Amelinghausen
Encyclopedia
Amelinghausen is a municipality
in the district of Lüneburg
in Lower Saxony
, Germany
. It is also the seat of the collective municipality (Samtgemeinde) of Amelinghausen
.
. East of Amelinghausen the upper reaches of the River Lopau
are impounded to form the Lopausee
, a lake that is used by tourists.
).
Thousands of years later, about 3,700 B. C., the first humans settled here. The first settlers of the region established themselves on the banks of the River Luhe. As a result of communication with the folk to the south they had already acquired a knowledge of farming. Surviving grave sites are witnesses to the permanent settlement of the present-day Lüneburg Heath from the New Bronze AGe (1100–800 B. C.), through the Early Iron Age (600–800 B. C.) and the Pre-Roman Iron Age (600 B. C.- birth of Christ), into the Migration Period (2nd–6th century A. D.).
One of the best-known grave sites, that like almost all of them dates to the New Stone Age, lies in a small area of restored heathland and is known today as the Oldendorfer Totenstatt
. Here several of the different types of grave are located together(tumuli, Urnfield gravesites
and dolmens) and may still be viewed today.
The name of the village is derived from Bishop Amelung of Verden. Amelung was supposed to have venerated Hippolytus of Rome and named the church after him. According to research into the origins of placenames, the ending -hausen indicates it is one of the more recent settlements (after 800 A. D.)in the Bardengau
, because placename endings like -burg, -hagen, -ingen, -rode or even -husen (-hausen) first appeared during the Frankish period.
The estates of the bishop, including the so-called Junkernhof farm, did not return after his death in 962 to the Bishopric of Verden, but were incorporated by his brother, Hermann Billung, (died 973), which later led to the imposition of an excommunication
order on him.
Amelinghausen was an advocacy or Vogtei
that included 16 villages, and which was subordinated to the Großvogtei (great vogtei) of Winsen an der Luhe
. Hitherto it had had a court (Gerichtsstätte) with its own jurisdiction that included a forest land court (Holzmarkengericht).
From 1603 to 1616 a relative of the prince, the Dowager-Duchess Hedwig in Harburg had various witches "burned on the high hill in Moisburg following rigorous investigations and ordeal by water " These were some of the last witches' trials in what is now Lower Saxony
. Two of the women who ended up at the stake in Winsen in 1611 were sisters Anneke and Barbara Stehr from Amelinghausen. How it came about and what then happened to them was reported by the chantor (Kantor), Heinrich Schulz, from Egestorf in the Lüneburger Kreiskalender.
On Sunday, 7 June 1818, a fire occurred at Amelinghausen as mentioned in the second volume of the "Patriotic Archive" (Vaterländischen Archiv), a yearly chronicle. This same document also mentioned that, on 21 October 1818 in Clausthal, a powder store blew up, killing 27 people.
The unfortunate fire, which was not a result of war, was a major disaster for Amelinghausen, as the entire old part of the village was burned to ashes in just two hours. The acting pastor in Amelinghausen at that time, Jacob Heinrich Grewe, left a detailed report of the tragic event.
The ancient village church, built in 1501 with a round stone tower, was destroyed in this blaze.
, an area that cover the present day Lüneburg District and parts of Harburg, as well as Soltau and Uelzen
. The Goh of Amelinghausen covered the region from the upper Luhe to the lower Lopau. Justic in the Gohen was dispensed by the so-called Gau or Goh counts (Gaugrafen or Gohgrafen). They were selected for office by the Saxon judicial parish (Gerichtsgemeinde).
