Lindau (Katlenburg-Lindau)
Encyclopedia
Lindau variously referred to as Lindau am Harz, Lindau (Eichsfeld) and K-L-Lindau is a village in the southern Niedersachsen
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...

 section of the Eichsfeld
Eichsfeld
The Eichsfeld is a historical region in the southeast of Lower Saxony and northwest of Thuringia in the south of the Harz mountains...

, 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...

. Lindau belongs to the Gemeinde
Gemeinde
Gemeinde is a German word for borough, commune, community, township, municipality, or in religious contexts, a parish or congregation ....

 (municipality) of Katlenburg-Lindau
Katlenburg-Lindau
Katlenburg-Lindau is a municipality in the Landkreis of Northeim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km southeast of Northeim, and 20 km northeast of Göttingen...

 and to the Landkreis (district) of Northeim
Northeim
Northeim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, as of 2002, a population of 31 000. It's located on the German Half-Timbered House Road.-History:...

. The village is known by many space physicists
Space physics
Space physics, also known as space plasma physics, is the study of plasmas as they occur naturally in the universe. As such, it encompasses a far-ranging number of topics, including the sun, solar wind, planetary magnetospheres and ionospheres, auroras, cosmic rays, and synchrotron radiation...

 and radio engineers around the world as the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research is a research institute in Astronomy/Astrophysics, located in Lindau , Germany; 20 km north east of Göttingen. The exploration of our solar system is the central theme for the scientific research done at this Institute...

 is based here. This was known as "Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie" until June 2004.

Geography

Lindau lies on an area of level farmland between the Oder
Oder (Harz)
The Oder is a 56 km long river in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhume. Its source is in the Harz mountains, near Sankt Andreasberg. It flows southwest through Bad Lauterberg, Pöhlde and Hattorf am Harz...

 and Rhume
Rhume
The Rhume is a 48 km long river in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Leine. Its source is a karstic spring in Rhumspringe, south of the Harz mountain range...

 rivers.

History

Lindau was mentioned in writing for the first time in 1184. Around 1322 Otto II of Woldenberg, bishop of Hildesheim, established the Mushaus (mashing
Mashing
In brewing and distilling, mashing is the process of combining a mix of milled grain , known as the "grain bill", and water, known as "liquor", and heating this mixture...

 house), today the oldest building of the municipality of Gemeinde Katlenburg-Lindau, and in which the Lindau administration was accommodated until 1741.

In the 19th Century Lindau's economy grew with a jute
Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....

 spinning mill set up by the Greve company (1872) and the brewery.

The fire of Easter 1911

In the afternoon of 15 April 1911, Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

 Sunday, Lindau experienced its largest and most devastating fire. In a farmyard in the Unterflecken area of the village, two boys had made a fire. Since it was very windy, the fire spread to the farm buildings and those of a bricklayer. Primitive fire fighting
Fire fighting
Firefighting is the act of extinguishing fires. A firefighter fights fires to prevent loss of life, and/or destruction of property and the environment...

 equipment and the distance from the local river led to the entire Unterflecken being burnt. Sparks ignited other houses and stored chemicals exploded.

42 houses and 30 auxiliary buildings were destroyed and many were never rebuilt. In the village marketplace the Mariendenkmal monument was erected. In the same year, a local volunteer fire brigade was established.

Weimar Republic (1918-1933)

Lindau's predominantly catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 population influenced the village's voting pattern . (A census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

 from the year 1934 indicated there were 1487 inhabitants, of whom 85.5% were Catholic, only 14.5% Lutheran while no Jewish inhabitants were recorded.)

The Zentrumspartei centrist  party, abbreviated 'Zentrum', held a special supremacy in the district during the period of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...

. In 1920 Zentrum gained 69.8% of Lindau's Reichstag
Reichstag (Weimar Republic)
The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...

 votes. This high vote was maintained through all the years of the Weimar Republic until 1932, when with the last free elections this party still gained 60.8 % of the vote while in many other places the Nazi Party had long been the strongest political power.
The Nazis recorded just two votes (0.3 %) for the first time in 1928 and were insignificant at first in subsequent years. In November 1932 the Nazis were no longer to be ignored, at 21.9% the second strongest party in Lindau after the Zentrum. A local Nazi group formed in 1930 (the district's first had been formed in 1925 in Duderstadt
Duderstadt
Duderstadt is a city in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district of Göttingen. It is the center and capital of the northern part of the Eichsfeld...

).

The last months of the Weimar Republic were shaped by violent political arguments in Lindau, with many party meetings and banners in the village. A news item from this time reports that a Lindau SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...

 member was hurt “by a political opponent, with a key, on the head.”

