Editing Helmstedt

{{Infobox German location
|type                = Town
|image_photo        = Juleum Helmstedt.jpg
|image_caption      = ''Juleum Novum'', building of the former [[University of Helmstedt]]|
|image_coa             = Stadtwappen Helmstedt.png
|coordinates        = {{coord|52|13|41|N|11|00|38|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan = Helmstedt in HE.svg
|state         = Lower Saxony
|district          = Helmstedt
|elevation               = 123
|area             = 66.74
|postal_code                = 38350
|area_code            = 05351
|licence                = HE
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 03 1 54 028
|divisions         = 8 [[Borough]]s
|website           = [https://www.stadt-helmstedt.de/ www.stadt-helmstedt.de]
|mayor             = Wittich Schobert<ref name=mayor>{{cite web|url=https://www.statistik.niedersachsen.de/download/169156|title=Verzeichnis der direkt gewählten Bürgermeister/-innen und Landräte/Landrätinnen|date=April 2021|publisher=[[Landesamt für Statistik Niedersachsen]]}}</ref>
|leader_term       = 2017&ndash;25
|Bürgermeistertitel = Bürgermeister
|party             = CDU
|ruling_party1      =
|ruling_party2      =
|ruling_party3      =
|year_of_first_mention  = 952
}}

'''Helmstedt''' ({{IPA|de|ˈhɛlmˌʃtɛt|-|De-Helmstedt.ogg}}; [[Eastphalian dialect|Eastphalian]]: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the [[Germany|German]] state of [[Lower Saxony]]. It is the capital of the [[Helmstedt (district)|District of Helmstedt]]. The historic [[University of Helmstedt|university]] and [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] city conserves an important monumental heritage of [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] and [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] buildings, as well as numerous [[timber framing|timber framed]] houses. During the [[History of Germany (1945–90)|German partition]] the nearby [[Bundesautobahn 2]] was the site of the [[Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing]], the most important on the former [[inner German border]] as starting point of the shortest land route between [[West Germany]] and [[West Berlin]].

==Geography==
Helmstedt is situated in a basin between the [[Elm (hills)|Elm]] and [[Lappwald]] hill ranges, at the transition area between the northern foothills of the [[Harz]] mountains and the [[North German Plain]]. It is surrounded by the [[Elm-Lappwald Nature Park]]. The town centre is located about {{convert|36|km|mi}} east of [[Braunschweig]], {{convert|45|km|mi}} west of [[Magdeburg]], and {{convert|90|km|mi}} east of the state capital [[Hanover]].

The municipal area includes the localities of Barmke and Emmerstedt, both incorporated by a 1974 administrative reform, and [[Büddenstedt]], incorporated in 2017, as well as the [[resort town]] of Bad Helmstedt, about {{convert|3.5|km|mi}} east of the town centre. Helmstedt currently has about 25,000 inhabitants (2015).

==History==
The settlement in the [[Duchy of Saxony]] was first mentioned as ''Helmonstede'' in a 952 deed issued by the [[Kingdom of Germany|German]] king [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]]. In former times also called ''Helmstädt'', the town developed in the vicinity of the [[Benedictine]] [[St. Ludger's Abbey]] that was founded around 800 by [[Ludger|Saint Liudger]] as a mission station. Helmstedt's [[German town law|town privileges]] were documented in 1247. It belonged to the Abbacy of [[Werden]] until 1490, when it was bought by the Duchy of [[Brunswick-Lüneburg]]. From 1576 to 1810, the [[University of Helmstedt]] was located here.

From 1807 the town was part of the Napoleonic [[Kingdom of Westphalia]], from 1815 it was part of the [[Duchy of Brunswick]], and from 1871 it was part of the [[German Empire]]. During [[World War I]], in 1916–1917, Germany operated a special [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War I|prisoner-of-war camp]] for ethnic [[Polish people|Polish]] officers from the Russian Army, with the aim of subjecting them to propaganda and conscripting them into a planned German-controlled Polish army to fight against Russia (Poland was partitioned between Germany, Russia and Austria at the time).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stanek|first=Piotr|year=2017|title=Niemieckie obozy jenieckie dla Polaków z armii rosyjskiej w latach I wojny światowej (1916–1918)|journal=Łambinowicki rocznik muzealny|location=Opole|language=pl|volume=40|pages=45, 55|issn=0137-5199}}</ref> In 1918, French officers were also detained in this camp, their return began in January 1919.

From the late 1940s to 1990, the town was the site of a major border crossing between the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] and the [[German Democratic Republic]].  The main [[Brunswick–Magdeburg railway|rail]] and [[autobahn]] route between [[West Germany]] and [[Berlin|West Berlin]], across the [[East Germany|GDR]], began at the [[Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing]], also known as Checkpoint Alpha. Only official military traffic from [[NATO]] countries to [[West Berlin]] was allowed to use this route.

== Transport ==

The town lies on the [[Brunswick-Magdeburg railway]].

