Germany Guide
Lower Saxony
If Lower Saxony is little known by foreign visitors, it is probably because it lacks the sort of definitive city- or landscape that helps to cement other German Länder in the mind. It is a neutral ground; the second largest state in Germany after Bavaria, it shares more borders than any other federal state. Architecturally, too, it represents a middle ground that segues from the half-timbered country to a red-brick coast. It's tempting to put this lack of identity down to history. Niedersachsen, as Germans know it, only came into being in 1946 through the postwar redrawing of the map by the British military administration. The area's focus was the one-time kingdom (then Prussian province) of Hannover, onto which was grafted former city-states Oldenburg, Schaumburg-Lippe and Braunschweig. Yet Lower Saxony has deeper roots. Though misleading for a state that lies above, not below, present-day Saxony, the moniker is a reflection of the Saxon tribe that populated the region long before Germany existed as a defined entity. This was the stamping ground of mighty Saxon duke Henry the Lion, a European superpower of the twelfth century, and the state would probably have retained the name "Saxony" had his humbling not led to the slow migration of the Saxon powerbase up the Elbe to the state that now bears its name.
The watchword when touring, then, is diversity – both of attractions and in scenic shifts that morph from brooding highlands in the Harz via the rolling Lüneburg Heath to the salty air and mudflats of the North Sea coast. All landscapes benefit from a low population density. The only city worth the name is state capital Hannover, and even this city of gardens and art is small fry with just over half a million people. The second urban hub lies around Braunschweig, which preserves the monuments from its era as the powerbase of Henry the Lion. But even this most industrialized part of the state defies easy categorization. Within half an hour in either direction lie destinations as distinct as definitively modern Wolfsburg, and UNESCO-listed provincial town Hildesheim, or Celle, whose picture-book, half-timbered Altstadt stands in contrast with the red-brick in Lüneburg. Divided by the Lüneburg Heath, the duo sum up the transition from beam to brick – country to coast – in a nutshell. Hameln of Pied Piper fame is another world again in an Altstadt characterized by Weser Renaissance styles. Separated northwest on the flatlands where North Rhine-Westphalia bites a chunk out of the state is Osnabrück, capital of the western state whose history of peace-broking may have contributed to its accreditation as the happiest city in Germany.
Highlights
1 Hannover One of the finest Baroque gardens in Europe, good galleries and a grungy drinking district that lets rip at weekends – the state capital proves culture comes in bars as well as museums.
2 Follow the Fairytale Road Hameln of Pied Piper fame and Baron Münchhausen's Bodenwerder are two stops on a route that swoops south beside the River Weser – an attraction in its own right with a great cycle-route to boot.
3 Autostadt, Wolfsburg The birthplace of the Volkswagen Beetle is less a factory than a motor-mad theme park that's a must for petrolheads.
4 Celle Carved timbers by the tonne in a picture-book pretty courtly town within easy reach of Hannover.
5 Lüneburg Wonky red-brick buildings in a small town that exudes provincial contentment.