Beverungen
Encyclopedia
Beverungen (ˈbeːvəʁʊŋən) is a town in Höxter
district in North Rhine-Westphalia
, Germany
.
roughly 10 km south of Höxter
. In parts of the eastern municipal area near the river, the town has a share of the Weser Valley
, and to the west the higher Oberwälder Land
natural region. In Beverungen (main town), the river Bever empties into the Weser.
Geopolitically, Beverungen thereby lies in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia at the three-state point shared with Lower Saxony
and Hesse
. The Weser forms the border with the former.
One peculiarity in the town's location is to be found at the constituent community of Würgassen, which lies on the Weser's right (here, north) bank, which would actually mean that the community were in Lower Saxony had it not been for the way a long-standing boundary dispute was settled in 1837. Even today, the boundary does not quite put all the community in North Rhine-Westphalia; the local Shooting Brotherhood's shooting range still lies partly in North Rhine-Westphalia and partly in Lower Saxony.
of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Hesse. It borders in the west on the towns of Borgentreich
and Brakel
, in the north on the town of Höxter
(all in Höxter
district), in the east on the Samtgemeinde
of Boffzen with its member communities of Boffzen
and Fürstenberg
and the market town of Lauenförde
(all in Holzminden
district), and the municipality-free area of Solling
(Northeim
district), and in the south on the towns of Bad Karlshafen
and Trendelburg
(both in Kassel
district).
. The village was granted town rights in 1417. For over 500 years thereafter, Beverungen was a farming town.
The town reached both heights and depths through this time, one of the latter being the Plague
striking the town in 1626, during the Thirty Years' War
. The Hessians and the Swedes
saw fit in 1632 to burn the town down, leaving only five houses standing afterwards. Thanks to the town's advantageous location, it soon recovered and quickly had a flourishing trade in grain
, iron
and glass
from the glassworks in the Paderborner Land.
For centuries, Beverungen was the harbour town for the Princely Bishopric (Hochstift) of Paderborn. Even many people who went to the Americas
began their journeys to the ocean steamers in Bremen
here. Towards the end of the 19th century, a new economic upswing began with the railway's arrival and the building of a bridge
across the Weser.
During World War II
, a subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp
was located here.
The current town of Beverungen with its 12 constituent communities was created in 1970.http://tourismus.beverungen.de/index.php/Verwaltung-Kultur-Gewerbe/12/skey/geschichte/
's time. In 1698, the stately home (Schloss) was completed.
Although the local folklore
holds that the village's name came about from the story in which "Charlemagne had the Würgassen dwellers strangled in the lanes for reverting to heathen customs", or in German
, "Karl der Große hat die Würgasser wegen eines Rückfalles in heidnische Sitten in den Gassen erwürgen lassen", this is certainly untrue. Rather, the village's original name was Wirrigsen, more closely akin to the terms Wirura (the Weser) and Gisen (bubble up). As late as the early 20th century, the Weser at Würgassen was still underlain by a good many rocks, so that the water was churned up.
The villagers who did not work in agriculture
in earlier days hired themselves out foremost as sailor
s in the shipping
on the river Weser. In the 1970s, many people were employed at the newly built nuclear power station, which was abandoned in 1995 and is now being dismantled.
might heraldically be described thus: In azure three fleurs-de-lis argent, two above, one below.
The fleur-de-lis
only appeared in the town's official seal in the 17th century. At first, there was only one, but the now familiar design with three came into use in the 18th century. The charge is believed to represent the Bishop of Paderborn. The arms were officially conferred on 12 May 1917, and confirmed in 1970.
The current arms do not bear any likeness to the original town seal, which came into use at the time when Beverungen was granted town rights. This seal showed a town gate and Saint Vitus.http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/b/beverung.htm
, which is close to Beverungen. Trains run hourly to Ottbergen and Bodenfelde
; from Bodenfelde, trains run to either Northeim
or Göttingen
. From Ottbergen there are connections to Altenbeken
, Paderborn
and Holzminden
. Furthermore, the constituent community of Wehrden has a halt on the same line.
centre with a Hauptschule
, a Realschule
and a Gymnasium
to which go students not only from Beverungen, but also from the neighbouring communities of Lauenförde
in Lower Saxony
and Trendelburg
-Langental in Hesse
.
, the "Orange-Blossom-Special" – a music festival hosted by the local record label
/mail order
company, Glitterhouse Records
– is held. Some 2000 visitors attend from all over Europe.
Höxter (district)
Höxter is a Kreis in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Holzminden, Northeim, Kassel, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Hochsauerland, Paderborn, and Lippe.-History:...
district in North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
, 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...
.
Location
Beverungen lies in the Weser Uplands on the side of the Weser opposite SollingSolling
The Solling is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia....
roughly 10 km south of Höxter
Höxter
Höxter is the seat of the Höxter district, and a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia on the left bank of the river Weser, 52 km north of Kassel in the centre of the Weser Uplands...
. In parts of the eastern municipal area near the river, the town has a share of the Weser Valley
Upper Weser Valley
The Upper Weser Valley in central Germany has been formed by the Upper Weser river cutting through the Weser Uplands for around between the towns of Hann. Münden and Minden. It lies in the German federal states of Lower Saxony, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia.- Course :The Upper Weser Valley...
, and to the west the higher Oberwälder Land
Oberwälder Land
The Oberwälder Land is a natural region in the extreme east of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia with small elements parts in Hesse and Lower Saxony...
natural region. In Beverungen (main town), the river Bever empties into the Weser.
Geopolitically, Beverungen thereby lies in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia at the three-state point shared with 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...
and Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. The Weser forms the border with the former.
One peculiarity in the town's location is to be found at the constituent community of Würgassen, which lies on the Weser's right (here, north) bank, which would actually mean that the community were in Lower Saxony had it not been for the way a long-standing boundary dispute was settled in 1837. Even today, the boundary does not quite put all the community in North Rhine-Westphalia; the local Shooting Brotherhood's shooting range still lies partly in North Rhine-Westphalia and partly in Lower Saxony.
Neighbouring communities
The town of Beverungen lies right at the point common to the BundesländerStates of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Hesse. It borders in the west on the towns of Borgentreich
Borgentreich
Borgentreich is a municipality in Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Geography :Borgentreich lies roughly 20 km south of Brakel and 10 km northeast of Warburg....
and Brakel
Brakel
Brakel is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek and the Flemish Ardennes. The name is derived from a Carolingian villa Braglo first mentioned in 866 and located in the center of Opbrakel. Since 1970, the municipality has comprised the villages of Nederbrakel,...
, in the north on the town of Höxter
Höxter
Höxter is the seat of the Höxter district, and a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia on the left bank of the river Weser, 52 km north of Kassel in the centre of the Weser Uplands...
(all in Höxter
Höxter (district)
Höxter is a Kreis in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Holzminden, Northeim, Kassel, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Hochsauerland, Paderborn, and Lippe.-History:...
district), in the east on the Samtgemeinde
Amt (subnational entity)
Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only found in Germany, but formerly also common in northern European countries. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to a U.S...
of Boffzen with its member communities of Boffzen
Boffzen
Boffzen is a municipality in Holzminden district, Lower Saxony, Germany.Allocation of seats in the local council electoral period 2001-2006:* CDU: 4* SPD: 10* FDP: 1Boffzen is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Boffzen....
and Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg and can refer to the following.- Historical states :* Fürstenberg , county * Fürstenberg-Baar, county * Fürstenberg-Blumberg, county...
and the market town of Lauenförde
Lauenförde
Lauenförde is a municipality in the district of Holzminden, in Lower Saxony, Germany.- ARMS :The arms were granted in 1927 and based on a seal of the Amt Lauenförde from 1779. The lion is the so-called Welfen-lion, indicating that the town belonged to this family. The waves symbolise the Weser...
(all in Holzminden
Holzminden (district)
Holzminden is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Hamelin-Pyrmont, Hildesheim and Northeim, and by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia .-History:...
district), and the municipality-free area of Solling
Solling
The Solling is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia....
(Northeim
Northeim (district)
Northeim is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Holzminden, Hildesheim, Goslar, Osterode and Göttingen, and the state of Hesse .-History:...
district), and in the south on the towns of Bad Karlshafen
Bad Karlshafen
Bad Karlshafen is a baroque, thermal salt spa town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It has 2300 inhabitants in the main ward of Bad Karlshafen, and a further 1900 in the medieval ward of Helmarshausen...
and Trendelburg
Trendelburg
Trendelburg is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany with a population of 5,282 on 30 September 2009. It is situated on the river Diemel, north of Kassel.The town is twinned with Pocklington, England....
(both in Kassel
Kassel (district)
Kassel is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Northeim, Göttingen, Werra-Meißner, Schwalm-Eder, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Höxter...
district).
Constituent communities
Beverungen consists of the following 12 centres:- Beverungen
- Amelunxen
- Blankenau
- Dalhausen
- Drenke
- Haarbrück
- Herstelle
- Jakobsberg
- Rothe
- Tietelsen
- Wehrden
- Würgassen
History
The name "Beverungun" is known from as early as the mid 9th century. This was at first a noble estate with great landholdings, which soon developed into a village. About 1300, Bishop Bernhard of Paderborn began building work on the castleCastle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
. The village was granted town rights in 1417. For over 500 years thereafter, Beverungen was a farming town.
The town reached both heights and depths through this time, one of the latter being the Plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
striking the town in 1626, during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. The Hessians and the Swedes
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
saw fit in 1632 to burn the town down, leaving only five houses standing afterwards. Thanks to the town's advantageous location, it soon recovered and quickly had a flourishing trade in grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
and glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
from the glassworks in the Paderborner Land.
