Essel is a municipality in the Heidekreis district, in Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Most of the village is located on the southern bank of the river Aller

Aller

The Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...

. The A 7 motorway runs through the village.

Subdivisions

The municipality of Essel comprises 4 subdivisions:

• Essel
• Engehausen
• Stillenhöfen
• Ostenholz Moor
  Ostenholz Moor
  Ostenholz Moor is a high-moor bog on the Lüneburg Heath in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is named after the village of Ostenholz and is not far from Meißendorf. The moor is almost entirely within the Bergen-Hohne Military Training Area and, as a result, has been largely left to develop...
  
  

History

Essel was first mentioned in 1251 as Esele. The surveillance of the Aller crossing at Essel and control of Aller

Aller

The Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...

 shipping was undertaken by the 3 lords of Hademstorf

Hademstorf

Hademstorf is a municipality in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany....

. In the 14th century their seat was at Uhlenburg

Uhlenburg

Uhlenburg is the site of a lowland castle that was built in the 14th century close to the River Aller near Essel in the German state of Lower Saxony...

. This castle was situated in the Aller valley between Essel and Buchholz (Aller) and was destroyed in 1394 by the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Another castle was built in the 13th century at Engehausen - Blankenburg Castle

Blankenburg Castle

Blankenburg Castle was a small castle in the village of Engehausen in the municipality of Essel in the German state of Lower Saxony. It dates roughly to the 13th century. All that remains are parts of the surrounding rampart...

- on the site of which a manor house was subsequently built.