Oldenburg

Oldenburg is an Independent City in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands at the Hunte river. It has a population of 157,868 (as of 2004) which makes it the fourth biggest in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Brunswick and Osnabrück.

History

The town was first mentioned in 1108, at that time known under the name of Aldenburg. It became important due to its location at a ford of the navigable Hunte river. Oldenburg became a small county in the shadow of the much more powerful Hanseatic city of Bremen.

In 1448, the count of Oldenburg became king of Denmark under the name Christian I. Although far away from the Danish borders, Oldenburg was now a Danish exclave. The control over the town was left to the king's brothers, who established a short reign of tyranny.

The heyday of the town came with the rule of count Anton-Günther (ruled 1603-1667), who managed to keep Oldenburg out of the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) by donating valuable horses to warlord Count of Tilly. In 1607 he erected a Renaissance castle. Oldenburg was a wealthy town in a time of war and terror and its population and power considerably grew. After the death of Anton-Günther Oldenburg fell again under Danish authority. In 1667 the town was struck by a disastrous plague epidemic, and shortly after a fire destroyed Oldenburg. The Danish kings were not much interested in helping the town, so that it lost its importance completely.

In 1773 the Danish rule ended, and Oldenburg became a duchy. It was only now, that the destroyed buildings were rebuilt in a Classicist style. In 1810-14 Oldenburg was occupied by France. In 1893 a canal connecting the Hunte and the Ems rivers was finished, hence connecting the port of Oldenburg with the North Sea. Now the town gained economic importance. It remained a duchy until 1918.

After World War II in 1945, Oldenburg grows to more than 100,000 citizens when refugees migrated into the city that was only sparingly bombed during World War II.

Economy and Infrastructure

Traffic

The city center of Oldenburg is surrounded by a ring of Autobahnen consisting of A28, A29 and A293. Oldenburg is part of the railroad connections between Norddeich-Leer-Oldenburg-Bremen and Wilhelmshaven-Oldenburg-Osnabrück. InterCity connections to Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden and an InterCity Express connection to Frankfurt exist.

Oldenburg is connected to shipping through the Küstenkanal, a ship canal connecting the rivers Ems and Weser. With 1.6 Million tons of goods annually it is the most important non-coastal harbor in Lower Saxony.

The Bike plays a very important part in personal transportation.

Media

Nordwest-Zeitung, daily newspaper for the region

Oldenburger Stachel, alternative monthly newspaper

Oldenburger Sonntagszeitung, weekly newspaper

Huntereport, weekly newspaper

sisol, school information

Oldenburg Eins, open TV and Radio station

Education

Carl von Ossietzky University, founded 1973 and named after Carl von Ossietzky (Website)

Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) Oldenburg, founded 1971 (Website)

Personalities

Honorary Citizens

1917: Paul von Hindenburg, General and later President of Germany during the Weimar Republic

1928: Dr. h.c. Helene Lange, Politician (DDP) and women's rights activist

1944: August Hinrichs, Artist

1961: Prof. Bernhard Winter, Painter

1963: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Karl Jaspers, Philosopher, Psychiatrist and political author

1992: Horst Janssen, Artist
In 1937 Adolf Hitler and Karl Röver were made Honorary Citizens, but this was reverted in 1948

Famous People from Oldenburg

1683, Burkhard Christoph von Munnich, † 1767, military commander, political figure

1776, May 4: Johann Friedrich Herbart, † August 14 1841 Göttingen, Philosopher, Psychologist and Teacher

1803: Markus Nathan Adler, † 1890, Rabbi

1842, February 5: Karl Graf von Wedel, † December 30 1919 Stockholm, Governor of Alsace-Lorraine (Elsaß-Lothringen) between 1907-14

1848, April 9: Helene Lange, † May 13 1930 Berlin, Politician, Teacher and women's rights activist

1852, November 16: Friedrich August, Duke of Oldenburg 1900-18

1865, July 22: Dr. Karl Rudolf Heinze, † May 28 1928 Dresden, prime minister of Saxony October 26 to November 13 1918 and Governor of Saxony 1923

1873, February 26: Johann Schütte, Airship constructor

1875, April 2: Theodor Diedrich Wilhelm Francksen, †June 14 1914, Art collector

1879, April 18: August Hinrichs, † June 20 1956 Huntlosen, Author

1883, February 23: Karl Jaspers, † February 26 1969 Basel, Philosopher and Author

1888: Theodor Pekol, † 1958, Bus constructor and operator

1894, August 17: Otto Suhr, † August 30 1957 Berlin, Politician SPD and Lord Mayor of Berlin

1934, October 7: Ulrike Meinhof, † May 9 1976 Stuttgart (suicide), Journalist and Terrorist (Red Army Fraction)

1946, March 24: Su Kramer alias Gudrun Kramer, Singer

1952, July 17: Judith Jupe, Singer

1954, February 7: Dieter Bohlen, Singer

1974, May 28: Hans Jörg Butt, Soccer player

Famous People who've worked in Oldenburg

Hermann Ludwig Ehlers, *1904 Schöneberg near Berlin, †1954, Politician (CDU), President of the Bundestag, worked in the city council of Oldenburg at the beginning of his career

Horst Janssen, *November 14 1929 Oldenburg, †August 31 1995 Hamburg, Artist, lived in Oldenburg

Johann Heinrich Suhrkamp, *March 23 1891 near Oldenburg, March 31 1959 Frankfurt, founder of the Suhrkamp Publishing House

Cäcilie von Oldenburg, died there in 1844

External links

Official City Website

Tourist Information

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