Winsen an der Aller or Winsen (Aller) is a town in the district of Celle in the German state 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...

.

Geography

Winsen has around 12,900 inhabitants and lies on the southern perimeter of the Lüneburg Heath

Lüneburg Heath

The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...

, on the banks of the 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...

, somewhat to the west of its tributary, the Örtze

Örtze

The Örtze is a river in the North German state of Lower Saxony, which rises north of Munster in the Große Heide and, after , joins the Aller southeast of Winsen.- Source and course :...

 and about 15 km northwest of Celle

Celle

Celle is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000...

. As well as the town itself, the borough of Winsen also includes the villages of Bannetze, Meißendorf

Meißendorf

Meißendorf is a village in the borough of Winsen an der Aller in the Lower Saxon district of Celle in northern Germany.It lies northwest of Winsen an der Aller. It derives its name from the River Meiße which flows through the village. 1,666 people have their main residence in Meißendorf and...

, Stedden

Stedden

Stedden is a village in the borough of Winsen in the Lower Saxon district of Celle in North Germany. It lies on the river Aller and close to the river Örtze and has a population of just over 300...

, Südwinsen, Thören

Thören

Thören is a village on the southern edge of the Lüneburg Heath in the north German state of Lower Saxony. It is located in the Aller-Leine Valley and belongs to the borough of Winsen .- History :...

, Walle

Walle (Winsen)

Walle is a village within the Lower Saxon borough of Winsen in Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath in Germany.Walle lies on a country road between Winsen and Bergen on the southern perimeter of the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony. A forest lane gives it access to the B3 federal road between Celle...

 and Wolthausen.

History

The name of the town is derived from Wynhausen (Wyn = Weideland or meadow). Winsen's church is dedicated to John the Baptist. Because all villages with churches named after this patron saint appeared around 800 it is suspected that this was also when Winsen was founded.

Today Winsen is a favourite local recreation and holiday area and, since 1975, has been recognised officially as a climatic health resort (Luftkurort).

Coat of Arms

The 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...

 of the town depicts the Stechinelli Gate, one of the town’s monuments and, in between the two gateposts, the coat of arms of Lüneburg

Lüneburg

Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...

, a gold shield with red hearts surrounding a blue lion rampant.

Culture and places of interest

• The nature and bird reserve of Meißendorf Lakes and Bannetzer Moor is the largest stretch of water on the Lüneburg Heath covering a total area of 815 hectares (2,013.9 acre) including 350 hectares (864.9 acre) of water.
• The Winsen Museum Farm
  Winsen Museum Farm
  The Winsen Museum Farm is an open-air museum in Winsen in the north German state of Lower Saxony. It was started in 1982 and comprises a typical farmyard from the southern Lüneburg Heath around which other buildings, characteristic of the region, are grouped.- Museum site :The museum is situated...
  
    (Museumshof Winsen) portrays a rural farmstead from the Südheide heath with buildings from the 17th – 19th century as well as Dat groode Hus, a 1795 Low German house or Fachhallenhaus, today the cultural centrepiece of the community.
• The earliest record of the Winsen mills is from 1589. The present-day post mill
  Post mill
  The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. The defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. The earliest post mills in England are thought to have...
  
   (Bockwindmühle) was built in 1732 and worked until it closed in 1929. It came into the possession of the town in 1938.
• The church, like the town itself, is presumed to have emerged during the missionary period in Saxony during the 9th century. The Church of St. John the Baptist was built in the 14th century as a Gothic
  Gothic architecture
  Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
  
   long house
  Long house
  A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe and North America....
  
  , that was extended on its north side in 1597. In 1822 a major expansion of the church building began, which effectively became a new building.
• The Junker Gate (Junkerntor) is one of the oldest still preserved historic buildings in Winsen. It used to be the entrance to the manor house (Rittergut). From 1691 to 1729 the Stechinelli family was enfeoffed with the estate, which is why it is also called the Stechinelli Gate and why the family coat of arms appears on the left hand gate column. The gate itself forms part of Winsen’s coat of arms.
• The Prince’s Stones (Prinzensteine) lie by a track between Winsen and Oldau and recall a decisive battle on 28 May 1388 during the Lüneburg War of Succession
  Lüneburg War of Succession
  The Lüneburg War of Succession was a conflict that broke out in 1370 in north Germany and lasted, with interruptions, for 18 years. The war was over the line of succession to the Principality of Lüneburg...
  
   (Lüneburger Erbfolgekrieg). According to legend two princes wounded each other mortally at this spot before they realised they were brothers.
• The present-day town hall (Rathaus) was initially built in 1727 as a district office (Amtshaus) but had to be torn down again as the underlying ground was not sufficiently secure. It was then rebuilt 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. On 4 May 1972 the former district office, which meanwhile had been used as a pub, was given its new purpose as a town hall.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Theodor Lohmann
  Theodor Lohmann
  Theodor Christian Lohmann was a 19th century German administrative lawyer, civil servant and social reformer, second in importance only to Otto von Bismarck in the formation of the German social insurance system...
  
  (1831–1905), administrative lawyer, civil servant and social reformer, was born in Winsen.