Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Alfeld

Encyclopedia : A : AL : ALF : Alfeld


Alfeld-(Leine)_in_Germany.png
Map of Germany showing Alfeld

150px

Alfeld is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the Leine river in the district of Hildesheim. Population: 23,000.

The town was founded in 1214. Sights in Alfeld include the town hall (1586) with its octagonal tower, the church Saint Nicolai and the Fillerturm, a medieval watchtower. More famous are the Seven Mountains (German: Sieben Berge) in the north and the Lippoldshöhle ("Lippold's cave"), where a legendary robber-knight is said to have lived.

The assertion, that in Alfeld the popular fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was born, is false. Even though, the miners who mined ore In the Seven Mountains believed in the existence of dwarfs, it is more likely that the cradle of the fairy tale is to be searched in France. The version the brothers Grimm heard and wrote down, as they travelled through the Seven Mountains, on the so called "Maerchenstrasse" (Street Of Fairytales) is just one of many.

Popular culture

Alfeld is a strategically important city fought for repeatedly by both NATO and Soviet forces in Tom Clancy's novel Red Storm Rising.

External link

 


From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: