Dohnsen is a village administered by the Lower Saxon town of Bergen in northern Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath

Lüneburg Heath

The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...

 in North 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 lies 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Bergen and has 857 inhabitants (as at 2006).

History

Not far from Dohnsen is the Dohnsen-Siddernhausen Dolmen

Dohnsen-Siddernhausen Dolmen

The dolmen on a low elevation between the villages of Dohnsen and Siddernhausen near the town of Bergen in North Germany, was originally 500 m further north. It was excavated in 1977 and reconstructed in its present location...

 which dates back to the New Stone Age. In the woods there, near the hamlet of Wohlde, there are no less than 42 tumuli from the late Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 dating from 1500 to 1200 BC, which are considered part of the Lüneburg Culture.

The first record of the village of Dohnsen was in 1330 when it was called Dodensen. Its outlying villages include Wohlde, Hünenburg, Roxhüllen, Salzmoor and Siddernhausen. Since the administrative reforms of the early 1970s, Dohnsen has been part of the municipality of Bergen. It has largely retained its village character. In Dohnsen there are still original farmsteads some of which have old stands of oak.

Politics

Since the merging of local councils as part of the Lower Saxon administrative reforms of 1971, Dohnsen has been part of the town of Bergen. It is represented by a parish council (Ortsrat) and a chairman (Ortsbürgermeister). The council is empowered, inter alia, to make decisions about public services in the village, is responsible for maintaining the appearance of the village and for overseeing its clubs and societies, and has to be consulted by the town of Bergen on all important matters affecting the village. It consists of five elected representatives who, together with the chair, sit on the Bergen town council. The parish council elects its own chair. The current incumbent is Hartmut Stucke.

Literature

• Ewald Schrader - Chronik Dohnsen-Wohlde mit Siddernhausen, Roxhüllen, Hünenburg u. Salzmoor Bergen (1976)

External links

• Information about Dohnsen