and 1908 to a ...
in the 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 c ...
district and ashes from waste incineration facilities, containing toxic metals, were frequently transported to the mine Mariaglück. In 2009, the district court of Lüneburg prohibited any further waste transports by issuing a preliminary injunction
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in par ...
.
Höfer has its own volunteer fire brigade, an open-air bath, and a kindergarten.
References
Former municipalities in Lower Saxony
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