Oldenburg

Coat of Arms	Map
Basic Information
German State:	Lower Saxony
Administrative District:	Independent City
Area (City of Oldenburg):	102.96 km²
Population (City of Oldenburg):	157,868 (June 30, 2004)
Population Density:	1533.29 inhabitants/km²
Average Altitude:	5 m
Post Code:	26001-26135 (formerly: 2900)
Area Code:	0441
Car Licence Code:	OL
Geographical Position:
Politics
Lord Mayor:	Dietmar Schütz (SPD)
City Government: Contact Address	Markt 1 26122 Oldenburg
Web Site:	www.oldenburg.de
E-Mail:	info@oldenburg.de

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