ge110f12AmandaRG: A German Blogging Adventure...In Lower Saxony

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de-ni.html

Lower Saxony is located in the Northwestern part of Germany.

Its landscape mainly consists of the North German Plain. There’s also a small amount of highland in the south and heath, bog land with some forest thrown in there in the north and a small 12 island, island chain called the East Frisian Islands to the northwest floating in the North Sea. 325 miles of coastline are below sea level protected by dikes similar to ones in the neighboring Netherlands.

http://www.german-cities.com/lower-saxony-germany.html

Lower Saxony’s biggest river is the Weser who runs through most of the lower half of the state and whose tributaries (the Fulda and the Werra) all flow into the North Sea. The fertile marshes that come at the mouth of these rivers creates a wonderful pasture land that supports the flourishing farming economy in the region. The northeastern area of the state is less fertile as it is mainly the Lüneburg Heath. The south central part contains two large lakes; Steinhuder and Dümmer, as well as the Weser, Deister, and Herz mountains.

The climate in this area is mild winters, moderately warm summers, and steady year round rainfall.

Population

The population of Lower Saxony is a little under 8 million people and it has an area of 47,609 square km. The south central belt holds the highest amount of the population while the northlands population is much sparser in comparison. The people Lower Saxony generally consider themselves as Low German, an ancient Saxon line of origin and the use of Plattdeutsch (a mix of Dutch, Frisian, and English, very distinct from the more common High German. Some literature in the area is still printed in Plattdeutsch). Four-fifths of the state is Protestant with a Roman Catholic minority.

Age structure

0–14 years: 13.9% (male 5,894,724/female 5,590,373)

15–64 years: 66.3% (male 27,811,357/female 26,790,222)

65 years and over: 19.8% (male 6,771,972/female 9,542,348) (2007 est.)

0–14 years: 13.7% (male 5,768,366/female 5,470,516)

15–64 years: 66.1% (male 27,707,761/female 26,676,759)

65 years and over: 20.3% (male 7,004,805/female 9,701,551) (2010 est.)

http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/153163177v7982197-little-boy-blowing-dandelion-clocks-hohnstorf-lower

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15–64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female

Total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Economy

Agriculture is a big part of the economy in Lower Saxony. They grow wheat, potatoes, rye, and oats, the also raise beef, pork and poultry in this region. Mining has also been an important source of income for Lower Saxony. The most things mined now is iron and lignite but silver ore was a big part in the past. Lower Saxony is also an important supplier of crude oil in Europe.

Manufacturing is also a large part to the economy with Hannover and Braunschweig being the main base of diversified industries. The biggest Lower Saxony manufacturer is Volkswagen having five production plants throughout the state. Chemicals, rubber goods, dyes and inks, radios, and other electronic equipment are also produced in this area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen

Lower Saxony exports mainly with the United States. In 2008 they exported 5,297,000,000 Euros worth of products to the United States. Mainly do to the fact of the five Volkswagen plants.

A helpful thing to any good economy is having good transportation. Hannover is the most important road and railway junction in Northwestern Germany and also has the main airport for the state.. There is also a line of waterways that have greatly increased movement in the area helped along by the rivers in the area.

http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2012/04/05/germany-state-of-lower-saxony-assents-to-adjustment-of-elbe-navigation-channel/

Cities*

http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/germany/germany_photos_89.html

Hanover (German: Hannover) — state capital

Brunswick — the Lion City and centre of scientific research

Cuxhaven — a popular seaside resort

Goslar — beautiful mediaeval town and base for the Harz mountains

Göttingen — ancient university town

Hildesheim — wonderfully reconstructed old town around the market square

Lüneburg — charming historic town and gateway to the Lüneburg Heath

Oldenburg — cultural hub of the Oldenburg region with a beautiful castle park

Schoeningen (German: "Schöningen") - mankind's oldest weapons ever found on earth over 320,000 years old

A Brief History

Lower Saxony was created by the British military government merger with the Prussian state of Hanover and the State joined the Federal Republic with a new constitution on June 1^st 1993. Before 1871 Lower Saxony was comprised of people from the Saxony tribe mainland in the early 1500’s Saxony was known as the “lower Saxony circle” which survived for several centuries as a “sub-principality” of the “Brunswick and Luneburg”. It was mainly a medieval town. Before 1918 Lower Saxony was still a part of this until 1919 when Brunswick became a free state. From this time till 1948 parts Lower Saxony belonged to the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. Up to this point most of Lower Saxony had been put together with the “Constituency Associatio n of Lower Saxony" done in 1920. So with the addition of a few more cities in 1947 Lower Saxony as it is known today was formed.

Culture

http://www.niedersachsen-tourism.com/on-tour-in-helmstedt-1

Theater
There are three state theaters, one in Hannover, one in Brunswick, and one in Oldenburg. There are also two state playhouses as well as numerous independent theaters all over the place. Many of the smaller theaters really like their Low German.

"The programs of these theatres and playhouses are enriched by a number of outstanding seasonal events - Lower Saxony's dance and theatre festivals. Among the most important of these are the Oldenburg Ballet Festival (annual), the Gandersheim Cathedral Festival (annual), the Tanztheater International (International Dance Theatre) (held annually), Arena (held biennially, 2011), the festival Theaterformen (Forms of Theatre) which takes place in alternate years in Hannover und Brunswick, the Hildesheim Transeuropa Festival (held triennially,2012) and the Oldenburg Prisma Festival (biennially, 2011)."**

Heritage

A variety of churches, manors, gardens, and castles testify to the rich cultural history and how the people of the past lived. There are 44,000 historical monuments that comprise of 82,000 structures.
"Including Cathedral and St Michaelis in Hildesheim, the castles of the Weser Renaissance (such as Hämelschenburg, Bevern and Schwöbber), the Fagus factory in Alfeld, the Rammelsberg mining museum, the Old Towns of Lüneburg and Goslar, the Town Halls in Osnabrück and Lüneburg, the Castle of Celle and two splendid hunting lodges: the Jagdschloss Clemenswerth in Sögel and Jagdschloss Gödens." ***

http://www.niedersachsen-tourism.com/romans-and-teutons-in-kalkriese-1

Lower Saxony also has a large thing for archaeology after the finding of the oldest recorded spears (400,000 years old). Another find was the battle site between German tribes and Roman legions in 9 AD.

Linguistic Diversity

Lower Saxony has one of the smallest linguistic areas in Europe called Saterland, they still speak Sater Frisian there which is the third variety of Frisian spoken to be granted official language recognition. Then there is the aforementioned Plattdeutsch, there are 8 million speakers in 8 German states and the highest quantity of them are from Lower Saxony the number coming in around 2 million. There are three varieties of Plattdeutsch present in Lower Saxony; Northern Low German, Easfalian, and Westfalian.