Dannenberg is a town in the district Lüchow-Dannenberg, 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 river Jeetzel, approx. 30 km north of Salzwedel, and 50 km south-east of

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

. Dannenberg has a population of 8,147 inhabitants as of December 2010.

Geography

Dannenberg is located on the German Timber-Frame Road.

Politics

It is the seat of the ''

Samtgemeinde A (, ; plural: ''Samtgemeinden'') is a type of administrative division in Lower Saxony, Germany. ''Samtgemeinden'' are local government associations of Municipalities of Germany, municipalities, equivalent to the ''Amt (administrative division) ...

'' ("collective municipality") Elbtalaue.

Culture

Dannenberg has a soccer team which plays in the regional league, TSV Dannenberg.

History

The actual history of the town began with the construction of the castle (first mentioned in 1153) during the rule of Volrad I, Count of Dannenberg (1153–1169), who had been given the task of settling and securing the territory by Duke Henry the Lion. The Waldemarturm is a local historical landmark, a tower in which the Danish King Valdemar II was imprisoned from 1223 to 1224. After World War II, Dannenberg was part of

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. However, it is situated very close to the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

river, which served as the border between

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and West Germany until 1990. Lüchow-Dannenberg is situated in a region known as the Wendland, a mostly rural and agricultural area on the eastern edge of Lower Saxony. Starting in the 1970s, Dannenberg was a center for anti-nuclear protests due to the government's plan to build a nuclear waste site in Gorleben, a municipality within the district. Much of the organizing against this facility was based in Dannenberg, notably a tractor drive from Dannenberg to Hannover culminating in a rally. Environmental activism persists as a major issue in the area. The Polabian Names for Dannenberg are ''Weidars'' and ''Woikam''.

Jewish Community

Dannenberg had a jewish community until the early 20th century. A small Jewish cemetery (the ) was created in the north of Dannenberg in 1742. The 45 gravestones that still stand today range from 1776 to 1899.

Twin towns

Dannenberg is twinned with: * Łask, Poland, since 1999

Notable people

* Augustus II, Duke of Brunswick (1579-1666), Duke of Brunswick * Johannes Schultz (1582-1653), composer * Augustin Gottfried Ludwig Lentin, (1764-1823), writer and translator of works on chemistry and metallurgy * Eleonore Prochaska (1785-1813), female soldier of

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

who died in Dannenberg * Theodor Körner (1791-1813), wrote the Federal song ''Before the Battle'' in Dannenberg before Battle of the Göhrde *

Bernhard Riemann Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann (; ; 17September 182620July 1866) was a German mathematician who made profound contributions to analysis, number theory, and differential geometry. In the field of real analysis, he is mostly known for the f ...

(1826-1866), important mathematician. * Harry Bresslau, (1848-1926), Jewish historian and diplomat, father in law of

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was a German and French polymath from Alsace. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. As a Lutheran minister, ...

* Günther Scheel (1921–1943), Luftwaffe

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

during WWII * Nicolas Born (1937-1979), writer, died locally * Detlef Weigel (born 1961), development biologist * Kai Fagaschinski (born 1974), jazz clarinetist and composer * Almuth Schult (born 1991), football goalkeeper; played over 200 games and 66 for Germany women

References

External links

Official webpage
Lüchow-Dannenberg {{LüchowDannenberg-geo-stub