Editing Braunschweig (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of Braunschweig}}
[[File:BurgDankwarderode2016.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dankwarderode Castle]]]]

===Foundation and early history===
The date and circumstances of the town's foundation are unknown. Tradition maintains that Brunswick was created through the merger of two settlements, one founded by [[Bruno, Duke of Saxony|Brun(o)]], a [[Saxon people|Saxon]] count who died in 880, on one side of the River Oker – the legend gives the year 861 for the foundation – and the other the settlement of a legendary [[Count Dankward]], after whom [[Dankwarderode Castle]] (the "Castle of Dankward's clearing"), which was reconstructed in the 19th century, is named.<ref>H. Mack (1925): "''Überblick über die Geschichte der Stadt Braunschweig''{{-"}}, in: F. Fuhse (ed.), ''Vaterländische Geschichten und Denkwürdigkeiten der Lande Braunschweig und Hannover, Band 1: Braunschweig'', 3rd edition, Braunschweig: Appelhans Verlag, p. 34.</ref><ref name="braunschweig.de">{{cite web |url=http://www.braunschweig.de/kultur_tourismus/stadtportraet/geschichte/gruendungssage.html |title=Die Ersterwähnung von 'Brunesguik' und die Gründungssage |publisher=Braunschweig.de |access-date=2015-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507143330/http://www.braunschweig.de/kultur_tourismus/stadtportraet/geschichte/gruendungssage.html |archive-date=2013-05-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The town's original name of ''Brunswik'' may be a combination of the name Bruno and [[Low German language|Low German]] ''wik'' (related to the Latin ''vicus'')<!-- There is no High German equivalent of this -->, a place where merchants rested and stored their goods. The town's name, therefore, may indicate a resting place, consistent with its location by a [[Ford (crossing)|ford]] across the Oker River. An alternative explanation of the city's name is that it comes from ''Brand'', or burning, indicating a place which developed after the landscape was cleared through burning.<ref>{{cite book |first = Richard |last = Moderhack |title = Braunschweiger Stadtgeschichte |year = 1997 |language = de |publisher = Wagner |location = Braunschweig |isbn =3-87884-050-0| pages = 14–15 and 21}}</ref> The city was first mentioned in documents from the [[St. Magni Church]] from 1031, which give the city's name as ''Brunesguik''.<ref name="braunschweig.de"/>

===Middle Ages and early modern period===
[[File:Braun Braunschweig UBHD.jpg|thumb|left|Brunswick in the 16th century, from the ''Civitates orbis terrarum'' by [[Georg Braun]] and Frans Hogenberg<ref>{{cite Q |Q55360295 |page=24 |mode=cs1}}</ref>]]
[[File:Brunswick cathedral.JPG|thumb|right|Brunswick Cathedral, St. Blasius, with lion statue]]
Up to the 12th century, Brunswick was ruled by the Saxon noble family of the [[Brunonids]]; then, through marriage, the town fell to the [[House of Welf]]. In 1142, [[Henry the Lion]] of the House of Welf became duke of [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxony]] and made Braunschweig the capital of his state (which, from 1156 on, also included the [[Duchy of Bavaria]]). He turned Dankwarderode Castle, the residence of the counts of [[County of Brunswick|Brunswick]], into his own ''[[Kaiserpfalz|Pfalz]]'' and developed the city further to represent his authority. Under Henry's rule, the [[Brunswick Cathedral|Cathedral]] of St. Blasius was built and he also had the statue of a lion, his heraldic animal, erected in front of the castle. The [[Brunswick Lion|lion]] subsequently became the city's landmark.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Henry the Lion became so powerful that he dared to refuse military aid to the Emperor [[Frederick I Barbarossa]], which led to his banishment in 1182. Henry went into exile in England. He had previously established ties to the English crown in 1168, through his marriage to King [[Henry II of England]]'s daughter [[Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony|Matilda]], sister of [[Richard I of England|Richard the Lionheart]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.germany.travel/en/ms/royal-heritage/where-to-go/braunschweig.html |title=The Lion City of Brunswick (Braunschweig) |publisher=Germany.travel |access-date=2015-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924021956/http://www.germany.travel/en/ms/royal-heritage/where-to-go/braunschweig.html |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, Henry's son [[Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto]], who regained influence and was eventually crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor]], continued to foster the city's development.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

