Editing Helmstedt (district) (section)

==History==
In the Elm, [[limestone]] was mined in medieval times; limestone from the region was used for the tomb of [[Henry the Lion]] as well as for the imperial cathedral of [[Königslutter]]. In the Middle Ages, Königslutter was among the wealthiest cities of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. In 1576, the [[University of Helmstedt]] was founded, which was the largest university of [[protestantism|protestant]] Germany.

The [[Duchy of Brunswick]] (deriving from [[Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg|Brunswick-Lüneburg]]) created administrative districts (''Kreise'') in 1833; the District of Helmstedt was one of those districts. It was subdivided into the [[Amt (political division)|Ämter]] of [[Calvörde (Amt)|Calvörde]], [[Königslutter (Amt)|Königslutter]], [[Helmstedt (Amt)|Helmstedt]], [[Schöningen (Amt)|Schöningen]], and [[Vorsfelde (Amt)|Vorsfelde]].
In 1944, the Amt of Calvörde, which formed an [[exclave]], was moved to the District of [[Haldensleben (district)|Haldensleben]], [[Province of Saxony]]. During the administrative reforms of the 1970s, northern areas of the district were moved to the District of [[Gifhorn (district)|Gifhorn]] and to the City of [[Wolfsburg]]; the district gained areas in the west from the District of Gifhorn and the District of [[Braunschweig (district)|Brunswick]] (see [[List of territorial changes to the District of Helmstedt]]).

During the 20th century, the area between Helmstedt and [[Schöningen]] was used for [[lignite]] mining by the [[Braunschweigische Kohlenbergwerke]] AG. Several villages ([[Alversdorf]], [[Büddenstedt]] and [[Runstedt]]) were destroyed by [[surface mining]]; their inhabitants moved to Helmstedt, Schöningen and to the newly built village of [[Neu Büddenstedt]], later on renamed [[Büddenstedt]].