Wolfenbüttel
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Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town 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 ...
, the administrative capital of
Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the lar ...
. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest concentration of timber-framed buildings in Germany, around 1,000. It is an episcopal see of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick () is a Lutheran church in the German states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. The seat of the Landesbischof (bishop) is Wolfenbüttel. Its district as a '' Landeskirche'' covers the former Free Sta ...
. It is also home to the
Jägermeister ( , ) is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. Developed in 1934 by Wilhelm and Curt Mast, it has an alcohol by volume of 35% ( 61 degrees proof, or US 70 proof). The recipe has not changed since its creation, and the drink contin ...
distillery, houses a campus of the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, and the Landesmusikakademie of Lower Saxony.


Geography

The town center is located at an elevation of on the Oker river near the confluence with its Altenau tributary, about south of Brunswick and southeast of the state capital
Hannover 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 ...
. Wolfenbüttel is situated about half-way between 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 in the south and the
Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (, ) is a large area of heath (habitat), heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen and is ...
in the north. The Elm-Lappwald Nature Park and the
Asse Asse () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. It comprises the towns of Asse proper, Bekkerzeel, Kobbegem, Mollem, Relegem and Zellik. Asse is also situated in the Pajottenland. ...
hill range stretch east and southeast of the town. With a population of about 52,000 people, Wolfenbüttel is part of the Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region and
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 ...
's urban agglomeration. It is the southernmost of the 172 towns in
Northern Germany Northern Germany (, ) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the two city-states Hambur ...
whose names end in ''büttel'', meaning "residence" or "settlement."


Mayor

Between 2006 and 2014, the mayor of Wolfenbüttel was Thomas Pink, who was reelected in 2014 with 67.7% of the vote. In August 2018 he left the German Christian Democratic Union party. In September 2021, Ivica Lukanic (Independent) became Wolfenbüttel's first politically independent mayor, beating Dennis Berger (SPD) in a run-off with 55.7% of the vote.


History

A first settlement, probably restricted to a tiny islet in the Oker river, was founded in the tenth century. It was mentioned in 1118 as ''Wulferisbuttle'', when 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 ...
count Widekind of Wolfenbüttel erected a
water castle A water castle, sometimes water-castle, is a castle which incorporates a natural or artificial body of water into its defences.Forde-Johnston (1979), p. 163. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbo ...
on the important trade route from Brunswick to
Halberstadt Halberstadt (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany, the capital of Harz (district), Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town ...
and
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
. Destroyed by Henry the Lion in 1191, and again by his great-grandson Duke Albert I of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1255, the fortress and town, as well as nearby Asseburg Castle, were seized in 1258 by Albert I from the
House of Asseburg The House of Asseburg, original German name ''von der Asseburg'', is an old Lower Saxony, Lower Saxon aristocratic family which had its origin in Wolfenbüttel and Asseburg (castle), Asseburg. During the 12th and 13th centuries the lords of Wolfe ...
, the descendants of Widekind. The castle was rebuilt by the Welf duke Henry I of Brunswick from 1283 onwards. By 1432, the town became the permanent residence of the Brunswick Princes of Wolfenbüttel. Devastated in the 1542
Schmalkaldic War The Schmalkaldic War (; July 1546May 1547) was fought within the territories of the Holy Roman Empire between the allied forces of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Maurice, Duke of Saxony against the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League, with the forc ...
, it was largely rebuilt in a
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
style under Duke Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg, including several '' gracht'' waterways laid out by Hans Vredeman de Vries. The duke vested the citizens with
market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
in 1570 and founded the Ducal Library (''Herzogliche Bibliothek'', the later ''Bibliotheca Augusta'') two years later. During the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
, Danish troops under King Christian IV occupied the fortified town in 1626. Upon the nearby
Battle of Lutter The Battle of Lutter (German language, German: ''Lutter am Barenberge'') took place on 27 August 1626 during the Thirty Years' War, south of Salzgitter, in Lower Saxony. A combined Danish-German force led by Christian IV of Denmark was defeated ...
, they were besieged by the Imperial forces of General Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim. Re-conquered in 1627, the Wolfenbüttel fortress remained under the command of Gottfried Huyn von Geleen. In June 1641 the
Battle of Wolfenbüttel The Battle of Wolfenbüttel (29 June 1641) took place near the town of Wolfenbüttel, in what is now Lower Saxony, during the Thirty Years' War. Swedish forces led by Carl Gustaf Wrangel and Hans Christoff von Königsmarck and Bernardines ...
was fought here, when the Swedish forces under Wrangel and the Count of Königsmark defeated the Austrians under Archduke Leopold of Habsburg, however, they failed to occupy the town. Over two centuries, especially under Duke Julius' successors Henry Julius and Augustus the Younger, Wolfenbüttel grew to be a center of the arts and science: Already in 1604, the composer
Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and Music theory, music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of ...
(1571–1621) served as ''
Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...
'' of the Brunswick dukes. From 1682, the composer Johann Rosenmüller (1619–1684), who had to flee Germany due to allegations of homosexuality, spent his last years in Wolfenbüttel.
Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...
(1646–1716) and
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...
(1729–1781) directed the Ducal Library, and established one of the first lending libraries in Enlightenment Europe. However, the ducal court eventually returned to Brunswick in 1753 and Wolfenbüttel subsequently lost in importance. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the city prison became a major execution site of prisoners of the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
. Most of those executed were members of various Resistance groups. Victims include Marguerite Bervoets and Fernande Volral, and a Dom Lambert, a
monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
of
Ligugé Abbey Ligugé Abbey, formally called the Abbey of St. Martin of Ligugé (), is a French Benedictine monastery in the Commune of Ligugé, located in the Department of Vienne. The monastery, founded in 361, is the oldest monastery known in western Euro ...
in France, who was beheaded there on 3 December 1943.