Lindau during national socialism (1933-1945)

No documents remain from the March 1933 elections, but it is assumed that Lindau voted along customary lines. At first the Lindau population remained sceptically opposed to the new ruling powers. However, the concordat
Reichskonkordat
The Reichskonkordat is a treaty that was agreed between the Holy See and Nazi government, that guarantees the rights of the Catholic Church in Germany. It was signed on July 20, 1933 by Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli and Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen on behalf of Pope Pius XI and President...

 between the German Reich and the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 encouraged many Catholic voters. Gradually national socialism became acceptable among them.

In May 1933 the first Nazi mayor was appointed. The municipality had no more influence on policy. The new ruling powers determined everything.

In November of the same year Reichstag elections took place. However it was only possible to vote 'yes' or 'no'. With these elections 910 Lindauers voted for the Nazis: 98%. Only 19 voters (approx 2%) were either invalid or 'no' votes.

Job creation measures led to new roads and more people. Among other things in 1938 the market place was paved and was used as a stage for many political demonstration
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...

s.

The economy flourished, the Greve string factory for example got many orders from the armed forces during preparations for the Second World War.

Second World War (1939-1945)

An early influence of the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 was the arrival of women and children from large cities of the Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...

 in December 1939.

During the war many prisoners of war came to Lindau, among others Frenchmen and Poles, who were used in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

.

In 1945 a group of Canadian airmen
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

 crashed.

The Second World War cost 111 Lindau soldiers' lives, nearly twice as high as the casualties in the First World War of 1914-1918.

The post-war period (1945-1949)

One of the first steps after the end of the war was the release of prisoners of war. In June 1945 approximately 200 British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 personnel were deployed in Lindau after the Americans had left and they remained until 1946.

Gradually life in Lindau began to normalise. On 3 June a new kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 was inaugurated and on 5 June the public library, after all National Socialist material had been removed, opened in the parsonage building.
The school suffered from a shortage of teachers and textbooks "For learning books the school children possess nothing except for a Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

, Catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...

 and maybe a reader," wrote a teacher at that time.

Between the English occupiers and the Lindau population there existed a good relationship. The British held friendly matches with the FC Lindau soccer club.

After the war a research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

 institute relocated to Lindau, where buildings of the Technical University of Hanover already existed. The convoy arrived on the 2nd and 3rd of March 1946. This was to become the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research is a research institute in Astronomy/Astrophysics, located in Lindau , Germany; 20 km north east of Göttingen. The exploration of our solar system is the central theme for the scientific research done at this Institute...

.

On 16 March 1946 the village school converted back into a catholic school
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...

 after 88% of parents voted for this. However the Protestant children got their own religious education
Religious education
In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion and its varied aspects —its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles...

.

The high number of refugees from the large cities was problematic. Food, accommodation and work were scarce. The number of refugees constantly increased, bringing the population to 2400. All houses were heavily occupied, and the relationship between Lindauers and refugees was not always good.

Between 1946 and 1948 the Fleckenstraße road was paved, and the church tower was repaired in 1948.

Development from 1949 until today

After the Second World War Lindau developed to the north and the entire infrastructure was improved.

In 1957 the village got a multipurpose hall, (reconditioned in 2006). A new elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

 was established in 1965 which serves today as a Hauptschule
Hauptschule
A Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...

 and Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...

. A new kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 was built in 1969. Lindau got its own sports field, and a new fire station was built in 1971 as well as asphalted roads equipped with modern lighting.

In 1969 Lindau joined the Rhumetal district drainage project, completed in 1976.

On 1 January 1973 as part of administrative reform of 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...

 the district of Duderstadt
Duderstadt
Duderstadt is a city in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district of Göttingen. It is the center and capital of the northern part of the Eichsfeld...

 was dissolved, from which Lindau was placed in Landkreis Northeim (district)
Northeim (district)
Northeim is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Holzminden, Hildesheim, Goslar, Osterode and Göttingen, and the state of Hesse .-History:...

. Lindau also lost the status of a municipality as together with six other villages the united municipality Gemeinde
Gemeinde
Gemeinde is a German word for borough, commune, community, township, municipality, or in religious contexts, a parish or congregation ....

 Katlenburg-Lindau
Katlenburg-Lindau
Katlenburg-Lindau is a municipality in the Landkreis of Northeim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km southeast of Northeim, and 20 km northeast of Göttingen...

was created. Lindau had become part of a predominantly Lutheran area and it is reported that the bell was tolled at the (catholic) village church.

In 1983 Lindau joined a natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 network while the Peter und Paul Kirche catholic church was renovated during a seven year closure.

The mill stream
Mill Stream
Mill Stream may be:*Castle Mill Stream, Oxford, England*Clewer Mill Stream, Windsor, England- See also :*Millstream, similarly named places or objects*Bush Mill Stream Natural Area Preserve, Virginia, USA...

 created in 1872 by the company Greve for water power at the oast house was filled in 1984.