During the [[Middle Ages]], Brunswick was an important center of trade, one of the economic and political centers in Northern Europe and a member of the Hanseatic League from the 13th century to the middle of the 17th century.<ref>{{Harvnb|Moderhack|1997|pp=50–52}}</ref> By the year 1600, Brunswick was the seventh largest city in Germany.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Camerer | last2 = Garzmann | last3 = Pingel | last4 = Schuegraf | title = Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon | edition = 4th | year = 1996 | language = de | page = 66}}</ref> Although formally one of the residences of the rulers of the [[Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg]], a constituent state of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], Brunswick was ''[[de facto]]'' ruled independently by a powerful class of [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|patricians]] and the [[guild]]s throughout much of the [[Late Middle Ages]] and the [[Early modern period]]. Because of the growing power of Brunswick's [[Medieval bourgeoisie|burghers]], the [[Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]], who ruled over one of the subdivisions of Brunswick-Lüneburg, finally moved their ''[[Residenz]]'' out of the city and to the nearby town of [[Wolfenbüttel]] in 1432.<ref>{{Harvnb|Moderhack|1997|pp=60–69}}</ref> The Princes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel did not regain control over the city until the late 17th century, when [[Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg]], took the city by siege.<ref>{{Harvnb|Moderhack|1997|pp=119–123}}</ref>

In the 18th century Brunswick was not only a political, but also a cultural centre. Influenced by the philosophy of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], dukes like [[Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Anthony Ulrich]] and [[Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Charles I]] became patrons of the arts and sciences. In 1745, Charles I founded the ''Collegium Carolinum'', predecessor of the [[Braunschweig University of Technology|Brunswick University of Technology]], and in 1753 he moved the ducal residence back to Brunswick. With this he attracted poets and thinkers such as [[Gotthold Ephraim Lessing|Lessing]], [[Johann Anton Leisewitz|Leisewitz]], and [[Jakob Mauvillon]] to his court and the city.<ref>{{Harvnb|Moderhack|1997|pp=136–141}}</ref> ''[[Emilia Galotti]]'' by Lessing and [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]'s ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]'' were performed for the first time in Brunswick.<ref>{{Harvnb|Camerer|Garzmann|Pingel|Schuegraf|1996|p=215}}</ref>

===19th century===
[[File:Braunschweig Brunswick BS-Landtag (2005).JPG|thumb|left|''Landschaftliches Haus'', ''[[Landtag]]'' building of the Duchy and the Free State of Brunswick]]
In 1806, the city was captured by the [[France|French]] during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and became part of the short-lived [[Napoleon]]ic [[Kingdom of Westphalia]] in 1807. The exiled Duke [[Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Frederick William]] raised a volunteer corps, the [[Black Brunswickers]], who fought the French in several battles.<ref name="Jarck1">{{cite book | editor1 = Horst-Rüdiger Jarck | editor2 = Günter Scheel | title = Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon – 19. und 20. Jahrhundert | year = 1996 | language = de | publisher = Hahnsche Buchhandlung | location = Hannover| isbn = 3-7752-5838-8| page = 92|ref={{Harvid|Jarck/Scheel (eds)|1996}}}}</ref>

After the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815, Brunswick was made capital of the re-established independent [[Duchy of Brunswick]], later a constituent state of the [[German Empire]] from 1871. In the aftermath of the [[July Revolution]] in 1830, in Brunswick duke [[Charles II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg|Charles II]] was forced to abdicate. His [[Absolute monarchy|absolutist]] governing style had previously alienated the nobility and [[bourgeoisie]], while the lower classes were disaffected by the bad economic situation. During the night of 7–8 September 1830, the [[Brunswick Palace|ducal palace]] in Brunswick was stormed by an angry mob, set on fire, and destroyed completely.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gerhard |last=Schildt |date=2000 |chapter=Von der Restauration zur Reichsgründungszeit |editor1=Horst-Rüdiger Jarck |editor2=Gerhard Schildt |title=Die Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte. Jahrtausendrückblick einer Region |location=Braunschweig |publisher=Appelhans Verlag |pages=753–766 |isbn=3-930292-28-9}}</ref> Charles was succeeded by his brother [[William VIII, Duke of Brunswick|William VIII]]. During William's reign, liberal reforms were made and Brunswick's parliament was strengthened.<ref>{{Harvnb|Schildt|2000|pp=772–777}}</ref>

During the 19th century, [[industrialisation]] caused a rapid growth of population in the city, eventually causing Brunswick to be for the first time significantly enlarged beyond its medieval [[Defensive wall|fortifications]] and the River Oker.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.braunschweig.de/leben/stadtportraet/stadtteile/oestl_ringgebiet/geschichte.html |title=Geschichte |publisher=Braunschweig.de |access-date=2015-07-19}}</ref> On 1 December 1838, the first section of the [[Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway]] line connecting Brunswick and Wolfenbüttel opened as the first railway line in Northern Germany, operated by the [[Duchy of Brunswick State Railway]].<ref>E. Oppermann (1911): ''Landeskunde des Herzogtums Braunschweig. Geschichte und Geographie.'' Braunschweig: E. Appelhans, p. 64.</ref><ref>Neubauer, Jürgen / Salewsky, Dieter (1988): ''150 Jahre 1. Deutsche Staatseisenbahn Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel.'' Braunschweig: Joh. Heinr. Meyer Verlag. {{ISBN|3-926701-05-6}}.</ref>

===Early to mid-20th century===
[[File:Braunschweig.jpg|thumb|right|Braunschweig around 1900]]
[[File:Braunschweig15101944.jpg|thumbnail|left|Braunschweig in the early hours of 15 October 1944]]

On 8 November 1918, at the end of [[World War I]], a [[socialist]] [[workers' council]] forced Duke [[Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick|Ernest Augustus]] to abdicate.<ref>{{Harvnb|Moderhack|1997|pp=193–194}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first = Bernd |last = Rother |title = Die Sozialdemokratie im Land Braunschweig 1918 bis 1933 |year = 1990 |language = de |publisher = Verlag J. H. W. Dietz Nachf. |location= Bonn |isbn=3-8012-4016-9 |pages = 27–30}}</ref> On 10 November, the council proclaimed the Socialist Republic of Brunswick under one-party government by the [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (USPD); however, the subsequent [[Brunswick Landtag elections in the Weimar Republic|''Landtag'' election]] on 22 December 1918 was won by the [[Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (MSPD), and the USPD and MSPD formed a [[coalition government]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Rother|1990|pp=36–37 and 288}}</ref> An uprising in Braunschweig in 1919, led by the [[communist]] [[Spartacus League]], was defeated when ''[[Freikorps]]'' troops under [[Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker]] took over the city on order of the German Minister of Defence, [[Gustav Noske]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Rother|1990|pp=67–72}}</ref><ref>Hans-Ulrich Ludewig (2000): ''Der Erste Weltkrieg und die Revolution (1914–1918/19)'', in: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck / Gerhard Schildt (eds.), ''Die Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte. Jahrtausendrückblick einer Region'', Braunschweig: Appelhans Verlag, pp. 935–943. {{ISBN|3-930292-28-9}}.</ref> An MSPD-led government was subsequently established; in December 1921, a new [[constitution]] was approved for the [[Free State of Brunswick]], now a [[parliamentary republic]] within the [[Weimar Republic]], again with Braunschweig as its capital.<ref>{{Harvnb|Moderhack|1997|pp=194–195}}</ref>

