Salt and brine

District coat of arms of Salzgitter-Bad

The settlement took its name from the neighboring village and present-day district of Gitter (first mentioned in 1347 as up dem solte to Gytere). There is much to suggest that Salzgitter had town rights in the Middle Ages, but there is no clear evidence of this in the sources.

After the end of the Hildesheim Collegiate Feud, Salzgitter became part of Brunswick in 1523. Salzgitter later belonged to the diocese of Hildesheim. When it was transferred to Prussia in 1803, city rights were confirmed, but were revoked again in 1815 when Salzgitter was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hanover. In 1830, a brine bath was established in Salzgitter.

With the transfer of the Kingdom of Hanover to Prussia (Province of Hanover) in 1866, Salzgitter became a Prussian municipality, which was again granted city rights in 1929. The settlement of Vorsalz (1926) and the Liebenhall salt works district (1928) had previously been incorporated. The town belonged to the district of Goslar and, in addition to the core town of Salzgitter, also included some small settlements that can no longer be defined today, such as Gittertor. The village of Kniestedt was incorporated in 1936.

Salzgitter-Bad from above.

Due to the extremely large iron ore deposits in Salzgitter, which were first mentioned as early as 1310, the National Socialists founded the Reichswerke-AG (Hermann Göring Werke) for ore mining and ironworks in 1937. In 1938, the neighboring community of Gitter was incorporated. In order for the plant to develop well economically, a uniform administrative structure was required for the entire area.

Therefore, in accordance with the 1941 ordinance on territorial adjustments in the area of the Hermann-Göring-Werke Salzgitter, a uniform urban district (independent town) was formed with effect from April 1, 1942. For this purpose, the city of Salzgitter and the municipalities of Beinum, Flachstöckheim, Groß-Mahner, Hohenrode, Ohlendorf and Ringelheim, which also belonged to the district of Goslar, as well as 21 municipalities belonging to the Brunswick district of Wolfenbüttel, were united to form the urban district of Watenstedt-Salzgitter.

In 1951, the town was renamed "Salzgitter" and the former district of Salzgitter was given the name Bad ("Salzgitter-Bad") because of the brine baths there. Today, the Thermalsolbad and the graduation pavilion in the rose garden are a sign of the rich brine.

Salzgitter secrets: The new pond, the Ratskeller, the beam inscription and the Klesmerbrunnen fountain

Worth seeing:

Vorsalzer Strasse - history and development

The plan shows Old Salzgitter and the Liebenhalle salt works based on a design by Heinz Kolbe.

Vorsalzer Strasse, which today lies in the middle of Salzgitter-Bad, once formed an independent municipal district and was located outside the medieval ramparts. When the available building land within the enclosed area was no longer sufficient, people settled outside the protective ramparts on a narrow strip between the rampart to the south and the Warne to the north.

The small community, which never comprised more than a few dozen houses, was also known as Petershagen or Kniestedter Reihe. At the beginning of the 18th century, the place name Vorsalz is first documented in the church records of Kniestedter Nikolaikirche.

Vorsalz was traditionally home to craftsmen and tradesmen who supplied the inhabitants of Salzgitter. For almost 50 years (1884-1929), the Imperial Post Office was located in Vorsalzer Strasse.

Even though the links between Salzgitter and Vorsalz, which was located outside the rampart, had always been very close, the Vorsalz residents vigorously defended their independence. The signing of the incorporation agreement in December 1924 was followed by almost two years of negotiations before the independent municipal district, often jokingly referred to as the "Free Republic" in the salt city, was history.

The Kniestedt church 2011

The takeover of the administrative business of Vorsalz on 01.04.1926.

The Imperial Post Office

The staff of the Imperial Post Office

Numerous retail stores in Vorsalzer Straße still supply the inhabitants of Salzgitter with everyday necessities. There has been a pub at the eastern end of Vorsalzer Straße for centuries, and cultural events were also held in its hall in the 20th century.

The Altstadtschänke

As part of the urban redevelopment of the old town of Salzgitter-Bad in the 1970s, Vorsalzer Straße was transformed into a pedestrian zone and half-timbered houses gave way to new buildings in some places.

Since 2023, the newly designed climate-friendly forum at the eastern entrance to Vorsalzer Straße has been an inviting place to linger.