Wennigsen ( or ) is a municipality in the district of Hanover, 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 near the

Deister The Deister () is a chain of hills in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, about 15 mi (25 km) southwest of the city of Hanover. It runs in a north-westerly direction from Springe in the south to Rodenberg in the north. The next i ...

hills, approx. 15 km southwest of

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 ...

Geography

Wennigsen borders on (from north and clockwise)

Gehrden Gehrden () is a town in the Hanover (district), district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately southwest of Hanover and next to the recreation area Deister. Notable people * Werner von Siemens (1816–1892), inve ...

Ronnenberg Ronnenberg () is a town in Hanover Region, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 8 km southwest of Hanover. Subdivisions Besides Ronnenberg proper, the city consists of the boroughs of Benthe (including Sieben Trappen), Emp ...

Springe Springe () is a town in the Hanover (district), district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, southwest of Hanover. Town structure * Springe (core settlement, seat of the mayor), population 13,184 * Ben ...

and

Barsinghausen Barsinghausen () is a town in the Hanover (district), district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the Deister chain of hills approx. 20 km west of Hanover. Barsinghausen belongs to the historic landscape Calenberg Land and ...

. The highest elevation is the Bröhn, the highest hill of the

with 405 meters.

History

The founding date of Wennigsen is unknown. It possibly dates back to 5th to 8th century. The first dated occurrence (1199 to 1206) is a copy of a certificate from bishop Hartbert of

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

. At this time there was a settlement of Bernhard, earl of Poppenburg, in Wennigsen. He had three roses each with five leaves in his coat of arms. Today Wennigsen bears one of them in its coat of arms. 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 ...

Wennigsen was near to be completely destroyed. Duke George William of

(later of Brunswick-Lüneburg) split the Großvogtei

Calenberg The Calenberg is a hill in central Germany in the Leine depression near Pattensen in the municipality of Schulenburg. It lies 13 km west of the city of Hildesheim in south Lower Saxony on the edge of the Central Uplands. It is made from a ...

and founded a new Amt Calenberg in which Wennigsen became court place. The Magistrates' Court of Wennigsen still exists.

Notable people

Adolph Freiherr Knigge Adolph Franz Friedrich Ludwig Freiherr Knigge (16 October 17526 May 1796) was a Germans, German writer, Freemasonry, Freemason, and a leading member of the Order of the Illuminati. Biography Adolph Freiherr von Knigge was born in Bredenbec ...

(1752-1796), born in Bredenbeck, writer of the Enlightenment. *

Heinz Erhardt Heinz Erhardt (; 20 February 1909 – 5 June 1979) was a German comedian, musician, entertainer, actor and poet. Life Heinz Erhardt was born in Riga, the son of Baltic German Kapellmeister Gustav Erhardt. He lived most of his childhood at his gr ...

(1909-1979), comedian, musician and actor, lived at the Wennigser Mark * Gesine Meissner (born 1952), politician (FDP), a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

Hans-Georg Wenzel Hans-Georg Wenzel (3 February, 1945 – 11 November, 1999), also known as George Wenzel, was a Germans, German geodesist, geophysicist and university lecturer. His most important field of work was physical geodesy, where he worked after his disser ...

(1949-1999), geodesist, geophysicist and university lecturer *

Christoph Meineke Christoph Meineke (born March 13, 1979, in Hanover) is a German non-party politician and since January 2007 the first directly elected strong mayor of the municipality of Wennigsen (Deister). Career In September 2006, Meineke became the younge ...

(born 1979), former mayor of Wennigsen (Deister)

References

Hanover Region {{Hanover-geo-stub