After the ''Landtag'' election of 1930, Brunswick became the second state in Germany where the [[Nazi Germany|Nazis]] participated in government, when the [[Nazi Party|National Socialist German Workers' Party]] (NSDAP) formed a coalition government with several conservative and right-wing parties.<ref>{{Harvnb|Rother|1990|p=234}}</ref> With the support of [[Dietrich Klagges]], Brunswick's minister of the interior, the NSDAP organized a large [[Sturmabteilung|SA]] rally in Braunschweig. On 17–18 October 1931, 100,000 SA stormtroopers marched through the city; street fights between Nazis, socialists, and communists left several dead or injured.<ref>{{Harvnb|Rother|1990|p=244}}</ref> On 25 February 1932, the state of Brunswick granted [[Adolf Hitler]] German citizenship to allow him to run in the [[1932 German presidential election]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Rother|1990|p=247}}</ref> In Braunschweig, Nazis carried out several attacks on political enemies, with the acquiescence of the state government.<ref>{{Harvnb|Rother|1990|pp=247–248}}</ref>

After the [[Nazi seizure of power]] in 1933, several state institutions were placed in Braunschweig, including the ''[[Luftfahrtforschungsanstalt]]'' in [[Völkenrode]], the [[Hitler Youth]] [[Academy for Youth Leadership]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de/akademie.htm |title=Akademie für Jugendführung |publisher=Vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de |access-date=2015-07-24}}</ref> and the [[Waffen-SS|SS]]-[[SS-Junker Schools|Junkerschule Braunschweig]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de/schloss.htm |title=Braunschweiger Schloss / SS-Junkerschule |publisher=Vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de |access-date=2015-07-24}}</ref> With the [[Reichswerke Hermann Göring]] in [[Salzgitter]] and the [[Wolfsburg|Stadt des KdF-Wagens]], as well as several factories in the city itself (including [[Büssing]] and the [[Volkswagenwerk Braunschweig]]), the Braunschweig region became one of the centres of the German [[arms industry]].<ref>Jörg Leuschner (2008): ''Die Wirtschaft des Braunschweigischen Landes im Dritten Reich (1933–1939)'', in: Jörg Leuschner / Karl Heinrich Kaufhold / Claudia Märtl (eds.), ''Die Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte des Braunschweigischen Landes vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart'', vol. 3, Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, pp. 468–522; {{ISBN|978-3-487-13599-1}}</ref>

During the [[World War II|Second World War]], Braunschweig was a sub-area headquarters of [[Wehrkreis XI]] (one of Germany's military districts),<ref>Dieter Lent (2000): ''Kriegsgeschehen und Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg'', in: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck / Gerhard Schildt (eds.), ''Die Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte. Jahrtausendrückblick einer Region'', Braunschweig: Appelhans Verlag, pg. 1026; {{ISBN|3-930292-28-9}}</ref> and was the garrison city of the [[31st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|31st Infantry Division]] that took part in the invasions of Poland, Belgium, and France, largely being destroyed during its retreat following the invasion of Russia.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} In this period, thousands of [[Eastern workers]] were brought to the city as [[forced labor]],<ref>{{cite book |editor1 = Fiedler, Gudrun |editor2 = Ludewig, Hans-Ulrich |title = Zwangsarbeit und Kriegswirtschaft im Lande Braunschweig 1939–1945 |year = 2003 |language = de |publisher = Appelhans Verlag |location= Braunschweig |isbn=3-930292-78-5 }}</ref> and in the 1943–1945 period at least 360 children taken away from such workers died in the ''[[Ausländerkinder-Pflegestätte|Entbindungsheim für Ostarbeiterinnen]]'' ("Maternity Ward for Eastern Workers").<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de/entbind.htm |title=Entbindungsheim für Ostarbeiterinnen |publisher=Vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de |access-date=2015-07-12}}</ref>