At the head of a Gau stood a man elected by the people from the group of free nobles (Edelinge). At the end of the 8th century the Frankish emperor, Charlemagne
allowed the old Gau system to continue, but placed imperial officials in charge instead of elected leaders. This resulted in the counts getting all the responsibility and power including legal jurisdiction. The offices and estates of the counts became hereditary in the course of time.
appointed the count, Hermann Billung, as Duke of Saxony. The new duke built his castle seat on the Lüneburg Kalkberg. From then on Lüneburg
was the centre of his dominion. After the death of the Verden bishop, Amelung, who was Billung's brother, the Bishopric of Verden claimed Amelung's estates. Duke Hermann Billung did not agree to that and laid claim to his brother's estates, although he was probably excommunicated by the church as a result. In 1106 the duchy was transferred to Lothair of Supplinburg
. Thanks to Lothair's status and wealth, underpinned by power, the duchy went in 1137 to the House of Welf and reached its heyday under Henry the Lion
, but then cam to an end. In 1235 the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was given to the Welf, Otto. In 1267, his sons, Albert and John, divided Brunswick-Lüneburg into the separate principalities of Brunswick and Lüneburg. Lüneburg remained in the hands of the Duke John's descendants until 1359. On 25 May 1428 the Welf dominion was redivided in Celle
. Duke Bernard and his son, Otto, were given the Principality of Lüneburg
. The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
was given to Bernard's brother.
) were ducal officials and received estates awarded by the dukes. In the 16th century there was a centralisation and systematisation of the old administration. The expansion of the Lüneburg district constitution continued into the 16th century. At the end of the 18th century, the whole Principality of Lüneburg was divided into 29 districts or Ämter.
in which, in his opinion, the collection office for the income from the villages in this region was located. In the 15th century the following 39 villages belonged to the Advocacy of Amelinghausen: Munster, Ilster, Kohlenbissen, Schmarbeck, Trauen, Creutzen, Bispingen, Behringen, Haverbeck, Ehrhorn, Wilsede, Evendorf, Hörpel, Volkwardingen, Borstel, Hützel, Steinbeck, Garlstorf, Toppenstedt, Putensen, Südergellersen, Drögennindorf, Betzendorf
, Diersbüttel, Rehlingen, Holtorf, Ehlbeck, Dehnsen, Etzen, Wohlenbüttel, Oldendorf, Marxen, Harlsem, Schwindebeck, Sottorf, Soderstorf, Rolfsen, Wetzen and Amelinghausen.
. The first six advocates were: Hans von Iburg, Harman Lucht, Joachim Brabandt, Fritz Eltze, Viktor Dolle and Peter Oberg. The names of the first six are known from a letter by the later district advocacy of Enckhausen dated 12 August 1646.
. The French prefecture
system was transferred to German territory in 1810. This system had four types of administrative and juridical levels. The larges was the departement, that was headed by a prefecture, alongside whom worked a general secretary. In addition there was a prefecturate comprising three or four members, who exercised jurisdiction in the case of disputes in administrative matters. The departement was divided into indivudual districts (Distrikte). The smallest units were the communes (Kommunen) or municipalities (Munizipalitäten). 25–30 villages or communes were grouped into a mayoralty (mairie). At the head of a mairie was the mayor or Bürgermeister. Then there were the cantons (Kantone), that had about 5,000 inhabitants. The largest part of the Advocacy of Amelinghausen belonged from 4 July 1811 to the Mairie of Behringen. A new constitution of the then Hanoverian district constitution entered force in 1 October 1852. Since then, administration and justice have been separated.
, its administration and justice remained much as before. However, the Prussian state believed it necessary to have a special level of administration between the district office (Amt) and the state seneschal (Landdrostei). In Lüneburg
, Prussia created seven such counties (Kreise). The resulting counties were divided up into larger land owners, representatives of towns and representatives of rural parishes. In 1928 the county of Lüneburg was divided into 71 rural parishes. At the head of the county created in 1867 stood a Landrat, who was not an elected president, but a Prussian official. From 1885–1919 half of the members of the Lüneburg county council were from the rural parishes and half from the larger country landowners.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the district of Lüneburg
Lüneburg (district)
Lüneburg is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Lüchow-Dannenberg, Uelzen, Heidekreis and Harburg, and the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania .-History:The Amt of Lüneburg appeared in 1862...
in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is also the seat of the collective municipality (Samtgemeinde) of Amelinghausen
Amelinghausen (Samtgemeinde)
Amelinghausen is a Samtgemeinde in the district of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Its seat is in the village Amelinghausen.The Samtgemeinde Amelinghausen consists of the following municipalities:* Amelinghausen...
.
