Meine is a municipality in the district of Gifhorn, 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 a village and member municipality of the Samtgemeinde Papenteich. The Municipality Meine includes the villages of Abbesbüttel, Bechtsbüttel, Grassel, Gravenhorst, Meine, Meinholz, Martinsbüttel, Ohnhorst, Wedelheine, Wedesbüttel.

Geography

Neighbourhood

* distance from downtown

Geographical position

Meine is situated north 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 ...

, between the Harz and the Lüneburg Heath. The

Mittellandkanal The Mittelland Canal, also known as the Midland Canal, (, ) is a major canal in central Germany. It forms an important link in the waterway network of the country, providing the principal east-west inland waterway connection. Its significance ...

is crossing the community area. Administratively it belongs to the district of Gifhorn. Meine is situated at the German highway 4 and around 7 km to the north of the interchange ''Brunswick North'' ( A2 / A391). Other bigger towns nearby are:

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city#Germany, independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitte ...

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

Gifhorn Gifhorn () is a town and capital of the district of Gifhorn (district), Gifhorn in the east of Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about 42,000 and is mainly influenced by the small distance to the more industrial and commercially import ...

Peine Peine (; Eastphalian: ''Paane'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of the district Peine. It is situated on the river Fuhse and the Mittellandkanal, approximately west of Braunschweig, northeast of Hildesheim, and east of Hanover ...

and

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle (district), Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller (Germany), Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about ...

History

The first documentary mentioning of Meine was in the year 1007. In former times the village was known as ''Meynum''. It is expected that Meine is much older and it may have been erected during the

Saxon Wars The Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer, to 804, when the last rebellion of tribesmen was defeated. In all, 18 campaigns were fou ...

by troops of

Charles the Great Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800, holding these titles until his death in 814. He united mo ...

. From 11th century on, Meine was a frontier town between the

Bishopric of Hildesheim The Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim () was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the Middle Ages until its dissolution in 1803. The Prince-Bishopric must not be confused with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildes ...

and the

Bishopric of Halberstadt The Diocese of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese () from 804 until 1648."Dio ...

. The latest significant upturn started with the construction of a

Sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

factory in 1883. On 18 August 2011 a new

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

called ''Philipp Melanchthon Gymnasium'' was opened in Meine. The

headmaster A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

is Stephan Oelker.

Culture

Religion

Meine is by the majority

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. It forms an evangelic

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

together with the villages Meine, Abbesbüttel, Wedelheine, Wedesbüttel, Grassel, Gravenhorst, Ohnhorst, Meinholz, Martinsbüttel as well as the village of Vordorf. The catholic church is the Saint

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

church, built in 1971.

Politics

Municipal Council

The council of the Municipality Meine consists of 23 councilmen and women: * Christian Democratic Union 9 mandates *

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

11 mandates *

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

3 mandates * Free Democratic Party 0 mandates * Others 1 mandate * Vacant since 2013 1 mandate (Status: community election 11. September 2011 with a voter participation of 57,98%)

References

External links

Homepage of the Municipal Meine

Samtgemeinde Papenteich
{{Authority control Gifhorn (district)