Seesen () is a town and municipality in the
district of Goslar, 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 northwestern edge of the
Harz
The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' der ...
mountain range, approx. west of
Goslar
Goslar (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the Goslar (district), district of Goslar and is located on the northwestern wikt:slope, slopes of the Harz ...
.
History
The
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 ...
settlement of ''Sehusa'' was first mentioned in a 974 AD deed issued by Emperor
Otto II and Chancellor
Willigis, from 1235 on it belonged to the
Welf dukes of
Brunswick-Lüneburg who had a castle erected. In 1428 Seesen received
town privileges by Duke
Otto II the One-Eyed of
Brunswick-Göttingen. On 17 July 1810 in Seesen,
Israel Jacobson dedicated the first
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
to use some German in its
liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...
, and to employ an
organ and a
choir
A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
during prayer; that dedication date is celebrated in
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...
worldwide as the founding of the denomination. In 1836 Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later named
Henry E. Steinway) built his first
grand piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
in his kitchen in Seesen; the instrument is today on display at New York's
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Politics
Seats in the municipal assembly (''Stadtrat'') as of 2006 elections:
*
Christian Democratic Union (CDU): 17
*
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...
(SPD): 15
*
Free Democratic Party (FDP): 2
Twin towns – sister cities
Seesen is
twinned with:
*
Wantage
Wantage () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire, it has been a ...
, England, United Kingdom (1978)
*
Thale
Thale () is a town in the Harz (district), Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany. Located at the steep northeastern rim of the Harz mountain range, it is known for the scenic Bode Gorge stretching above the town centre.
Geography
The ...
, Germany (1990)
*
Carpentras
Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the ...
, France (1993)
*
Montecorvino Rovella, Italy (2006)
Notable people
*
Israel Jacobson (1768–1828), established the first ''
Haskalah
The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Wester ...
'' interdenominational school locally in 1801
*
Louis Spohr (1784–1859), composer, violinist and conductor; grew up locally
*
Konstantin Bernhard von Voigts-Rhetz (1809–1877), Prussian general
*
Wilhelm Busch
Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day.
Busch drew on the tropes of f ...
(1832–1908), German humorist, poet, illustrator and painter, died at the Mechtshausen vicarage
*
C. F. Theodore Steinway (1825–1889), a piano maker, eldest son of
Steinway & Sons founder,
Henry E. Steinway.
*
William Steinway (1835–1896), piano manufacturer, helped develop
Astoria, Queens, New York.
*
Emil Wohlwill (1835–1912), chemist, invented the
Wohlwill process
*
Wilhelm Fitzenhagen (1848–1890), cellist, composer and university teacher
*
Franziska Busch (born 1985), ice hockey forward and former alternate captain of the
Germany women's national ice hockey team
See also
*
Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg
References
{{Authority control
Towns in the Harz
Duchy of Brunswick