Oldenburg

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Oldenburg Castle

Oldenburg castle (used as a museum today)

Guard house and the Lamberti-Church

Oldenburg (Low German: Ollnborg) 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 158,341 (as of 2005) which makes it the fourth biggest in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig and Osnabrück. In German, the city is known officially as Oldenburg (Oldenburg) or Oldenburg (Oldb) to distinguish it from Oldenburg in Holstein.

1 History
2 Demography
3 Economy and Infrastructure
4 Personalities
5 External links

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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 the capital of the County of Oldenburg (later a Duchy, Grand Duchy and Republic), a small state in the shadow of the much more powerful Hanseatic city of Bremen.

In the 17th century, Oldenburg was a wealthy town in a time of war and turmoil and its population and power grew considerably. In 1667 the town was struck by a disastrous plague epidemic and, shortly after, a fire destroyed Oldenburg. The Danish kings, who were also counts of Oldenburg at the time, were not much interested in the condition of the town and it lost most of its former importance. In 1773, Danish rule ended. It was only then that the destroyed buildings in the city were rebuilt in a Classicist style.

In 1893 a canal connecting the Hunte and the Ems rivers was finished connecting the port of Oldenburg with the North Sea which greatly increased the city's economic importance.

In 1945 after World War II, Oldenburg grew to more than 100,000 inhabitants when refugees migrated into the city that was only sparingly bombed during World War II. In 1946, Oldenburg became part of the new German Land of Lower Saxony. Template:1911

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Demography

Template:Demography 12col Up to 1870, the figures are estimates. Template:Demography 13col

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Economy and Infrastructure

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Traffic

The city centre of Oldenburg is surrounded by a ring of highways (Autobahnen) consisting of A28, A29 and A293. Oldenburg is part of the railway connections between Norddeich-Leer-Oldenburg-Bremen and Wilhelmshaven-Oldenburg-Osnabrück. InterCity railway connections to Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden and an InterCityExpress connection to Frankfurt and Munich Central Station 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 harbour in Lower Saxony.

Bicycles play a very important part in personal transport.

Because of its close proximity to the city of Bremen, the city is only about half an hour drive from the Bremen Airport.

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Media

Nordwest-Zeitung, daily newspaper for the region
Oldenburger Sonntagszeitung, Sunday newspaper
Huntereport, came out on Wednesday and Sunday
Mox, fortnightly information magazine
Oldenburger Stachel, alternative monthly newspaper
sisol, school information
Oldenburg Eins, local semi-open TV and Radio station

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Education

Carl von Ossietzky University, founded 1973 and named after Carl von Ossietzky
Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) Oldenburg, founded 1971
RAB-Bildungszentrum für moderne Medien (University of modern Media)
Gymnasium Graf-Anton-Guenther School

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Agriculture

The city is in a largely agricultural area. There are farms near and even in the city. Common agricultural activities are the cultivation of livestock (especially dairy cows and other grazing animals) and crops such as asparagus, corn, and kale.

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Personalities

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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 Carl Röver were made honorary citizens, but this was revoked in 1948.

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Famous People from Oldenburg

1426, Christian of Oldenburg, † 1481, king of the Kalmar Union.
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
1818, December 21: Marie Frederike Amelie, Princess of Oldenburg and Queen of Greece 1836-1862 † Bamberg May 20 1875
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 1900-1918
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, journalist and Militant (Red Army Faction)
1945, September 9: Robert Alexy, jurist and legal philosopher
1946, March 24: Su Kramer alias Gudrun Kramer, Singer
1952, July 17: Judith Jupe, Singer
1957: Heiko Daxl, media artist
1959, January 17: Andrea Clausen, actress at Burgtheater in Vienna
1974, May 28: Hans-Jörg Butt, Soccer player
1982, September 2: Johannes Bitter, Handball player, goalie of the German international team
1983, September 22: Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, host and actor
1990, March 18: Romke Buchholz, race driver

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Famous People who 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 Hamburg, † August 31 1995 Oldenburg, 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