DEUTSCHLAND | GERMANY |
Bundesland: Niedersachsen | Lower Saxony |
Stadt: Wolfsburg |
Wolfsburg is situated at an elevation of 63 on the river Aller, about 72 km east of Hannover and about 25 km northeast of Braunschweig. At a population of about 127,300 (2023) it is Lower Saxony's fifth largest city.
Wolfsburg castle was first mentioned in 1302 as a residence of the lords of Bartensleben, Neuhaus castle was first mentioned in 1372.
When the lords of Bartensleben became extinct in 1742, their properties passed to the counts of Schulenburg. Some of today's urban
districts, including Vorsfelde and the villages transferred to Wolfsburg from the county of Helmstedt, belonged
to the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. Fallersleben and other villages belonged to the Electorate
of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, which later developed into the Kingdom of Hannover and
became a Prussian province in 1866. Other urban districts, including Heßlingen, belonged to the Prussian Duchy of
Magdeburg. In 1932, these districts were detached from the Prussian Province of Saxony and integrated into the
Province of Hannover. The modern town of Wolfsburg is one of the very few foundations of the 20th century as it was founded in 1938
as the Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben, ("City of the Strength Through Joy car at Fallersleben"),
built to house workers of the Volkswagen factories erected to assemble what would be later known as the Volkswagen Beetle. In the course of
a land reform in Lower Saxony in 1972, 20 localities were added to the city through the "Wolfsburg-Act".
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfsburg, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfsburg]
The oldest traces of humans in this are dates from about 200 BC. Valareslebo was first mentioned in a written document dating from 942. In the 12th century it was in possession of the counts of Wohldenberg who had obtained the domains as a fief from the archbishopric of Magdeburg. In 1337 the domains were transfered to the Dukes of Braunschweig and Lüneburg. Between 1539 and 1549 it belonged to the short-lived Duchy of Gifhorn under. In 1972, Fallersleben was separated from the district Gifhorn and was merged into the city of Wolfsburg.
Born in Fallersleben was August Heinrich Hoffmann (1798–1874), romantic poet best known under his pen name Hoffmann von Fallersleben for writing the "Deutschlandlied", the national anthem of Germany.
Fallersleben's town centre is a well-preserved old town characterised by half-timbered houses.
The picture on glass no. 4684 [left] shows a view of the
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallersleben]