Germany’s 16 States: Lower Saxony
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10 reasons to love Lower Saxony
Weser cycle path
I want to ride my bicycle; I want to ride my bike! … which you can do marvelously in Lower Saxony. Like on the Weser cycle path. It follows the river coving some 500 kilometers all the way to the North Sea Weser estuary. The route takes you past many old castles, like the one pictured. It also involves repeatedly crossing the river, sometimes by hand-operated ferry to reach the other shore.
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10 reasons to love Lower Saxony
The North Sea
In the north-west is where you find the Wadden Sea of Lower Saxony, which is a UNESCO natural World Heritage Site. This tidal area is home to more than 10,000 animal and plant species. One Wadden Sea inhabitant is especially popular with visitors: the seal. To get close to these animals head to the seal house in the German Wadden Sea National Park.
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10 reasons to love Lower Saxony
Lüneburg Heath
Starting from September, the spectacle of the lilac blooms attracts some five million tourists to the heath every year. A shepherd with a flock of docile heath-land sheep completes the picture of this pastoral idyll. The Lüneburg Heath has been a nature reserve since 1922, making it the oldest and – with 23,437 hectares – the biggest wildlife sanctuary in Lower Saxony.
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10 reasons to love Lower Saxony
Hanover
The New Town Hall is one of the state capital’s landmarks. Take the unique lift, the only one in Europe with an arched course to the observation platform for a great view of the city with its narrow old town alleys, the sailing boats on the Maschsee lake and the Sprengel modern art museum. Must-see exhibits there include the colorful giant female sculptures by artist Niki de St. Phalle.
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10 reasons to love Lower Saxony
Hamelin, home of the pied piper
Anyone visiting the Weser Uplands should definitely go to Hamelin. Many buildings in the old town center are built in the Weser renaissance style, a northern German version of the Italian architecture. Yet the town is best known the world over for the folk tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin describing the disappearance of city’s children. A tale translated into more than 30 different languages.
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10 reasons to love Lower Saxony
World Heritage in Goslar
The Rammelsberg mine in Goslar is one of the world’s oldest ore extraction sites. Here at the foot of the Harz mountains, ore was mined for over 1000 years. The power for the mining work was won from a complex system of water ditches and reservoirs, including one of the oldest dams in Europe. The Rammelsberg mine and the old town center of Goslar are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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10 reasons to love Lower Saxony
St Mary’s Cathedral in Hildesheim
St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. Michael’s Church in Hildesheim are also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Hildesheim was first mentioned in official records 1,200 years ago. According to legend, Emperor Louis the Pious is said to have experienced a divine miracle here and founded St. Mary’s Cathedral on the site as a way of giving thanks.
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10 reasons to love Lower Saxony
Bückeburg riding school
Lower Saxony is horse country. The noble animal has adorned the northern German state’s coat of arms since 1946. It is little surprise then that this is where you find Germany’s only princely school of dressage at Bückeburg Castle. The stables in this 17th century building are home to horses of the still existing baroque breeds for dressage.
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10 reasons to love Lower Saxony
Car city Wolfsburg
If its horsepower under the bonnet you are after then head to the VW factory in Wolfsburg, one of Germany’s newest towns. It was created for the VW car factory workers in 1938. Vehicles are still produced here. A walk through the town also gives you an insight into the history and the future of car making.
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10 reasons to love Lower Saxony
Roman battles relived
In the year 9 AD Germanic leader Arminius lured Roman forces led by Varus into an ambush resulting in the death of 20,000 Roman soldiers. To this day it is still unknown where exactly this famous battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place. One possible site is Kalkriese village north of Osnabrück. Reason enough to open an archaeological museum there, where battles are re-enacted.
Author: Frederike Müller
Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany is the second-largest German state in surface area after Bavaria. Its natural areas are as rich in variety as its size Is large: from the mountain paradise of the Harz region to the gentle hills in the Weser Uplands and the Osnabrück Land, to the northern German lowlands, with Lüneburg Heath and the North Sea coast, off which lie the East Frisian islands.
01:27 mins.
Hanover
The trade fair city of Hannover is also the largest city in Lower Saxony. Among the sights in this once fortified city and royal seat is Hanover’s Adventure Zoo, which is considered one of Germany’s most beautiful zoos. Nicole Frölich, who hosts our TV show Check-in, even got a kiss from an animal there.
09:16 mins.
Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen
What magnificence! These large gardens in Hanover constitute 50 hectares of testimony to Baroque gardening art, with a fountain whose jet of water can reach 80 meters in height. Since 2013, this historical garden ensemble has been completed by the reconstruction of the Welfenschloss, a palace that had been largely destroyed during World War II.
02:33 mins.
Lower Saxon Wadden Sea
The Wadden Sea, a UNESCO Wolrd Natural Heritage site off the North Sea coast is one of Germany’s natural wonders. In the middle of it are the East Frisian Islands. One of them is Norderney, where vacationers will find not only intact natural surroundings but also a historical spa, freed from the dust of times past.
02:19 mins.
Cycling through the Weser Uplands
Tranquil towns with half-timbered houses, sunlit woods, crystal clear brooks and Lower Saxony’s longest river, the Weser, typify the Weser Uplands in the far south of this state. Some of the tales of the Brothers Grimm are said to have their origins here. Places like the ruins of Cinderella’s castle in Polle and the Pied Piper’s town of Hamelin are reminders of them.
04:33 mins.
Your trip to Germany
Are you looking for recommendations for your visit to Germany? We’ve got them: Tips for Germany – state by state.
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