Lengede

Lengede
Municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Lengede within Peine district <imagemap>File: Lengede in PE.svg | 240x240px poly 47 780 159 770 197 803 218 789 209 778 358 758 350 693 311 679 324 563 297 536 294 458 280 450 287 432 245 431 250 396 213 424 223 461 205 542 190 547 193 527 179 537 182 560 123 575 112 669 75 682 54 692 Hohenhameln poly 584 829 631 814 632 751 673 714 671 729 716 743 724 753 713 796 723 813 756 802 762 817 795 811 793 830 799 836 800 867 831 885 820 902 799 917 786 945 726 945 734 912 718 892 694 905 703 912 664 948 627 934 595 920 612 903 598 877 578 857 Lengede poly 678 724 679 673 698 651 699 578 736 515 803 506 843 589 885 571 900 597 952 609 942 632 964 656 997 657 989 692 948 697 964 774 948 787 916 787 906 781 889 819 896 828 878 828 877 846 838 850 834 885 802 864 795 816 725 814 722 758 710 738 Vechelde poly 360 758 353 735 358 706 352 693 323 684 318 677 323 670 318 643 317 631 323 629 324 608 364 605 359 596 370 590 374 598 397 590 412 571 430 565 439 564 451 553 461 553 460 561 466 579 471 575 477 595 488 602 497 600 502 583 511 584 515 571 527 564 529 541 534 538 556 548 562 539 579 537 584 550 594 557 596 567 600 575 592 585 595 595 608 613 617 616 616 627 630 655 651 652 658 648 685 655 690 661 686 680 680 685 678 699 684 713 650 733 652 736 633 752 639 769 639 777 633 778 634 813 608 822 596 828 583 827 575 824 546 822 546 817 524 811 508 799 504 802 498 794 502 788 484 776 464 777 443 758 431 761 422 771 395 793 370 783 368 770 Ilsede poly 311 602 330 569 294 537 298 455 324 435 309 412 338 401 329 343 379 338 346 302 401 295 411 332 487 311 492 294 518 280 542 299 587 279 618 303 627 341 656 340 679 357 665 446 740 426 778 501 743 510 699 585 690 658 656 642 631 652 587 585 599 566 572 535 529 535 492 590 458 549 Peine poly 657 338 658 303 751 296 761 337 769 344 796 287 838 313 851 284 930 254 933 281 913 291 925 332 899 345 901 378 906 399 926 413 911 462 935 479 934 566 970 570 964 602 887 591 893 573 841 587 806 506 770 511 749 427 671 450 670 409 683 386 673 351 658 335 Wendeburg poly 350 302 399 294 413 328 482 310 491 288 512 278 534 291 592 278 606 293 615 301 628 302 632 340 651 339 656 302 754 292 765 336 775 330 793 289 838 312 843 282 827 227 785 97 774 111 755 84 740 89 716 57 704 65 686 37 681 43 626 30 563 72 574 119 562 130 521 105 474 98 452 176 419 210 387 211 379 203 314 220 317 257 346 268 Edemissen rect 206 142 251 198 Peine (district) rect 9 16 308 293 Lower Saxony poly 979 846 1033 847 1034 433 970 406 953 440 931 440 925 462 940 470 950 553 977 560 978 604 953 612 971 654 997 644 1008 657 989 687 966 706 976 764 959 787 Braunschweig poly 605 3 613 17 629 24 667 32 692 37 721 63 749 75 762 78 774 91 767 109 785 97 844 279 929 252 933 275 911 295 929 330 894 345 912 381 919 394 935 422 949 432 965 405 1033 422 1029 8 610 0 Gifhorn (district) poly 458 972 472 942 511 930 544 937 545 958 532 973 Wolfenbüttel (district) poly 536 971 545 962 582 924 661 955 705 924 727 931 722 943 800 949 813 914 840 905 854 855 885 844 886 830 907 829 917 795 953 793 975 845 1033 858 1033 972 Salzgitter poly -1 557 34 588 117 589 106 658 46 683 39 785 142 786 193 810 351 770 380 800 440 776 563 829 567 867 600 899 560 940 557 920 492 914 465 931 445 971 1 965 Hildesheim (district) poly 1 552 32 556 49 533 70 546 55 583 111 582 117 561 162 555 168 522 195 519 212 392 253 389 297 436 313 375 299 360 305 340 333 323 341 279 308 259 310 212 377 193 402 204 442 174 454 96 526 90 557 111 561 56 613 37 591 1 1 10 Hanover (district) desc bottom-right </imagemap>
Lengede Lengede
Coordinates: 52°12′N 10°18′E
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Peine
Subdivisions	5 districts
Government
• Mayor (2021–26)	Maren Wegener (SPD)
Area
• Total	34.09 km2 (13.16 sq mi)
Elevation	157 m (515 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	14,308
• Density	420/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	38268
Dialling codes	05174, 05344
Vehicle registration	PE
Website	www.lengede.de

Lengede is a municipality in the district of Peine, in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 18 kilometers southwest of Braunschweig and 40 kilometers southeast of Hanover. It became known to the world in 1963 because of a mining disaster and the subsequent rescue operation of eleven surviving miners, which became known as the "Wunder von Lengede" ("Miracle of Lengede").

Geography

Division of the municipality

Lengede consists of the following districts

• Barbecke
• Broistedt
• Klein Lafferde
• Lengede
• Woltwiesche

History

The Miracle of Lengede

Main article: Wunder von Lengede

A lot of water was needed to wash the ore of the iron mine Mathilde in Lengede, and several artificial lakes existed right above the underground mine. At 8 p.m. on 24 October 1963, water and mud from one of those lakes broke into the mine. At that time, 129 men were working underground. Seventy-nine men managed to escape right away. A group of seven men was reached with a drill; when the water level receded on the next day, they could be saved with a float.

Four men went to the elevated end of a gallery; even though it was below water level, the air pocket there prevented the water from entering. Expecting to find men there, a drilling was begun to the cavern some 79 meters below ground. In the meantime, journalists from all over the world had assembled. As it was of utmost importance to protect the air pocket, pressured air was pumped down. After six days, three men were finally rescued; a fourth had died in the meantime. The men were brought up with the Dahlbusch-Bombe, a tiny metal pipe which allows one man to stand inside. They had to spend several hours in a pressure chamber before being released.

A group of twenty-one men had fled to an old part of the mine, known as the Old Man, which was not used anymore and had already partly collapsed. Falling rocks killed several men there, ventilation was poor, and after a while their lamps went dark. The management of the mine was already about to end the rescue operation and call for funeral services, when some miners pointed out that some men would have tried to escape to the Old Man and were maybe still there. No exact plans for that part of the mine were available, and an exploratory drill was started.

Fifty-six metres underground, a cavern was reached. Tapping signs were heard, and the rescuers let food, water and even a microphone down to the men below. Ludwig Erhard, who had been elected Bundeskanzler just weeks earlier, came to Lengede and spoke to the trapped men, then the real drilling began. Because of concerns about the poor condition of Old Man, water was considered too heavy for use in the drilling below 40 metres and pressured air was used instead. At 6 a.m. on November 7, the men were reached. Two miners went down with the Dahlbusch-Bombe to help their colleagues come up. Eleven men were rescued.

All in all, twenty-nine men died in the disaster. When the mine was later cleared, it was found that some of them had lived for about 14 days underground. One man was never found.

Legal proceeding continued for some five years to determine whether anyone was responsible for the disaster, but in the end no one was prosecuted.

See also

• Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg