Schöppenstedt is a town in the district of Wolfenbüttel

Wolfenbüttel (district)

Wolfenbüttel is a district in southeastern Lower Saxony, Germany. Neighboring districts are the district-free City of Braunschweig, the district of Helmstedt, the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, and the districts of Goslar, Hildesheim and Peine...

, 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 situated southwest of the Elm

Elm (range)

The Elm is a range of hills north of the Harz mountains in the Helmstedt and Wolfenbüttel districts of Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a length of about 25 km and a width of 3–8 km and rises to an elevation of 323 meters. Surrounded by the Northern European Lowlands, the Elm is almost...

, approx. 17 km east of Wolfenbüttel

Wolfenbüttel

Wolfenbüttel is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick. It is the seat of the District of Wolfenbüttel and of the bishop of the Protestant Lutheran State Church of Brunswick...

, and 21 km southeast of Braunschweig

Braunschweig

Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....

. Schöppenstedt has a population of 5,800 (as of 2005).

Schöppenstedt is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde ("collective municipality") of Schöppenstedt

Schöppenstedt (Samtgemeinde)

Schöppenstedt is a Samtgemeinde in the district of Wolfenbüttel, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Its seat is in the village Schöppenstedt.The Samtgemeinde Schöppenstedt consists of the following municipalities:# Dahlum...

, which has a population of 10,400.

Notable sites

A main landmark is the St. Stephen's Church with its famous leaning tower of the 12th century. The interior contains remarkable stone pillars with depictions of animal figures and human heads, including Wotan and his ravens, the Fenris Wolf, the Midgard Serpent and the Ash Ekdrasül (black and white illustration). These ornate pillars have been constructed with the introduction of Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 as a monument to the ancient gods of faith - the ornaments could go back to the time mentioned in the first documentary of Schöppenstedt (1051).

Schöppenstedt has a museum dedicated to Till Eulenspiegel

Till Eulenspiegel

Till Eulenspiegel was an impudent trickster figure originating in Middle Low German folklore. His tales were disseminated in popular printed editions narrating a string of lightly connected episodes that outlined his picaresque career, primarily in Germany, the Low Countries and France...

.

External links

• Official site of the Samtgemeinde