Gielde is a village and a former municipality in the district of Wolfenbüttel, 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 ...

. Since 1 November 2013, it is part of the

Schladen-Werla Schladen-Werla is a municipality in the district of Wolfenbüttel, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was formed on 1 November 2013, when the municipalities of the former ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Schladen: Gielde, the town of Hornb ...

municipality.

Geography

Gielde is situated in the northern foothills of 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, located between

Vienenburg Vienenburg is a borough of Goslar, capital of the Goslar district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The former independent municipality was incorporated in Goslar on 1 January 2014. Geography It is situated in the north of the Harz mountain range and eas ...

(part of

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the Goslar (district), district of Goslar and is located on the northwestern wikt:slope, slopes of the Harz ...

) in the south and

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

in the north; neighbouring villages are

Schladen Schladen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Wolfenbüttel, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2013, it is part of the municipality Schladen-Werla. It is situated on the river Oker, approx. 15 km south of Wolfen ...

in the southeast and

Liebenburg Liebenburg is a municipality in the Goslar (district), district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography The municipal area is situated north of the Harz mountain range, within the eastern Salzgitter Hills of the Innerste Uplands. It bor ...

in the southwest.

History

A settlement at the site named ''Gelithi'' was first mentioned in a 953 deed and as ''Gelithe'' in 1140. The first parish church was probably erected during the incumbency of Bishop

Gotthard of Hildesheim Gotthard (or Godehard) (960 – 5 May 1038 AD; ), also known as ''Gothard'' or ''Godehard the Bishop'', was a German bishop venerated as a saint. Life Gotthard was born in 960 near Niederalteich, Niederaltaich in the diocese of Passau. Gotthar ...

in the early 12th century. The area then was part of the medieval

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony () was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 CE and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire (Francia) by 804. Upon the 84 ...

. The remnants of a Saxon

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

(''Kukeriulenburg'') are visible in the north of the present-day village, possibly used as a

refuge castle A refuge castleCreighton, Oliver (2015). ''Early European Castles''. Bloomsbury. or refuge fort (, also ''Fluchtburg'', ''Volksburg'', ''Bauernburg'' or ''Vryburg'') is a castle-like defensive location, usually surrounded by Rampart (fortification ...

related to the nearby Royal palace of Werla. The manor of Altenrode, which may have been built from stones of the decayed castle, was documented as an estate of the

Heiningen Heiningen () is a municipality in the Göppingen district in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany at the base of the Swabian Alps. History The town first emerges in an archive of the Abbey of St. Gall on parchment dated 29 March 1228, in whi ...

monastery since 1306. When the abbey was secularised in 1810, the manor became a private property and today is a listed monument.

References

External links

Gielde
on schladen-werla.de {{in lang, de Wolfenbüttel (district) Former municipalities in Lower Saxony Populated places disestablished in 2013