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 ...
. Situated approximately 15 km (10 miles) northeast of Celle, Eschede lies at the border of the
Südheide Nature Park
The Südheide Nature Park ("Southern Heath Nature Park", German: ''Naturpark Südheide'') is a large protected area of forest and heathland in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany. It has been designated as a protected natur ...
, a protected area of large forests and heaths. Today around 20 small villages are part of the "Gemeinde Eschede".
In 1975, the largest forest fire in the history of Germany destroyed vast tracts of forests in the area. The place is also known for the 1998
Eschede train disaster
On 3 June 1998, part of an ICE 1 train on the Hanover–Hamburg railway near Eschede in Lower Saxony, Germany derailed and crashed into an overpass that crossed the railroad, which then collapsed onto the train. 101 people were killed and a ...
, in which an
ICE 1
The ICE 1 is the first batch-produced German high-speed train and the first of now several within the Intercity Express family. Revenue service at speeds up to started in 1991, it was raised to in May 1995.
Trainsets consist of two pow ...
train crashed, killing 101 and making it the worst German rail accident since the
Second World War
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 painter Albert König (1881–1944) was born in Eschede, and the "Albert-König-Museum" can be visited in Unterlüß nearby.
Eschede was the seat of the former ''
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) ...
*Wilhelm Brese (1896–1994), German politician (DNVP, CNBL, CDU), was chairman of the savings and loan association in Eschede and was leader of the church council in Eschede
*Erich Schell House (1901–1983), German civil servant and politician (NSDAP, later GB / BHE, GDP, CDU), lived after the war in the rectory in Eschede
*Goede Gendrich (1912–2000), German forester and author
*Hans-Hubertus Bühmann (1921–2014), German forestry and Lower Saxony state politician (CDU), was a board member of the forestry association and Eschede Samtgemeinde mayor of the municipality Eschede
*Ernst Bauerochse (born 1925), German missionary and church representatives, went to school in Eschede
Manche
Manche (, ; Norman language, Norman: ) is a coastal Departments of France, French ''département'' in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy on the English Channel, which is known as , literally "the sleeve", in French. Manche is bordered by ...
,
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...