Editing Braunschweig (section)

===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"/>