Immigration

Roughly 14% of Wolfenbüttel are foreigners and 27.2% of the town has a migration background.


Main sights

* The
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 ...
castle ''
Schloss Wolfenbüttel Schloss Wolfenbüttel is a castle in Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany. An extensive four-wing complex, it originated as a moated castle (''Wasserburg''). It is the second-largest surviving ''schloss'' in Lower Saxony and served as the main ...
''. In 1866, the castle became the Anna-Vorwerk-School for girls. Today part of the building is used as a high school; it also houses a great example of Baroque state apartments, which are open to the public as a museum. * '' Herzog-August-Bibliothek'' (HAB), the ducal library, hosts one of the largest and best-known collections of ancient books in the world. It is especially rich in bibles,
incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...
, and books of the Reformation period, with some 10,000 manuscripts. It was founded in 1572 and rehoused in an interpretation of the Pantheon in 1723, built facing the castle; the present library building was constructed in 1886. Leibniz and Lessing worked in this library as librarians. The ''
Codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...
Carolinus'' in the library is one of the few remaining texts in Gothic. The library also houses the bible of Henry the Lion, a book preserved in near mint condition from the year 1170. * ''Klein-Venedig''. A pittoresque waterside building ensemble ( Gracht) along the River Oker built in the eighteenth century. * The churches Marienkirche (Hauptkiche Beatae Mariae Virginis), built during the seventeenth century, and St. Trinitatis (Trinity Church), built during the early eighteenth century. The town is also the location of the former Northampton Barracks, which housed units of the
British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...
until 1993 (postcode: BFPO 101). Today, Wolfenbüttel is smaller than the neighbouring cities 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 ...
(Brunswick),
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 ...
, and
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 ...
, but, because it was largely undamaged by the war, its downtown is rich in half-timber buildings, many dating several centuries back, and it still retains its historical character. Wolfenbüttel is located on the German Timber-Frame Road.


Culture

Wolfenbüttel is home of several departments of the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences and the , an organisation for the study of Lessing's works. It is also home to the ''Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv'', the state archives of Lower Saxony, as well as the renowned ''Biblioteca Augusta''. Beginning in 2009 th
Landesmusikakademie Niedersachsen
is located in the Seeliger Park and sponsored by the state of Lower Saxony to promote music education at various levels. The herb
liqueur A liqueur ( , ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of Liquor, spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-age ...
Jägermeister ( , ) is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. Developed in 1934 by Wilhelm and Curt Mast, it has an alcohol by volume of 35% ( 61 degrees proof, or US 70 proof). The recipe has not changed since its creation, and the drink contin ...
's headquarters of Mast-Jägermeister are still located in Wolfenbüttel, as are some of its distillation sites. Wolfenbüttel hosted the three-day International German Bus Pulling Championships in May 2009, where five-person teams pull a 16-ton bus 30 meters. Every year starting in late November, Wolfenbüttel stages a Christmas market with food and drinks. Locals often come and enjoy the pre-Christmas atmosphere.


Twin towns – sister cities

Wolfenbüttel is twinned with: *
Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...
, France (1958) * Kenosha, United States (1970) *
Satu Mare Satu Mare (; ; ; or ) is a city with a population of 102,400 (2011). It is the capital of Satu Mare County, Romania, as well as the centre of the Satu Mare metropolitan area. It lies in the region of Maramureș, broadly part of Transylvania ...
, Romania (1976) *
Kamienna Góra Kamienna Góra (, ) is a town in south-western Poland with 18,235 inhabitants (2023). It is the seat of Kamienna Góra County, and also of the rural district called Gmina Kamienna Góra, although it is not part of the territory of the latter (t ...
, Poland (2001) * Blankenburg, Germany (2015) A bridge in Wolfenbüttel is named after each of these cities. In Kenosha, there is a park located on the coast of Lake Michigan named after Wolfenbüttel.


