Unterlüß is a village and former municipality in the
district of Celle 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. It became part of the municipality of
Südheide on 1 January 2015. It is about 30 km north-east of
Celle and 25 km south-west of
Uelzen
Uelzen (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Uelzen (), is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the district of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a Hanseatic town and an independent municipality.
Uelz ...
. It is a station on the railway between
Hanover
Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
and
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
.
History
The name Lüß was documented in 1569 for a forest, which was probably the source for the name.
In 1847, the railroad was built, eventually becoming part of the
line between Hanover and Hamburg, and a station Unterlüß was created, causing a settlement around it. In 1899, the company
Rheinmetall
Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...
(then Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft) first installed a shooting range and then began manufacturing weapons. The settlement became a municipality in 1910. After World War I, Rheinmetall had to turn to civil production. They managed a
model estate. Some labourers found work in the
kieselgur industry.
During the
German re-armament, the production was expanded starting in 1934. Rheinmetall and became nationalised as
Rheinmetall-Borsig
Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...
. Housing for workers was built in Hohenrieth, now also part of Südheide, in 1936. When World War II began, Polish forced labourers were used, and from 1941 also Soviet ones (and finally Jewish deportees).
As allied forces approached, the prisoners were forced to dig their own graves in mock execution. Once the SS guards fled, most of the prisoners (except a few who escaped) were forcibly removed back to
Bergen Belsen by local civilians.
After the war, Unterlüß was occupied by the British, who confiscated the partly damaged factories. The village housed c. 4,000 forced labourers and prisoners of war in around 20 barracks. Rheinmetall became a private company again in 1951, and another company, Artos, moved to Unterlüß, making machines for textile industry. In 1955, the British left and Rheinmetall began producing for the
Bundeswehr
The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...
.
The 150th anniversary of Unterlüß was celebrated in 1997. In 2019, an activist group, SIGMAR 2, blocked Rheinmetall in Unterlüß in protest against the export of weapons to Turkey.
Culture
Unterlüß houses the , dedicated to the painter and graphic artist , who left his work to the municipality. It is located in the artist's former residence.
Unterlüß has a Lutheran church, which was built in 1923 and received the name
Friedenskirche (Peace church) in 1974.
A Baptist chapel, the , opened in 1980. A Catholic church, , was built in 1926/27 and is now part of a larger parish in Celle-Vorwerk.
Literature
* Jürgen Gedicke: ''Chronik der Gemeinde Unterlüß. Von den Anfängen als Eisenbahnsiedlung im Jahre 1847 bis zur selbständigen Gemeinde im Jahre 1910''. 1997. .
* Jürgen Gedicke: ''Chronik der politischen Gemeinde Unterlüß. Band 2: Von der selbständigen Gemeinde im Jahre 1910 bis zum Ende des 2. Weltkrieges im Jahre 1945''. Unterlüß 2002. .
* Karl-Heinz Grotjahn: ''Meiler, Mühlen und Monarchen. Kleine Geschichte des Kieselgurbergbaus in der Lüneburger Heide 1836–1994'' (= Veröffentlichung des Albert-König-Museums 30), Unterlüß 1999.
* Nils Köhler: ''Zwangsarbeit in der Lüneburger Heide. Organisation und Alltag des "Ausländereinsatzes" 1939–1945''. Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 2004, 2. Auflage. .
* Rainer Schulze (ed.): ''Unruhige Zeiten. Erlebnisberichte aus dem Landkreis Celle 1945–49''. München 1990. .
References
External links
Gemeinde Südheide* Michael Grube
geschichtsspuren.de
Celle im Nationalsozialismus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unterluss
Villages in Lower Saxony
Celle (district)