Geography
The municipality lies in the middle of the Lüneburg Heath Nature ParkLüneburg Heath Nature Park
In the north of the area known as the Lüneburg Heath in northern Germany, lies the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park with an area of...
. East of Amelinghausen the upper reaches of the River Lopau
Lopau (river)
The Lopau is a river in the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany. It is a right tributary of the Luhe.- Course :The Lopau rises with two headstreams from the ponds known as the Süderteichen and the Westerteichen in the Westergrund in the Munster North Training Area, near the abandoned village of Lopau,...
are impounded to form the Lopausee
Lopausee
The Lopausee is a man-made lake east of the village of Amelinghausen in the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany. The lake, which has an area of about 12 hectares, has been created by impounding the River Lopau with a dam. The dam lies parallel to the road embankent of the B209 federal road that runs...
, a lake that is used by tourists.
Municipal divisions
The villages in the municipality are:- Amelinghausen
- Dehnsen
- Etzen
History
The village of Amelinghausen was first mentioned in the records on 22 May 1293. The beginnings of settlement began, however, in the New Stone Age. The first people in this region were migrant hunters and gatherers around 15,000 B. C. They followed reindeer herds coming from the west, for which this area, the present-day Lüneburg Heath, offered a new habitat thanks to its more moderate climate (having hitherto being the Ice AgeIce age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
).
Thousands of years later, about 3,700 B. C., the first humans settled here. The first settlers of the region established themselves on the banks of the River Luhe. As a result of communication with the folk to the south they had already acquired a knowledge of farming. Surviving grave sites are witnesses to the permanent settlement of the present-day Lüneburg Heath from the New Bronze AGe (1100–800 B. C.), through the Early Iron Age (600–800 B. C.) and the Pre-Roman Iron Age (600 B. C.- birth of Christ), into the Migration Period (2nd–6th century A. D.).
One of the best-known grave sites, that like almost all of them dates to the New Stone Age, lies in a small area of restored heathland and is known today as the Oldendorfer Totenstatt
Oldendorfer Totenstatt
The Oldendorfer Totenstatt is a group of six burial mounds and megalith sites in Oldendorf north of Amelinghausen in the valley of the River Luhe in Lüneburg district in the German state of Lower Saxony...
. Here several of the different types of grave are located together(tumuli, Urnfield gravesites
Urnfield culture
The Urnfield culture was a late Bronze Age culture of central Europe. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns which were then buried in fields...
and dolmens) and may still be viewed today.
The name of the village is derived from Bishop Amelung of Verden. Amelung was supposed to have venerated Hippolytus of Rome and named the church after him. According to research into the origins of placenames, the ending -hausen indicates it is one of the more recent settlements (after 800 A. D.)in the Bardengau
Bardengau
The Bardengau was a medieval county in the Duchy of Saxony. Its main town was Bardowick; other important towns were Lüneburg and Oldenstadt ....
, because placename endings like -burg, -hagen, -ingen, -rode or even -husen (-hausen) first appeared during the Frankish period.
The estates of the bishop, including the so-called Junkernhof farm, did not return after his death in 962 to the Bishopric of Verden, but were incorporated by his brother, Hermann Billung, (died 973), which later led to the imposition of an excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
order on him.
Amelinghausen was an advocacy or Vogtei
Vogtei
Vogtei could be:* The residenz or domain of a Vogt* Vogtei , a municipal association in the Unstrut-Hainich district of Thuringia, Germany....
that included 16 villages, and which was subordinated to the Großvogtei (great vogtei) of Winsen an der Luhe
Winsen (Luhe)
Winsen is the capital of the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the small river Luhe, near its confluence with the Elbe, approx. 25 km southeast of Hamburg, and 20 km northwest of Lüneburg....
. Hitherto it had had a court (Gerichtsstätte) with its own jurisdiction that included a forest land court (Holzmarkengericht).
From 1603 to 1616 a relative of the prince, the Dowager-Duchess Hedwig in Harburg had various witches "burned on the high hill in Moisburg following rigorous investigations and ordeal by water " These were some of the last witches' trials in what is now Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
. Two of the women who ended up at the stake in Winsen in 1611 were sisters Anneke and Barbara Stehr from Amelinghausen. How it came about and what then happened to them was reported by the chantor (Kantor), Heinrich Schulz, from Egestorf in the Lüneburger Kreiskalender.
On Sunday, 7 June 1818, a fire occurred at Amelinghausen as mentioned in the second volume of the "Patriotic Archive" (Vaterländischen Archiv), a yearly chronicle. This same document also mentioned that, on 21 October 1818 in Clausthal, a powder store blew up, killing 27 people.
The unfortunate fire, which was not a result of war, was a major disaster for Amelinghausen, as the entire old part of the village was burned to ashes in just two hours. The acting pastor in Amelinghausen at that time, Jacob Heinrich Grewe, left a detailed report of the tragic event.
The ancient village church, built in 1501 with a round stone tower, was destroyed in this blaze.
Administrative history
Saxon rule
Administrative divisions during Saxon times were the so-called Gaus (Gaue) with subordinate divisions known as Gohen. Amelinghausen belonged to the BardengauBardengau
The Bardengau was a medieval county in the Duchy of Saxony. Its main town was Bardowick; other important towns were Lüneburg and Oldenstadt ....
, an area that cover the present day Lüneburg District and parts of Harburg, as well as Soltau and Uelzen
Uelzen
Uelzen is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a Hanseatic town and an independent municipality....
. The Goh of Amelinghausen covered the region from the upper Luhe to the lower Lopau. Justic in the Gohen was dispensed by the so-called Gau or Goh counts (Gaugrafen or Gohgrafen). They were selected for office by the Saxon judicial parish (Gerichtsgemeinde).
At the head of a Gau stood a man elected by the people from the group of free nobles (Edelinge). At the end of the 8th century the Frankish emperor, Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
allowed the old Gau system to continue, but placed imperial officials in charge instead of elected leaders. This resulted in the counts getting all the responsibility and power including legal jurisdiction. The offices and estates of the counts became hereditary in the course of time.
Regional development of Lüneburg Land
In 961 Emperor Otto IOtto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
appointed the count, Hermann Billung, as Duke of Saxony. The new duke built his castle seat on the Lüneburg Kalkberg. From then on Lüneburg
Lüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
was the centre of his dominion. After the death of the Verden bishop, Amelung, who was Billung's brother, the Bishopric of Verden claimed Amelung's estates. Duke Hermann Billung did not agree to that and laid claim to his brother's estates, although he was probably excommunicated by the church as a result. In 1106 the duchy was transferred to Lothair of Supplinburg
Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor
Lothair III of Supplinburg , was Duke of Saxony , King of Germany , and Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 to 1137. The son of Count Gebhard of Supplinburg, his reign was troubled by the constant intriguing of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia and Duke Conrad of Franconia...
. Thanks to Lothair's status and wealth, underpinned by power, the duchy went in 1137 to the House of Welf and reached its heyday under Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
, but then cam to an end. In 1235 the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was given to the Welf, Otto. In 1267, his sons, Albert and John, divided Brunswick-Lüneburg into the separate principalities of Brunswick and Lüneburg. Lüneburg remained in the hands of the Duke John's descendants until 1359. On 25 May 1428 the Welf dominion was redivided in Celle
Celle
Celle is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000...
. Duke Bernard and his son, Otto, were given the Principality of Lüneburg
Principality of Lüneburg
The Principality of Lüneburg was a territorial division of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg within the Holy Roman Empire, immediately subordinate to the emperor. It existed from 1269 until 1705 and its territory lay within the modern-day state of Lower Saxony in Germany...
. The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, whose history was characterised by numerous divisions and reunifications. Various dynastic lines of the House of Welf ruled Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806...
was given to Bernard's brother.
District constitution in Lüneburg
Gradually the Saxon Gau structure was replaced by the so-called district constitution (Amtsverfassung). The beginnings of this local constitution in the Lüneburg princedom go back to the 14th century. During the course of the 13th century the Welf dukes created administrative units known as Verwaltungseinheiten. The centre of the new districts was a castle in which th most important man acted as the Burgvogt or castle advocate. The replacement administrative system functioned surprisingly well, because the then advocates (VögteVogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
) were ducal officials and received estates awarded by the dukes. In the 16th century there was a centralisation and systematisation of the old administration. The expansion of the Lüneburg district constitution continued into the 16th century. At the end of the 18th century, the whole Principality of Lüneburg was divided into 29 districts or Ämter.
Amelinghausen's sphere of influence
The contemporary designation, "Vogtei Amelinghausen" (Advocacy of Amelinghausen), is first found in the fiscal register (Schatzregister) of 1450. The register shows once a year a tax on the occupants registered within the district under Amelinghausen's ambit. The Advocacy of Amelinghausen appears in the fiscal register with the note: Uppe der Tecche, which Hammerstein Loxten suspects, is a description from the time before the destruction of the castle on on the Lüneburg KalkbergLüneburg Kalkberg
The Lüneburg Kalkberg is the cap rock of a salt dome in the western part of the German town of Lüneburg...
in which, in his opinion, the collection office for the income from the villages in this region was located. In the 15th century the following 39 villages belonged to the Advocacy of Amelinghausen: Munster, Ilster, Kohlenbissen, Schmarbeck, Trauen, Creutzen, Bispingen, Behringen, Haverbeck, Ehrhorn, Wilsede, Evendorf, Hörpel, Volkwardingen, Borstel, Hützel, Steinbeck, Garlstorf, Toppenstedt, Putensen, Südergellersen, Drögennindorf, Betzendorf
Betzendorf
Betzendorf is a municipality in the district of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
, Diersbüttel, Rehlingen, Holtorf, Ehlbeck, Dehnsen, Etzen, Wohlenbüttel, Oldendorf, Marxen, Harlsem, Schwindebeck, Sottorf, Soderstorf, Rolfsen, Wetzen and Amelinghausen.
The district advocacy of Amelinghausen
The employment of district advocates (Amtsvögte) was the responsibility of the chancellery (Kanzlei) in CelleCelle
Celle is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000...
. The first six advocates were: Hans von Iburg, Harman Lucht, Joachim Brabandt, Fritz Eltze, Viktor Dolle and Peter Oberg. The names of the first six are known from a letter by the later district advocacy of Enckhausen dated 12 August 1646.
The new administration of 1810–1866
The district administrative system, despite lasting until 1885, experience an interruption in the Napoleonic eraNapoleonic Era
The Napoleonic Era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislative Assembly, and the third being the Directory...
. The French prefecture
Prefecture
A prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction or subdivision in any of various countries and within some international church structures, and in antiquity a Roman district governed by an appointed prefect.-Antiquity:...
system was transferred to German territory in 1810. This system had four types of administrative and juridical levels. The larges was the departement, that was headed by a prefecture, alongside whom worked a general secretary. In addition there was a prefecturate comprising three or four members, who exercised jurisdiction in the case of disputes in administrative matters. The departement was divided into indivudual districts (Distrikte). The smallest units were the communes (Kommunen) or municipalities (Munizipalitäten). 25–30 villages or communes were grouped into a mayoralty (mairie). At the head of a mairie was the mayor or Bürgermeister. Then there were the cantons (Kantone), that had about 5,000 inhabitants. The largest part of the Advocacy of Amelinghausen belonged from 4 July 1811 to the Mairie of Behringen. A new constitution of the then Hanoverian district constitution entered force in 1 October 1852. Since then, administration and justice have been separated.
Development of administration under Prussian influence
Despite the annexation of the region by PrussiaPrussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, its administration and justice remained much as before. However, the Prussian state believed it necessary to have a special level of administration between the district office (Amt) and the state seneschal (Landdrostei). In Lüneburg
Lüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
, Prussia created seven such counties (Kreise). The resulting counties were divided up into larger land owners, representatives of towns and representatives of rural parishes. In 1928 the county of Lüneburg was divided into 71 rural parishes. At the head of the county created in 1867 stood a Landrat, who was not an elected president, but a Prussian official. From 1885–1919 half of the members of the Lüneburg county council were from the rural parishes and half from the larger country landowners.