Notable people

* Philipp Sömmering (c. 1535–1575), alchemist and fraudster * August Querfurt (1696–1761), Austrian painter of soldiers and battle scenes *
Johann Julius Walbaum Johann Julius Walbaum (30 June 1724 – 21 August 1799) was a German physician, natural history, naturalist and fauna taxonomist. Works Walbaum was from Greifswald. As an ichthyologist, he was the first to describe many previously unknown fish s ...
(1724–1799), physician, natural scientist and fauna
taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...
. *
Ludwig von Rochau August Ludwig von Rochau (20 August 1810 in Wolfenbüttel – 15 October 1873 in Heidelberg) was a German journalist and politician. He engaged in the ''Frankfurter Wachensturm'' of 1833 and subsequently spent ten years of exile in France. He publi ...
(1810–1873), publicist and politician * Theodor Engelbrecht (1813–1892), physician, professor and pomologist. *
Theodore Eisfeld Theodore Eisfeld (April 11, 1816, Wolfenbüttel, Duchy of Brunswick – 16 September 1882, Wiesbaden) was a conductor, most notably of the New York Philharmonic Society, which became the New York Philharmonic. Biography Eisfeld's chief instructor ...
(1816–1882), composer, chief conductor of the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
. * Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Alfred Fleckeisen (1820-1899), philologist and critic. * Victor Ehrenberg (1851–1929), legal scientist and
Jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
* Georg Scholz (1890–1945), a
New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in ) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against German Expressionism, expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle Mannheim, Kunsthalle' ...
painter * Marguerite Bervoets (1914-1944), Belgian teacher, poet, graduate in philosophy and literature, resistance fighter, beheaded at Wolfenbüttel on 7 August 1944. * Maina-Miriam Munsky (1943-1999), a new realist artist.


Aristocracy

* Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1489–1568), Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1514 to 1568 *
Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also known as Julius of Braunschweig; 29 June 1528 – 3 May 1589), a member of the House of Welf, was Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruling List of rulers of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, ...
(1528–1589), Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1568 to 1589. *
Augustus William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...
(1662–1731), Prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1714 to 1731 * Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (1715–1797), Queen of Prussia for over 46 years *
Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (12 January 1721 – 3 July 1792) was a German military officer best known for his participation in the Seven Years' War. From 1757 to 1762, he led an Anglo-German army in western Germany which success ...
(1721-1792), Prussian field marshal from 1758 to 1766. *
Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (Danish: ''Juliane Marie''; 4 September 1729 – 10 October 1796) was List of Danish royal consorts, Queen of Denmark and List of Norwegian royal consorts, Norway from 1752 to 1766 as the second con ...
(1729–1796), Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1752 to 1766 * Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick (1735-1806), Prussian field marshal from 1773. * Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1739–1807), Duchess and composer. * Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1746–1840), Crown Princess of Prussia


Sport

* Hans-Jörg Meyer (born 1964), sports shooter * Simon Mensing (born 1982), footballer who played over 475 games * Arnd Peiffer (born 1987), biathlete, gold medallist at the
2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...


Sources

* Bepler, Jochen: ''Kleine Wolfenbütteler Stadtgeschichte''. Pustet, Regensburg 2011. . * Fimpel, Martin: ''Erst Großbaustelle und dann eine andere Stadt. Der lange Abschied von der Festung Wolfenbüttel'', in: Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte Bd. 94, 2013, S. 161–192. * Grote, Hans Henning: ''Schloss Wolfenbüttel, Residenz der Herzöge zu Braunschweig und Lüneburg.'' Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2005 * Schwarz, Ulrich (Hrsg.): ''Auf dem Weg zur herzoglichen Residenz. Wolfenbüttel im Mittelalter.'' Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2003 * Stadt Wolfenbüttel (Hrsg.): ''Wolfenbüttel unter dem Hakenkreuz.'' Fünf Vorträge von Reinhard Försterling,[Dietrich Kuessner, Hans-Ulrich Ludewig, Wilfried Knauer, Dieter Lent; Heckner-Print-Service-GmbH, Wolfenbüttel 200
GBV
* ''Residenzstadt Wolfenbüttel – Ein Streifzug durch die Geschichte''; Nr. 9 (2004) * ''Junges Leben in alten Häusern – 25 Jahre Stadtsanierung in Wolfenbüttel''; Nr. 9 (2005)


See also

*Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg


References

* Heinz Grunow, Grunow, Heinz and Wolfgang Wessel, Wessel, Wolfgang. ''Wolfenbüttel: ein Bildband''. Grenzland-Verlag Rock & Co., Wolfenbüttel. 1977


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfenbuettel Historic Jewish communities Duchy of Brunswick Populated places established in the 10th century