Uelzen

Uelzen (, Low German Ülz’n ) is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a Hanseatic town and an independent municipality.

Uelzen is characterised by timber-framed architecture and also has some striking examples of North German brick Gothic. But the county town earned pan-regional fame when Friedensreich Hundertwasser was selected to redesign the station. The final work of the celebrated Viennese artist and architect was ceremonially opened in 2000 as the Hundertwasser Station, Uelzen and has since been a popular tourist magnet.

The Polabian name for Uelzen is Wilcaus (spelled Wiltzaus in older German reference material), possibly derived from wilca or wilsa (< Slavic *olăša) 'alder'.

Location
Uelzen lies on the edge of the Lüneburg Heath. The town is a transport hub on the north-south axis from Hamburg to Hanover as well as the east-west axis from Bremen to Berlin. Also of economic importance is its location on the Elbe Lateral Canal. The town's has a charming setting, situated as it is on the heath river, the Ilmenau, with its grassy river banks, small parks and water meadows. Large areas in the vicinity of Uelzen have been set aside as nature parks with moors, woods, lakes and heathland: the Elbhöhen-Wendland Nature Park, Lüneburg Heath Nature Park and Lower Saxon Elbe Valley Water Meadows Biosphere Reserve.

Divisions
The following parishes belong to the borough of Uelzen: Groß Liedern, Halligdorf, Hambrock, Hansen, Hanstedt II, Holdenstedt, Kirchweyhe, Klein Süstedt, Masendorf, Mehre, Molzen, Oldenstadt, Riestedt, Ripdorf, Tatern, Veerßen, Westerweyhe and Woltersburg.

Furthermore there are four other places that have the status of "special parishes" (Sonstige Ortsteile): Borne, Kl. Liedern, Pieperhöfen and Oldenstadt-West.

History
The town was founded in 1277. It was the site of a Nazi concentration camp was established in Uelzen until 17 April 1945. The camp was a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp.

Politics
The mayor of Uelzen since 2001 has been the social democrat, Otto Lukat. In the 2006 election he was confirmed in office with 69.9% of the vote. The deputy mayors are Jörg Firus (FDP) and Ute Chlechowitz (SPD).

Uelzen belongs to the Bundestag constituency of Celle-Uelzen. In 2009 Henning Otte (CDU) was directly elected, having been on the state list (place 19) since 2005. Kirsten Lühmann (SPD) was elected in 2009 via the state list. In the years 1998, 2002 and 2005 Peter Struck (SPD), former defence minister and chairman of the SPD party in the German Bundestag, was directly elected.

Economy
The largest beet sugarfactory of the Nordzucker group is located in Uelzen. The factory processes approximately 20,000 tons of sugarbeets per day.

Railway station
The Hundertwasserbahnhof is a railway station in Uelzen at the eastern edge of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park in northeastern Lower Saxony.

The original station was renovated for Expo 2000 following plans by the Austrian artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. An "environmentally, culturally oriented" station, Uelzen station was renamed as 'Hundertwasser Station, Uelzen' (Hundertwasser-Bahnhof Uelzen). Today it is one of the town's popular tourist attractions.