In 1944, two [[subcamp]]s of the [[Neuengamme concentration camp]] were established in Braunschweig. The subcamp ''Schillstraße'' or ''Büssing-NAG/Schillstraße'', located where the BraWo Park's parking lot is today, held about 800 male prisoners, who were forced to work in the arms production at [[Büssing|Büssing-NAG]]. After about 300 had died due to disease, hunger, and maltreatment over the course of just a few months, a further 200 were transferred to the infirmary of a nearby subcamp in early January 1945 in order to reduce the number of deaths. However, this was only effective to some degree, as another 80 bodies landed in the city's crematory until the subcamp's closing in March 1945, when Büssing-NAG had to halt production due to severe bombing damages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Braunschweig (Büssing-NAG) |url=https://www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de/geschichte/kz-aussenlager/aussenlagerliste/braunschweig-buessing-nag/ |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Die Geschichte des KZ-Außenlagers an der Schillstraße |url=http://www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de/schillstrasse_geschichteneu.htm |access-date=2024-09-01 |website=www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Gedenkstätte Schilstrasse |url=http://www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de/schillstrasse-kz.htm |access-date=2024-09-01 |website=www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de}}</ref> Today the ''[https://www.schillstrasse.de/ Gedenkstätte Schillstraße],'' located very close to the former premises of the subcamp, documents Braunschweig's history during the [[Nazi Germany|Third Reich]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Aufgabe / Gedenkstätte Schillstraße · Braunschweig |url=https://www.schillstrasse.de/gedenkstaette/ |access-date=2024-09-01 |website=www.schillstrasse.de}}</ref> Büssing-NAG also had another subcamp in the nearby [[Vechelde]], which held a further 400 male prisoners.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vechelde |url=https://www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de/geschichte/kz-aussenlager/aussenlagerliste/vechelde/ |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Historischer Ort / Gedenkstätte Schillstraße · Braunschweig |url=https://www.schillstrasse.de/historischer-ort/ |access-date=2024-09-01 |website=www.schillstrasse.de}}</ref>

The subcamp ''SS-Reitschule'', named so as it was located on the former premises of the [[SS-Junker Schools|SS-Junker School]]'s riding school, held approximately 800 prisoners, all female, who were tasked with clearing away rubble. This subcamp was commissioned by the city of Braunschweig. Although it was only open for two months - from December 1944 until February 1945, there were at least 17 deaths and a transfer of about 50 prisoners to a nearby subcamp's infirmary. The number of survivors is unknown.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Braunschweig (SS-Reitschule) |url=https://www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de/geschichte/kz-aussenlager/aussenlagerliste/braunschweig-ss-reitschule/ |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=KZ Gedenkstätte Neuengamme}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=KZ-Außenlager SS-Reithalle |url=http://www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de/reit.htm |access-date=2024-09-01 |website=www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de}}</ref>

Piera Sonnino (1922–1999), an Italian author, writes of her imprisonment in Braunschweig in her book, ''This Has Happened'', published in English in 2006 by MacMillan Palgrave.{{citation needed |date=July 2022}}

The [[Bombing of Braunschweig in World War II|Allied air raid]] on October 15, 1944, destroyed most of the city's churches, and the ''Altstadt'' (old town), the largest homogeneous ensemble of half-timbered houses in Germany.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dw.com/en/braunschweig-steeped-in-history/a-1474038 |title=Braunschweig: Steeped in History |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |date=2005-03-02 |access-date=2015-07-17}}</ref> 100 out of 800 half-timbered houses survived as well as the most important places and streets, preserved in 5 areas of the old town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://leopard.tu-braunschweig.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/dbbs_derivate_00004908/Aa-747.pdf|title=Die fachwerkhäuser der Stadt Braunschweig |website=leopard.tu-braunschweig.de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730131919/https://leopard.tu-braunschweig.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/dbbs_derivate_00004908/Aa-747.pdf |archive-date=30 July 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tour100.blog/braunschweig-industrie-und-wissen/die-traditionsinseln/|title=Die Traditionsinseln &#124; Tour100 in Braunschweig|website=Tour100 - die 100 größten Deutschen Städte}}</ref>

