Hamelin started with a monastery, which was founded as early as 851 AD. A village grew in the neighbourhood and had become a town by the 12th century. The incident involving the "Pied Piper" (see below) is said to have occurred in 1284 and may be based on a true event, although somewhat different from the traditional tale. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Hamelin was a minor member of the Hanseatic League.
Hamelin was surrounded by four fortresses, which gave it the nickname "Gibraltar of the North", and was the most heavily fortified town in the Electorate of Hanover. The first fort (Fort George) was built between 1760 and 1763, the second (Fort Wilhelm) in 1774, a third in 1784, and the last, called Fort Luise, was built in 1806.
In 1806, Hamelin surrendered without a fight to the French forces, after Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. Napoleon's forces subsequently pulled down the town's historic walls, the guard towers, and the three fortresses at the other side of the river Weser. In 1843, the people of Hamelin built a sightseeing tower on the Klüt Hill out of the ruins of Fort George. The tower is called the Klütturm and is a popular sight for tourists.
During World War II, Hamelin Prison was used for the detention of Social Democrats, Communists, and other political prisoners. Around 200 died there, and more died in April 1945, when the Nazis sent the prisoners on long marches, fearing the Allied advance. Just after the war, Hamelin prison was used by British Occupation Forces for the detention of Germans accused of war crimes. Following their conviction, around 200 were hanged there, including Irma Grese and Josef Kramer, along with over a dozen of the perpetrators of the Stalag Luft III murders. The prison has since been turned into a hotel.[3] Executed war criminals were interred in the prison yard until it became full, and further burials took place at the Am Wehl Cemetery in Hameln. In March 1954, German authorities began exhuming the 91 bodies from the prison yard, which were reburied in individual graves in consecrated ground in Am Wehl Cemetery.[3]
The coat of arms (German: Wappen) of Hamelin depicts the St. Boniface Minster, the oldest church in the city.[4]
Halvestorf (Halvestorf, Bannensiek, Weidehohl and Hope)
Haverbeck
Hilligsfeld (Groß und Klein Hilligsfeld)
Sünteltal (Holtensen, Unsen, Welliehausen)
Klein Berkel / Wangelist
Tündern
Wehrbergen
Rohrsen
Demographics
Year
Inhabitants
1689
2,398
1825
5,326
1905
21,385
1939
32,000
1968
48,787
2005
58,872
2018
57,510
Attractions
1592 painting of Pied Piper copied from the glass window of Marktkirche in HamelinThe Pied Piper leads the children out of Hamelin. Illustration by Kate Greenaway.Christmas market in Hamelin.
Tale of the Pied Piper
The town is famous for the folk tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin (German: Der Rattenfänger von Hameln), a medieval story that tells of a tragedy that befell the town in the 13th century. The version written by the Brothers Grimm made it popular throughout the world; it is also the subject of well-known poems by Johann von Goethe and Robert Browning. In the summer every Sunday, the tale is performed by actors in the town centre.
The Deister- und Weserzeitung [de], known as DeWeZet, publishes out of Hameln.
British army presence
Hamelin was home to several Royal Engineer units, including 35 Engineer Regiment and 28 Amphibious Engineer Regiment until summer 2014, with many of the British families housed at Hastenbeck (Schlehenbusch) and Afferde. It was also home to the Royal Corps of Transport unit of 26 Bridging Regiment RCT, comprising 35 Sqn RCT and 40 Sqn RCT, until 1971.[6]
Notable people
Postcard "Gruss aus Hameln" featuring the Pied Piper of Hamelin, 1902
Saint Vicelinus (1086–1154), Bishop of Oldenburg, born in the town.[7]
^"Hameln" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 876, see para 3. Legend of the Pied Piper: Hameln is famed as the scene of the myth of the piper of Hameln....