For centuries, Beverungen was the harbour town for the Princely Bishopric (Hochstift) of Paderborn. Even many people who went to the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
began their journeys to the ocean steamers in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
here. Towards the end of the 19th century, a new economic upswing began with the railway's arrival and the building of a bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
across the Weser.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
was located here.
The current town of Beverungen with its 12 constituent communities was created in 1970.http://tourismus.beverungen.de/index.php/Verwaltung-Kultur-Gewerbe/12/skey/geschichte/
Würgassen
Its existence witnessed by documentary proof from the 10th century, Würgassen likely already existed in CharlemagneCharlemagne
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...
's time. In 1698, the stately home (Schloss) was completed.
Although the local folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
holds that the village's name came about from the story in which "Charlemagne had the Würgassen dwellers strangled in the lanes for reverting to heathen customs", or in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, "Karl der Große hat die Würgasser wegen eines Rückfalles in heidnische Sitten in den Gassen erwürgen lassen", this is certainly untrue. Rather, the village's original name was Wirrigsen, more closely akin to the terms Wirura (the Weser) and Gisen (bubble up). As late as the early 20th century, the Weser at Würgassen was still underlain by a good many rocks, so that the water was churned up.
The villagers who did not work in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
in earlier days hired themselves out foremost as sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
s in the shipping
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
on the river Weser. In the 1970s, many people were employed at the newly built nuclear power station, which was abandoned in 1995 and is now being dismantled.
Town council
Town council's 32 seats are apportioned as follows, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 September 2004:- CDUChristian Democratic Union (Germany)The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
18 seats - SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
8 seats - GreensAlliance '90/The GreensAlliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
3 seats - FDPFree Democratic Party (Germany)The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
3 seats
Coat of arms
Beverungen's civic coat of armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might heraldically be described thus: In azure three fleurs-de-lis argent, two above, one below.
The fleur-de-lis
Fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...
only appeared in the town's official seal in the 17th century. At first, there was only one, but the now familiar design with three came into use in the 18th century. The charge is believed to represent the Bishop of Paderborn. The arms were officially conferred on 12 May 1917, and confirmed in 1970.
The current arms do not bear any likeness to the original town seal, which came into use at the time when Beverungen was granted town rights. This seal showed a town gate and Saint Vitus.http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/b/beverung.htm
Transport
Beverungen is served by Lauenförde-Beverungen station on the Solling Railway (Sollingbahn) in the neighbouring community of LauenfördeLauenförde
Lauenförde is a municipality in the district of Holzminden, in Lower Saxony, Germany.- ARMS :The arms were granted in 1927 and based on a seal of the Amt Lauenförde from 1779. The lion is the so-called Welfen-lion, indicating that the town belonged to this family. The waves symbolise the Weser...
, which is close to Beverungen. Trains run hourly to Ottbergen and Bodenfelde
Bodenfelde
Bodenfelde is a municipality in the district of Northeim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, approx. 35 km north of Kassel, and 30 km northwest of Göttingen at the southwest border of the Solling-Vogler Nature Park.-History:Bodenfelde was first...
; from Bodenfelde, trains run to either Northeim
Northeim
Northeim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, as of 2002, a population of 31 000. It's located on the German Half-Timbered House Road.-History:...
or Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
. From Ottbergen there are connections to Altenbeken
Altenbeken
Altenbeken is a municipality in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Altenbeken is situated in the Eggegebirge, approx. 15 km northeast of Paderborn...
, Paderborn
Paderborn
Paderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...
and Holzminden
Holzminden
Holzminden is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Holzminden. It is located directly on the river Weser, which here is the border to North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:...
. Furthermore, the constituent community of Wehrden has a halt on the same line.
Public institutions
- Public Internet caféInternet cafeAn Internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name...
- Festival hall
- Würgassen nuclear power station (derelict)
Education
Beverungen has a schoolSchool
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
centre with a Hauptschule
Hauptschule
A Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
, a Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
and a Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
to which go students not only from Beverungen, but also from the neighbouring communities of Lauenförde
Lauenförde
Lauenförde is a municipality in the district of Holzminden, in Lower Saxony, Germany.- ARMS :The arms were granted in 1927 and based on a seal of the Amt Lauenförde from 1779. The lion is the so-called Welfen-lion, indicating that the town belonged to this family. The waves symbolise the Weser...
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...
and Trendelburg
Trendelburg
Trendelburg is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany with a population of 5,282 on 30 September 2009. It is situated on the river Diemel, north of Kassel.The town is twinned with Pocklington, England....
-Langental in Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
.
Events
In Beverungen, a shooting festival is held every other year. Every year at WhitsunPentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
, the "Orange-Blossom-Special" – a music festival hosted by the local record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
/mail order
Mail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
company, Glitterhouse Records
Glitterhouse Records
Glitterhouse Records is an independent record label based in Beverungen, Germany. The label specialises in the alternative country genre, and has released material by artists such as 16 Horsepower, The Walkabouts, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Hazeldine, Helldorado, The Shivers and Tom Liwa, but has...
– is held. Some 2000 visitors attend from all over Europe.