The city's cathedral, which had been converted to a ''Nationale Weihestätte'' (national shrine) by the Nazi government, still stood.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de/dom.htm |title=Dom - Überblick |publisher=Vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de |access-date=2015-07-12}}</ref>

===Postwar period to the 21st century===
About 10% of the inner city survived Allied bombing and remain to represent its distinctive architecture.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ndr.de/ratgeber/reise/braunschweiger_land/Die-moderne-Loewenstadt,braunschweig436.html |title=Braunschweig zwischen Tradition und Moderne |publisher=[[Norddeutscher Rundfunk]] |date=2015-01-29 |access-date=2015-07-17}}</ref> The cathedral was restored to its function as a [[Protestant]] church.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.braunschweigerdom.de/dom/layout_storage/ueberdom_geschichte.php |title=Die wechselvolle Geschichte des Braunschweiger Doms |publisher=braunschweigerdom.de |access-date=2015-07-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194314/http://www.braunschweigerdom.de/dom/layout_storage/ueberdom_geschichte.php |archive-date=2015-09-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Outside the old town city centre large historic quarters remain like [[Östliches Ringgebiet]] with its [[Gründerzeit]] architecture.

Politically, after the war, the Free State of Brunswick was dissolved by the [[Allied Occupation Zones in Germany|Allied occupying authorities]], Braunschweig ceased to be a capital, and most of its lands were incorporated in the newly formed state of [[Lower Saxony]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Lower-Saxony |title=Lower Saxony |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=2015-07-17}}</ref>

During the [[Cold War]], Braunschweig, then part of [[West Germany]], suffered economically due to its proximity to the [[Iron Curtain]]. The city lost its historically strong economic ties to what was then [[East Germany]]; for decades, economic growth remained, on average, below the rest of the country while unemployment was above-average for West Germany.<ref>Gudrun Fiedler / Norman-Mathias Pingel (2008): ''Vom Nachkriegsboom in den Strukturwandel. Die Wirtschaft der Landes-Region Braunschweig nach 1945'', in: Jörg Leuschner / Karl Heinrich Kaufhold / Claudia Märtl (eds.), ''Die Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte des Braunschweigischen Landes vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart'', vol. 3, Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, pp. 586–588. {{ISBN|978-3-487-13599-1}}.</ref>

On 28 February 1974, as part of a district reform in Lower Saxony, the [[Landkreis|rural district]] of [[Braunschweig (district)|Braunschweig]], which had surrounded the city, was disestablished. The major part of the former district was incorporated into the city of Braunschweig, increasing its population by roughly 52,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.braunschweig.de/kultur_tourismus/stadtportraet/geschichte/stadtchronik.html?id4=1974&seite=3 |title=Stadtchronik Braunschweig |publisher=Braunschweig.de |access-date=2015-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927185136/http://www.braunschweig.de/kultur_tourismus/stadtportraet/geschichte/stadtchronik.html?id4=1974&seite=3 |archive-date=2013-09-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the 1990s, efforts increased to reconstruct historic buildings that had been destroyed in the air raid.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} The façade of the ''[[Brunswick Palace|Braunschweiger Schloss]]'' was rebuilt, and buildings such as the ''Alte Waage'' (originally built in 1534) now stand again.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.braunschweig.de/leben/stadtportraet/geschichte/schlossgeschichte.html |title=Die Geschichte des Braunschweiger Schlosses |publisher=braunschweig.de |language=de |access-date=2015-07-18}}</ref><ref>Justus Herrenberger (1993): ''Die Baustelle "Alte Waage" in Braunschweig'', in: ''Jahrbuch 1992 der Braunschweigischen Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft'', Göttingen: Verlag Erich Goltze KG, pp. 29-36.</ref>