Visselhövede

Template:Infobox German location Visselhövede (Template:IPA) is a town in the district of Rotenburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. Nearby towns include the district capital Rotenburg, Walsrode and Verden. Larger cities within a 100 km radius are Bremen, Hanover and Hamburg. On 30 April 2024 Visselhövede had 10.116 inhabitants.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Visselhövede belonged to the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, established in 1180. In 1648 the Prince-Bishopric was transformed into the Principality of Verden, which was first ruled in personal union by the Swedish Crown - interrupted by a Danish occupation (1712–1715) - and from 1715 on by the Hanoverian Crown. The Kingdom of Hanover incorporated the Principality in a real union and the Princely territory, including Visselhövede, became part of the new Stade Region, established in 1823.

Sights

The most famous building is St. Johannis-Kirche, a protestant church named after John the Baptist. It was built of bricks in a gothic style and consecrated in 1358.<ref>Hans Pusen: Harz, Hannover, Lüneburger Heide, p. 63, München 1972</ref> The wooden clock tower measuring 23 metres in height was built in 1799.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The church houses various masterpieces of art, e.g. a baroque altar dating from 1771 and a baroque organ from 1779, a baptismal font and wall paintings from the Middle Ages and a pulprit dating from 1641.<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> The source of river Vissel can be visited in a small park behind the church. The Town Hall in the Market Place was built around 1796.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Burgstrasse, the oldest street in town, the Heimathaus, a half-timbered house which was renovated in 1999, is worth a visit.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is the cultural centre of Visselhövede.

Bürgerpark Visselseen is a public park with four lakes where two historical store houses, which had been dismantled at the former site, were reconstructed in 2006.