Lower Saxony is a coastal state () in 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 Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are spoken to varying degrees.
Lower Saxony borders on (from north and clockwise) the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, , Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. The state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other its seaport, Bremerhaven (which is a semi-exclave, as it has a coastline). Lower Saxony thus borders more neighbours than any other single . The state's largest cities are the state capital Hanover, Braunschweig (Brunswick), Oldenburg, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg, Göttingen, Salzgitter, Hildesheim, mainly situated in its central and southern parts, except Oldenburg.
Lower Saxony is the only that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas. The northwestern area of the state, on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia and the seven East Frisian Islands offshore are popular with tourists. In the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, an economically emerging but rather sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plain, is almost invariably flat except for the gentle hills around the Bremen geestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of the Central Uplands: the Weser Uplands and the Harz Mountains. Between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges.
The region in the northeast, the Lüneburg Heath (), is the largest heathland area of Germany. In the Middle Ages, the town of Lüneburg was wealthy due to salt-mining and the salt trade. To the north the Elbe valley separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, , and Brandenburg. The left banks of the Elbe downstream Hamburg are known as the (Old Country). Due to its gentle local climate and fertile soil, it is the state's largest area of fruit farming, its chief produce being apples.
The modern state of Lower Saxony was created from parts of the British occupation zone after World War II by the merger of the State of Hanover with the three smaller free states of Braunschweig, Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe on 1 November 1946. As most of the new state's territory consisted of the historic Kingdom of Hanover, Lower Saxony adopted its coat of arms and other symbols.
Geography
Location Lower Saxony has a natural boundary in the north in the North Sea and the lower and middle reaches of the River Elbe, although parts of the city of Hamburg lie south of the Elbe. The state and city of Bremen is an enclave entirely surrounded by Lower Saxony. The Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region is a cooperative body for the enclave area. To the southeast, the state border runs through the Harz, low mountains that are part of the German Central Uplands. The northeast and west of the state, which form roughly three-quarters of its land area, belong to the North German Plain, while the south is in the Lower Saxon Hills, including the Weser Uplands, Leine Uplands, Schaumburg Land, Brunswick Land, Untereichsfeld, Elm, and Lappwald. In the northeast of Lower Saxony is the Lüneburg Heath. The heath is dominated by the poor, sandy soils of the geest, while in the central-east and southeast in the loess börde zone, productive soils with high natural fertility occur. Under these conditions—with loam and sand-containing soils—the land is well-developed agriculturally. In the west lie the County of Bentheim, Osnabrück Land, Emsland, Oldenburg Land, Ammerland, Oldenburg Münsterland, and on the coast East Frisia.
The state is dominated by several large northwards-flowing rivers, including the Ems, Weser, Aller, and the Elbe.
The highest point in Lower Saxony is the Wurmberg () in the Harz. Most of the significant hills and mountains are found in the southeastern part of the state. The lowest point in the state, at about below sea level, is a depression near Freepsum in East Frisia.
The state's economy, population, and infrastructure are centred on the cities and towns of Hanover, Stadthagen, Celle, Braunschweig, , Hildesheim, and Salzgitter. Together with Göttingen in southern Lower Saxony, they form the core of the Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region.
Regions
General Lower Saxony has clear regional divisions that manifest themselves geographically, as well as historically and culturally. In the regions that used to be independent, especially the heartlands of the former states of Brunswick, Hanover, Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe, a marked local regional awareness exists. By contrast, the areas surrounding the Hanseatic cities of Bremen and Hamburg are much more oriented towards those centres.
List of regions
Sometimes, overlaps and transition areas happen between the various regions of Lower Saxony. Several of the regions listed here are part of other, larger regions, that are also included in the list.
Altes Land Ammerland Artland County of Bentheim Bramgau Brunswick Land Calenberg Land Eastphalia East Frisia Eichsfeld Elbe-Weser Triangle Emsland Grönegau Land Hadeln Land Wursten Hannover Harz Mountains Hildesheim Börde Hümmling Innerste Uplands Kehdingen Leine Uplands Lüneburg Heath Middle Weser Region Oldenburg Land Oldenburg Münsterland Osnabrück Land Schaumburg Land Solling South Lower Saxony Stade Geest Wendland Weser Uplands Wesermarsch Wümme Depression
Just under 20% of the land area of Lower Saxony is designated as nature parks, i.e.: Dümmer, Elbhöhen-Wendland, Elm-Lappwald, Harz, Lüneburger Heide, Münden, Terra.vita, Solling-Vogler, Lake Steinhude, Südheide, Weser Uplands, Wildeshausen Geest, Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen.Naturparks in Niedersachsen, as at 31 December 2009 . Retrieved 26 August 2010.