In 1985 Lindau opened a large sportsground with a grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...

 for 250 spectators.

In 1987 the district of Northeim built a "center for innovation" next to the Max Planck Institute, to offer production facilities for high tech
High tech
High tech is technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology currently available. It is often used in reference to micro-electronics, rather than other technologies. The adjective form is hyphenated: high-tech or high-technology...

 companies.

In the years 1946, 1947, 1981 and 1994 Lindau was afflicted by heavy iflood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...

ing of the Rhume, which caused severe damage. The flood dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 built in 1995 has so far prevented similar events.

Aircraft crash over Lindau

On 29 October 1979 just after 5pm a US Grumman OV-1 Mohawk
OV-1 Mohawk
The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk is an armed military observation and attack aircraft, designed for battlefield surveillance and light strike capabilities. It is of twin turboprop configuration, and carried two crewmembers with side by side seating...

 reconnaissance aircraft
Reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance.-History:The majority of World War I aircraft were reconnaissance designs...

 crashed near highway 247 to Bilshausen and set a stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...

 on fire. Both pilots ejected
Ejector seat
In aircraft, an ejection seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rocket motor, carrying the pilot with it. The concept of an eject-able escape capsule has also...

 safely after diverting the aircraft from densely populated parts of Lindau.

Population

  • 1815 - 1107 inhabitants
  • 1848 - 1441 inhabitants
  • 1905 - 1330 inhabitants
  • 1921 - 1365 inhabitants
  • 1934 - 1487 inhabitants
  • 1946 - 2456 inhabitants
  • 1950 - 2342 inhabitants
  • 1960 - 2136 inhabitants
  • 1978 - 2014 inhabitants
  • 1994 - 1985 inhabitants
  • 2006 - 1846 inhabitants


The remarkably high number of inhabitants immediately after the Second World War can be explained by 861 refugees in the year 1946.

Notable buildings

  • Mushaus (a mashing
    Mashing
    In brewing and distilling, mashing is the process of combining a mix of milled grain , known as the "grain bill", and water, known as "liquor", and heating this mixture...

     house for the brewing
    Brewing
    Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...

     of beer
    Beer
    Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

    ): features on the village coat of arms
    Coat of arms
    A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

    , once part of a 14th century medieval castle
    Castle
    A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

  • Kirche Sankt Peter und Paul (St Peter and Paul Catholic
    Catholic
    The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

     Church) built from 1754 in the baroque
    Baroque
    The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

     style.
  • Evangelische Kreuzkirche (Lutheran Church)

Politics

Bürgermeister (mayors) and their party
  • 1919 – 1926 Johannes Monecke; Zentrum
  • 1926 Georg Barkefeld; Zentrum
  • 1927 – 1933 Johannes Hellmann; Zentrum
  • 1933 – 1939 Heinrich Leinemann; NSDAP
  • 1939 – 1945 Joseph Wagener; NSDAP
  • 1945 Anton Freyberg (no party)
  • 1945 – 1946 Heinrich Hahn (no party)
  • 1946 – 1952 August Linnekuhl; CDU
    Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
    The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

  • 1952 – 1956 Theodor Fahlbusch; CDU
  • 1956 – 1958 Johannes Wandt; CDU
  • 1958 – 1968 Paul Brandfaß; CDU
  • 1968 – 1972 Helmut Krüger; SPD
    Social Democratic Party of Germany
    The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

  • 1972 – 1976 Hans-Gerhard Strüder; CDU
  • 1976 – 1991 Horst Waßmann; CDU
  • 1991 – 1994 Hubert Kopp; CDU
  • 1994 – 2001 Werner Brandfaß; CDU
  • 2001 – today Heinrich Schmidt; CDU

The Lindau Ortsrat (village council)

CDU: 7 seats SPD: 3 seats FDP: 1 seat
  • Ortsbürgermeister (village mayor): Heinrich Schmidt (CDU)
  • deputy: Gudrun Franz (CDU)
  • 2nd deputy: Rudolf Rümke (SPD)

Famous citizens

  • Igna Maria Jünemann (writer), d 1964
  • Prof. Walter Dieminger
    Walter Dieminger
    Walter Dieminger, was a German space scientist and director of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy from 1955 to 1975. Dieminger's research was focused on the ionosphere.-Life and work:...

    (scientist), d 1975

Sources

  • Birgit Schlegel, Rudolf Brodhun et al.: Lindau – Geschichte eines Fleckens, Verlag Mecke Druck, 1995 (in German)
  • various authors: Die Kirchen im Eichsfeld, Verlag Mecke Druck, 2005 (in German)


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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