Jul 25, 2014

Hansestadt Lüneburg, Germany



Lüneburg (officially the Hanseatic Town of Lüneburg) is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. 

The town was part of the Electorate of Hanover in 1708, the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, the First French Empire in 1810, the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814, and the Prussian Province of Hanover in 1866.

In 1945 Lüneburg surfaced once again in the history books when, south of the town on the hill known as the Timeloberg (near the village of Wendisch Evern) the German Instrument of Surrender was signed that brought the Second World War in Europe to an end. The location is presently inaccessible to the general public as it lies within a military out-of-bounds area. Only a small monument on a nearby track alludes to the event. 

On 23 May 1945 Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler took his own life in Lüneburg whilst in British Army custody by biting into a potassium cyanide capsule embedded in his teeth before he could be properly interrogated. He was subsequently buried in an unmarked location in a nearby forest.

[Source: Wikipedia]

As soundtrack for my visit to Lüneburg, I chose German band Revolverheld song “Lass uns gehen” (Let’s go).