Lauenau is a small town 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...

, with about 4,200 inhabitants. It is situated in the east of the district of Schaumburg

Schaumburg

Schaumburg is a district of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Nienburg, Hanover and Hamelin-Pyrmont, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia .-History:...

 just off the A2 Autobahn at the foot of the Deister

Deister

The Deister is a chain of hills in the German state of Lower Saxony, about 15 mi southwest of the city of Hanover. It runs in a north-westerly direction from Springe in the south to Rodenberg in the north. The next the chain of hills that attaches in the south is called Small Deister...

 ridge. As well as Lauenau itself, the parish includes the village of Feggendorf, a former coal mining community on the slopes of the Deister which now has a mining museum.

History

• Lauenau is documented in 1059 for the first time.
• In about 1200 Lauenau Castle was built by Duke Henry the Lion, of the Guelphs as a stronghold against the counts of Schaumburg
  Schaumburg
  Schaumburg is a district of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Nienburg, Hanover and Hamelin-Pyrmont, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia .-History:...
  
  .
• In 1536 Lauenau was granted three annual markets by the Count of Schaumburg, to whom the area belonged, as well as the right to brew beer and to hold a court with jurisdiction over minor cases. After the extinction of the line of the counts of Schaumburg in 1640 in the course of the Thirty Years War, the county was split up and Lauenau became part of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneberg, which later became part of the kingdom of Hanover and then the Prussian province of Hanover.

• In 1682 the town was almost totally destroyed by fire.

• During the Seven Years War, the town was occupied by the French.

• In recent times the town was a centre of the furniture industry of Lower Saxony. Today Lauenau is an expanding community due to its proximity to the Autobahn and to Hanover with fast growing population and industries generating jobs .

Facilities

In town there are 3 Kindergartens and two Forest kindergartens; a basic school system (1st - 4th grade); doctors, pharmacies and several supermarkets (Edeka, Netto, Penny and ALDI).

Castles

Lauenau has three castles:

• The 12th century castle of Henry the Lion was destroyed in 1519, during a feud over the monasteries, by the Schaumburg commander Ludolf von Münchhausen. The castle was rebuilt between 1565 and 1572, with a moat, in the style of the Weser Renaissance
  Weser Renaissance
  Weser Renaissance is a form of Renaissance architectural style that is found in the area around the River Weser in central Germany and which has been well-preserved in the towns and cities of the region.- Background :...
  
  . Today it is privately occupied.

• Meysenbug Castle was built in 1499 as a military fort. Count Anthonius von Holstein-Schaumburg granted the castle to Wulfferd von Zerssen as a fiefdom. In 1828 the estate was granted by William II, Elector of Hesse, to Carl Georg Philipp Rivalier von Meysenbug, who had been granted the Barony of Meysenbug which had become extinct. Subsequently von Meysenbug held various ministerial positions in Hesse, and he was the father of the well-known writer Malwida von Meysenbug.

• Schwedesdorf Castle, built by the von Münchhausens between 1596 and 1600.

Other institutions

In addition there is the late 19th century St Luke's Church, which is regarded as the masterpiece of ecclesiastical architect Conrad Wilhelm Hase, a mineral-rich spa and a privately owned micro-brewery, which was founded in 1861 by Sebastian Rupp.

Council

• SPD 10 seats
• CDU 5 seats

Mayor

Heinz Laufmöller (SPD) has been mayor of Lauenau since 2001. He was re-elected in 2006 for another 5 year term.

Former mayors of Lauenau:

Ernst Möbius	(SPD)	(1946–1948)
Karl Reinecke	(DP)	(1949)
Friedrich Garbe	(SPD)	(1950)
Karl Reinecke	(DP)	(1951)
Friedrich Garbe	(SPD)	(1952)
Karl Reinecke	(DP)	(1953)
Friedrich Garbe	(SPD)	(1954–1966)
Helmut Garbe	(SPD)	(1966–1974)
Friedrich Dierßen	(SPD)	(1974–1976)
Gerhard Richter	(SPD)	(1976–1996)
Uwe Heilmann	(SPD)	(1996–2001)