Visselhövede () is a town in the district of Rotenburg 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 ...

. Nearby towns include the district capital Rotenburg, Walsrode and Verden. Larger cities within a 100 km radius are

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

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 ...

. On 30 April 2024 Visselhövede had 10.116 inhabitants. Visselhövede belonged to the

Prince-Bishopric of Verden The Prince-Bishopric of Verden (, ''Hochstift Verden'' or ''Stift Verden'') was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was located in what is today the state of Lower Saxony in Germany. Verden had been a diocese of the Catho ...

, established in 1180. In 1648 the Prince-Bishopric was transformed into the Principality of Verden, which was first ruled in

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

by the Swedish Crown - interrupted by a Danish occupation (1712–1715) - and from 1715 on by the Hanoverian Crown. The

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...

incorporated the Principality in a

real union Real union is a union of two or more states, which share some state institutions in contrast to personal unions; however, they are not as unified as states in a political union. It is a development from personal union and has historically been ...

and the Princely territory, including Visselhövede, became part of the new Stade Region, established in 1823.

Sights

The most famous building is St. Johannis-Kirche, a protestant church named after

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

. It was built of

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

s in a gothic style and consecrated in 1358. The wooden clock tower measuring 23 metres in height was built in 1799. The church houses various masterpieces of art, e.g. a

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

altar dating from 1771 and a baroque organ from 1779, a baptismal font and wall paintings from the Middle Ages and a pulprit dating from 1641. The source of river Vissel can be visited in a small park behind the church. The Town Hall in the Market Place was built around 1796. In Burgstrasse, the oldest street in town, the ''Heimathaus'', a half-timbered house which was renovated in 1999, is worth a visit. It is the cultural centre of Visselhövede. ''Bürgerpark Visselseen'' is a public park with four lakes where two historical store houses, which had been dismantled at the former site, were reconstructed in 2006. VisselhövedeHauptstraße.jpg, Main Street and clock tower VisselhövedeGroßeStraße.jpg, Protestant Church with clock tower VisselhövedeMarkt.jpg, Market Place with Town Hall VisselhövedeVisselquelle.jpg, Source of River Vissel VisselhövedeSpeicher.jpg, Reconstructed store houses VisselhövedeHeimathaus.jpg, Cultural centre ''Heimathaus'' VisselhövedeBürgerpark.jpg, Lake in ''Bürgerpark Visselseen'' VisselhövedeBf.jpg, Railway station

References

External links

Rotenburg (district) {{Rotenburg-geo-stub

Sights

See also

References

External links