Climate
Lower Saxony falls climatically into the north temperate zone of central Europe that is affected by prevailing Westerlies and is located in a transition zone between the maritime climate of Western Europe and the continental climate of Eastern Europe. This transition is clearly noticeable within the state: while the northwest experiences an Atlantic (North Sea coastal) to Sub-Atlantic climate, with comparatively low variations in temperature during the course of the year and a surplus water budget, the climate towards the southeast is increasingly affected by the Continent. This is clearly shown by greater temperature variations between the summer and winter halves of the year and in lower and more variable amounts of precipitation across the year. This sub-continental effect is most sharply seen in the Wendland, in the Weser Uplands (Hamelin to Göttingen) and in the area of Helmstedt. The highest levels of precipitation are experienced in the Harz because the Lower Saxon part forms the windward side of this mountain range against which orographic rain falls. The average annual temperature is ; in the and in the district of Cloppenburg.
Administration Lower Saxony is divided into 37 districts (Landkreise or simply Kreise):
Furthermore, there are eight urban districts and two cities with special status:
Notes
Historical subdivisions Between 1946 and 2004, the state's districts and independent towns were grouped into eight regions, with a different status for two regions (Verwaltungsbezirke), comprising the formerly free states of Brunswick and Oldenburg. In 1978 these regions were merged into four governorates (Regierungsbezirke). In 2005 the Bezirksregierungen (regional governments) were again split into separate bodies.
1946–1978: Governorate of Aurich Administrative Region of Brunswick (Braunschweig) Governorate of Hanover (Hannover) Governorate of Hildesheim Governorate of Lunenburg (Lüneburg) Administrative Region of Oldenburg Administrative Region of Osnabrück Governorate of Stade 1978–2004: Governorate of Brunswick (Braunschweig) Governorate of Hanover (Hannover) Governorate of Lunenburg (Lüneburg) Governorate of Weser-Ems
On 1 January 2005 the four administrative regions or governorates (Regierungsbezirke), into which Lower Saxony had been hitherto divided, were dissolved.siehe Text Gesetz zur Modernisierung der Verwaltung in Niedersachsen vom 5. November 2004 (Nds. GVBl. S. 394–401), siehe dort Artikel 1 Gesetz zur Auflösung der Bezirksregierungen These were the governorates of Braunschweig, Hanover, Lüneburg and Weser-Ems.
Largest towns
The largest towns in Lower Saxony as of 31 December 2017:
RankCityPopulation1Hanover535,0612Braunschweig248,0233Oldenburg167,0814Osnabrück164,3745Wolfsburg123,9146Göttingen119,5297Salzgitter104,5488Hildesheim101,7449Delmenhorst77,52110Wilhelmshaven76,31611Lüneburg75,19212Celle69,70613Garbsen60,87514Hamelin57,22815Lingen (Ems)54,11716Langenhagen53,79017Nordhorn53,27818Wolfenbüttel52,35719Goslar51,12820Emden50,607
History
Regional history prior to foundation of Lower Saxony The name of Saxony derives from that of the Germanic confederation of tribes called the Saxons. Before the late medieval period, there was a single Duchy of Saxony. The term "Lower Saxony" was used after the dissolution of the stem duchy in the late 13th century to distinguish the parts of the former duchy ruled by the House of Welf from the Electorate of Saxony on one hand, and from the Duchy of Westphalia on the other.
Medieval and early modern period
The name and coat of arms of the present state go back to the Germanic tribe of Saxons. During the Migration Period some of the Saxon peoples left their homeland in Holstein about the 3rd century and pushed southwards over the Elbe, where they expanded into the sparsely populated regions in the rest of the lowlands, in present-day Northwest Germany and the northeastern part of what is now the Netherlands. From about the 7th century the Saxons had occupied a settlement area that roughly corresponds to the present state of Lower Saxony, of Westphalia and a number of areas to the east, for example, in what is now west and north Saxony-Anhalt. The land of the Saxons was divided into about 60 Gaue. The Frisians had not moved into this region; for centuries they preserved their independence in the most northwesterly region of the present-day Lower Saxon territory. The original language of the folk in the area of Old Saxony was West Low German, one of the varieties of language in the Low German dialect group.
The establishment of permanent boundaries between what later became Lower Saxony and Westphalia began in the 12th century. In 1260, in a treaty between the Archbishopric of Cologne and the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg the lands claimed by the two territories were separated from each other. The border ran along the Weser to a point north of Nienburg. The northern part of the Weser-Ems region was placed under the rule of Brunswick-Lüneburg.