Hamelin

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Coordinates: 52°6′N 9°22′E / 52.100°N 9.367°E / 52.100; 9.367
From English Wikipedia @ Freddythechick
(Redirected from Hameln)
For other uses, see Hamelin (disambiguation).
Hamelin
Hameln
Town
Panorama of Hamelin
Panorama of Hamelin
Coat of arms of Hamelin
Coat of arms
Location of Hamelin within Hamelin-Pyrmont district

<imagemap>File: Hameln in HM.svg | 240x240px

poly 152 114 127 81 116 80 107 69 123 58 126 48 142 56 159 26 179 29 186 8 202 11 200 23 213 29 227 63 214 67 217 78 214 96 222 107 224 114 230 133 206 124 194 141 170 132 173 122 154 110 142 92 Bad Münder poly 238 173 238 201 260 231 307 301 314 293 304 280 313 266 307 247 320 237 314 213 320 201 317 190 326 170 331 168 330 159 295 140 274 137 276 159 286 173 275 183 Salzhemmendorf poly 185 196 183 172 194 172 187 145 206 129 221 142 227 118 237 116 255 105 293 137 263 142 274 157 285 173 275 182 242 176 238 194 252 218 252 229 240 230 241 235 200 215 200 202 Coppenbrügge poly 16 169 46 181 53 168 69 160 80 150 103 142 113 137 134 141 154 113 134 90 114 78 108 63 93 59 34 87 12 89 3 96 31 128 24 133 15 134 18 144 28 145 Hessisch Oldendorf poly 69 156 80 186 95 197 106 207 112 223 127 205 151 222 175 210 184 198 184 174 191 167 197 150 184 137 171 133 170 122 151 114 130 144 111 142 97 146 76 145 Hamelin poly 91 272 106 268 115 241 106 233 116 221 125 210 152 220 168 214 184 200 200 204 202 216 245 238 241 245 211 248 209 258 211 263 194 269 175 284 165 285 130 290 123 290 119 303 115 285 Emmerthal poly 18 289 72 266 91 270 105 282 114 291 115 300 125 309 130 312 128 328 114 335 101 341 93 347 73 349 79 338 87 300 74 300 60 283 42 301 35 308 Bad Pyrmont poly 17 282 54 274 67 264 90 266 98 270 107 266 110 250 115 242 108 235 112 222 108 203 95 199 82 192 73 176 66 158 53 178 40 184 26 174 14 170 14 179 30 191 16 215 25 238 32 255 Aerzen poly 115 362 100 349 87 349 75 355 63 358 74 341 86 303 57 289 50 308 36 313 15 292 26 269 29 255 20 226 22 206 25 188 11 178 -1 176 4 147 -1 358 North Rhine-Westphalia poly 115 358 103 343 119 333 130 321 133 311 126 304 131 292 147 290 175 286 201 266 221 252 236 244 249 230 265 225 305 295 315 298 334 307 352 287 353 288 347 361 132 360 Holzminden (district) poly 353 285 345 288 346 299 335 305 305 279 311 264 311 253 318 243 322 231 316 214 323 199 320 192 329 170 332 159 314 153 307 143 296 145 305 139 317 140 326 147 329 145 344 140 346 129 353 119 Hildesheim (district) poly 185 0 203 12 201 21 212 28 223 40 224 55 227 62 227 68 217 102 226 114 242 107 253 105 279 122 289 135 309 140 323 142 330 145 340 128 353 120 354 107 342 97 247 98 247 2 235 -1 Hanover (district) poly 3 174 12 177 15 168 15 161 24 146 12 136 13 132 26 133 31 130 5 92 11 84 25 90 73 58 88 56 119 61 123 50 158 26 173 26 185 4 180 0 1 1 Schaumburg rect 298 56 311 69 Hameln-Pyrmont rect 249 3 348 97 Lower Saxony

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Hamelin is located in Germany
Hamelin
Hamelin
Hamelin is located in Lower Saxony
Hamelin
Hamelin
Coordinates: 52°6′N 9°22′E / 52.100°N 9.367°E / 52.100; 9.367
CountryGermany
StateLower Saxony
DistrictHamelin-Pyrmont
Government
 • Lord mayor (2021–26) Claudio Griese[1] (CDU)
Area
 • Total102.30 km2 (39.50 sq mi)
Elevation
68 m (223 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[2]
 • Total57,905
 • Density570/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
31785–89, 3250
Dialling codes05151
Vehicle registrationHM
Websitewww.hameln.de

Hamelin (/ˈhæməlɪn/ HAM-(ə-)lin; ‹See Tfd›German: Hameln [ˈhaːml̩n] <phonos file="De-Hameln.ogg"></phonos>) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

History

Hamelin started with a monastery, which was founded as early as 851 AD; its surrounding village became a town by the 12th century. The incident involving the "Pied Piper" (see below) is said to have occurred in 1284 and may be based on a true event, although somewhat different from the traditional tale. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Hamelin was a minor member of the Hanseatic League.

In June 1634, during the Thirty Years' War, Lothar Dietrich, Freiherr of Bönninghausen, a general in the Imperial Army, lost the Battle of Oldendorf to the Swedish General Kniphausen, after Hamelin had been besieged by the Swedish army.

The era of the town's greatest prosperity began in 1664, when Hamelin became a fortified border town of the Principality of Calenberg. In 1705, it became part of the newly created Electorate of Hanover when George Louis, Prince of Calenberg, later King George I of Great Britain, inherited the Principality of Lüneburg.

Hamelin was surrounded by four fortresses, which gave it the nickname "Gibraltar of the North", and was the most heavily fortified town in the Electorate of Hanover. The first fort (Fort George) was built between 1760 and 1763, the second (Fort Wilhelm) in 1774, a third in 1784, and the last, called Fort Luise, was built in 1806.

In 1806, Hamelin surrendered without a fight to the French forces, after Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. Napoleon's forces subsequently pulled down the town's historic walls, the guard towers, and the three fortresses at the other side of the river Weser. In 1843, the people of Hamelin built a sightseeing tower on the Klüt Hill out of the ruins of Fort George. The tower is called the Klütturm and is a popular sight for tourists.

In 1867 Hamelin became part of the Kingdom of Prussia, which annexed Hanover in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.

Between 1933 and 1937, the Nazi regime held the Reich Harvest Thanksgiving Festival at the nearby Bückeberg hill, to celebrate the achievements of Germany's farmers.

During World War II, Hamelin Prison was used for the detention of Social Democrats, Communists, and other political prisoners. Around 200 died there, and more died in April 1945, when the Nazis sent the prisoners on long marches, fearing the Allied advance. Just after the war, Hamelin prison was used by British Occupation Forces for the detention of Germans accused of war crimes. Following their conviction, around 200 were hanged there, including Irma Grese and Josef Kramer, along with over a dozen of the perpetrators of the Stalag Luft III murders. The prison has since been turned into a hotel.[3] Executed war criminals were interred in the prison yard until it became full, and further burials took place at the Am Wehl Cemetery in Hameln. In March 1954, German authorities began exhuming the 91 bodies from the prison yard, which were reburied in individual graves in consecrated ground in Am Wehl Cemetery.[3]

The coat of arms (German: Wappen) of Hamelin depicts the Münster St. Bonifatius, the oldest church in the city.[4]

Geography

Subdivisions

Watershed of the river Weser.
  • Nordstadt
  • Südstadt
  • West/Klütviertel
  • Ost/Basberg
  • Mitte/Altstadt
  • Wehl
  • Afferde
  • Hastenbeck
  • Halvestorf (Halvestorf, Bannensiek, Weidehohl and Hope)
  • Haverbeck
  • Hilligsfeld (Groß und Klein Hilligsfeld)
  • Sünteltal (Holtensen, Unsen, Welliehausen)
  • Klein Berkel / Wangelist
  • Tündern
  • Wehrbergen
  • Rohrsen

Demographics

Year Inhabitants
1689 2,398
1825 5,326
1905 21,385
1939 32,000
1968 48,787
2005 58,872
2018 57,510

Attractions

1592 painting of Pied Piper copied from the glass window of Marktkirche in Hamelin
The Pied Piper leads the children out of Hamelin. Illustration by Kate Greenaway.
Christmas market in Hamelin.

Tale of the Pied Piper

The town is famous for the folk tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin (‹See Tfd›German: Der Rattenfänger von Hameln), a medieval story that tells of a tragedy that befell the town in the 13th century. The version written by the Brothers Grimm made it popular throughout the world. It is also the subject of well-known poems by Johann von Goethe and Robert Browning. Every Sunday in summer, the tale is performed by actors in the town centre.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Hamelin is twinned with:[5]

Media

The Deister- und Weserzeitung [de], known as DeWeZet, publishes out of Hameln.

British army presence

Hamelin was home to several Royal Engineer units, including 35 Engineer Regiment and 28 Amphibious Engineer Regiment until summer 2014, with many of the British families housed at Hastenbeck (Schlehenbusch) and Afferde. It was also home to the Royal Corps of Transport unit of 26 Bridging Regiment RCT, comprising 35 Sqn RCT and 40 Sqn RCT, until 1971.[6]

Notable people

Postcard "Gruss aus Hameln" featuring the Pied Piper of Hamelin, 1902

See also

Gallery

  • Hameln Rattenfängerhaus
    Hameln Rattenfängerhaus
  • The Leisthaus, Hamelin
    The Leisthaus, Hamelin
  • Jewish cemetery of Hamelin
    Jewish cemetery of Hamelin
  • The Golden Rat, on a footbridge over the River Weser in Hamelin
    The Golden Rat, on a footbridge over the River Weser in Hamelin
  • The Hochzeitshaus, the church's Glockenspiel plays the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin
    The Hochzeitshaus, the church's Glockenspiel plays the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin

References

  1. ^ "Direktwahlen in Niedersachsen vom 12. September 2021" (PDF). Landesamt für Statistik Niedersachsen. 13 October 2021.
  2. ^ "LSN-Online Regionaldatenbank, Tabelle A100001G: Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes, Stand 31. Dezember 2022" (in German). Landesamt für Statistik Niedersachsen.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  3. ^ 3.0 3.1 "Post World War II hangings under British jurisdiction at Hameln Prison in Germany".
  4. ^ Start page at muenster-hameln.de
  5. ^ "Freundschaft über Hunderte Kilometer hinweg". hameln.de (in Deutsch). Hameln. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  6. ^ "Briten ziehen früher aus Hameln ab". Archived from the original on 2012-12-30. Retrieved 2012-12-25.
  7. ^ Mershman, Francis (1912). "St. Vicelinus" . Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15.
  8. ^ "Hameln" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 876, see para 3. Legend of the Pied Piper: Hameln is famed as the scene of the myth of the piper of Hameln....
  9. ^ "Moritz, Karl Philipp" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 838.
  10. ^ "Thibaut, Anton Friedrich Justus" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 846.
  11. ^ "Wellhausen, Julius" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 507.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hameln.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Hameln".
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