<gallery>
Image:Rathaus Helmstedt.jpg|Mayor's office (built 1904 - 1906)
Image:Helmstedt Eulenturm.JPG|The "Owl Tower" of the medieval town wall
Image:Hausmannsturm Helmstedt.jpg|The Hausmannsturm of Helmstedt
Image:Helmstedt-Grenzdenkmal.jpg|Memorial to the former border between West and East Germany
</gallery>

==Notable people==
[[File:Paul Gottlieb Werlhof 2.jpg|thumb|140px|[[Paul Gottlieb Werlhof]]]]
[[File:R Risse - Victor von Bruns 1878.jpg|thumb|140px|[[Victor von Bruns]], 1878]]
*[[Heinrich Meibom (poet)|Heinrich Meibom]] (1555–1625 in Helmstedt), historian and poet.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Meibom, Heinrich |volume= 18 |page= 82 |short=1}}</ref>
*[[Heinrich Meibom (doctor)|Johann Heinrich Meibom]] (1638–1700 in Helmstedt) physician and scholar.
*[[Paul Gottlieb Werlhof]] (1699–1767), Royal Hanoverian court physician and poet
*[[Lorenz Florenz Friedrich von Crell]] (1744–1816), chemist; he published the first periodical journal on chemistry.
*[[Justus Christian Henry Helmuth]] (1745–1825), a German-American Lutheran clergyman.<ref>{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle= Helmuth, Justus Christian Henry |volume = III |page= 161 |short= 1}}</ref>
*[[Johann Andreas Graeffer]] (1746–1802), botanist and nurseryman; introduced exotic plants to British gardens 
*[[Anton August Heinrich Lichtenstein]] (1753–1816), zoologist and librarian
*[[Theodor von Schubert]] (1758–1825), astronomer and geographer.
*[[Johann Christian Friedrich Heyer]] (1793–1873), the first missionary sent abroad by Lutherans in the US
*[[Georg Fein]] (1803–1869), journalist and democratic politician of the [[Vormärz]] period.
*[[Ernst Ludwig Theodor Henke]] (1804–1872), a theologian and historian.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Henke, Heinrich Philipp Konrad |volume= 13 |page= 269, see para 2 |quote=His son, Ernst Ludwig Theodor Henke (1804–1872), after.......|short=1}}</ref>
*[[Franz Heinrich Ludolf Ahrens]] (1809–1881), philologist.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Ahrens, Franz Heinrich Ludolf |volume= 1 |pages= 433-434 |short=1}}</ref>
*[[Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin]] (1810–1856), classical scholar.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Schneidewin, Friedrich Wilhelm |volume= 24 |page= 345 |short=1}}</ref>
*[[Victor von Bruns]] (1812–1883), physician and plastic surgeon
*[[Rudolf Leuckart]] (1822–1898), biologist and founder of [[parasitology]]
*[[Hans Krebs (Wehrmacht general)|Hans Krebs]] (1898–1945), military officer and chief of staff of the [[Wehrmacht]]
*[[Asta Hampe]] (1907– 2003), engineer, physicist, economist and statistician 
*[[Peter Feldmann]] (born 1958), politician, mayor (SPD) of [[Frankfurt]] since 2012
*[[Stefan Rinke]] (born 1965), historian and specialist in [[Latin America]]n history, studied locally
*[[Christoph Lütge]] (born 1969), philosopher and economist, works on [[business ethics]] & [[Ethics of artificial intelligence|AI ethics]].
*[[Andree Wiedener]] (born 1970), footballer, played 395 games
*[[Nico Göhler]] (born 2003), racing driver
In addition, see the list of famous students and professors of the [[University of Helmstedt]].

==Twin towns – sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}
Helmstedt is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web |title=Partnerstädte|url=https://www.stadt-helmstedt.de/tourismus-kultur/stadtgeschichte/partnerstaedte.html|website=stadt-helmstedt.de|publisher=Helmstedt|language=de|access-date=2021-02-14}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]], United States
*{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Chard, Somerset|Chard]], England, United Kingdom
*{{flagicon|ITA}} [[Fiuggi]], Italy
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Haldensleben]], Germany
*{{flagicon|ROU}} [[Orăştie]], Romania
*{{flagicon|BLR}} [[Svietlahorsk]], Belarus
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine|Vitré]], France
{{div col end}}

==References==

<references/>
------------------------
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Helmstedt}}
== External links==
{{Commons}}
*{{Official website}} {{in lang|de}}
*[http://helmstedt.jacbiermann.de/ District Emmerstedt (in German)]
*[http://www.helmstedt-citytour.de/ Helmstedt-CITYTOUR (photo-gallery)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311133603/http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/gbr/dyn/controller/mapPerformPage?strLocation=Helmstedt&strCountry=eur&google=1 Map of Helmstedt]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050802102027/http://home.att.net/~rw.rynerson/alphabhf.htm Photos and information on Helmstedt's role in Allied military rail operations in 1969-70]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050410064839/http://home.att.net/~rails_to_berlin/border.htm Riding with the locomotive engineer (engine driver) across the former intra-German frontier in 2005]

{{Cities and towns in Helmstedt (district)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Helmstedt (district)]]
[[Category:Members of the Hanseatic League]]
[[Category:Duchy of Brunswick]]