Gifhorn

Gifhorn
Old town hall Old town hall
Coat of arms of Gifhorn Coat of arms
Gifhorn
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Gifhorn
Government
• Mayor	Matthias Nerlich (CDU)
Area
• Total	104.86 km2 (40.49 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	41,518
• Density	400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	38501–38510, 38516, 38518
Dialling codes	05371
Vehicle registration	GF
Website	www.stadt-gifhorn.de

Gifhorn (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɪfhɔʁn]) is a town and capital of the district of Gifhorn in the east of Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about 42,000 and is mainly influenced by the small distance to the more industrial and commercially important cities nearby, Brunswick and Wolfsburg. Further, Gifhorn is part of the Hanover-Brunswick-Göttingen-Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region.

The oldest verifiable source attests the existence of the city in the year 1196.

Gifhorn is home to the International Wind- and Watermill Museum, which contains a comprehensive collection and working replicas of the world's most common windmills.

Geography

Gifhorn lies at the confluence of the Rivers Ise and Aller. Gifhorn is situated about 20 km (12 mi) north of the city of Brunswick and about 15 km (9 mi) west of Wolfsburg. In the city, the Bundesstraße 4 and 188 meet. At the northern end of the city, the Lüneburg Heath starts.

History

Gifhorn was first mentioned in 1196. It was located at the crossing of two then important merchant routes: The salt street (German: Salzstraße) being a main trading route for salt between Lüneburg and Brunswick, and the grain street (German: Kornstraße) transporting grain between Celle and Magdeburg.

Education

Schools in Gifhorn include the Humboldt Gymnasium, the Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium, Fritz-Reuter-Realschule, Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Realschule, Albert-Schweitzer-Hauptschule and the Berufsbildenden Schulen I and II. Alfred-Teves-Schule, which was called Volksschule Süd between 1954 and 1958, was open between 1954 and 2010.

Transport

Gifhorn rail station is in the southern part of the town.

In the city, the Bundesstraße 4 and 188 meet.

International relations

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

Gifhorn is twinned with:

• Xanthi, Greece
• Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, Ukraine
• Dumfries, United Kingdom
• Gardelegen, Germany (Saxony-Anhalt)
• Hallsberg, Sweden
• Złotów, Poland

The Bells Palace

Glocken-Palast, or The Bells Palace, is a monument and large building in Gifhorn. It was completed after 16 years of construction, combining various Russian timber building styles. Its cornerstone was laid by former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev in 1996.

It was built as a centre to promote cultural exchange across Europe, following the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The Bells Palace will host events and exhibitions celebrating peace, freedom and cultural diversity.

External links

• Gifhorn travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Gifhorn homepage (German)
• International museum of mills (German)