Braunschweig in the context of "Free State of Brunswick"

Lower Saxony is a German state (Land) in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with 47,614 km (18,384 sq mi), and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are still spoken, though by declining numbers of people.

Lower Saxony borders on (from north and clockwise) the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other its seaport, Bremerhaven (which is a semi-exclave, as it has a coastline). Lower Saxony thus borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland. The state's largest cities are the state capital Hanover, Braunschweig (Brunswick), Oldenburg, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg, Göttingen, Salzgitter, Hildesheim, mainly situated in its central and southern parts, except Oldenburg.

The Duchy of Brunswick (German: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state that ceased to exist in 1918. Its capital was the city of Brunswick (Braunschweig). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In the course of the 19th-century history of Germany, the duchy was part of the German Confederation, the North German Confederation and from 1871 the German Empire. It was disestablished after the end of World War I, its territory incorporated into the Weimar Republic as the Free State of Brunswick.

The House of Este (UK: /ˈɛsti/ EST-ee, US: /ˈɛsteɪ/ EST-ay, Italian: [ˈɛste]) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries.

The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria and of Brunswick. This branch produced Britain's Hanoverian monarchs, as well as one Emperor of Russia (Ivan VI) and one Holy Roman Emperor (Otto IV).

Bundesautobahn 2 (translates from German as Federal Motorway 2, short form Autobahn 2, abbreviated as BAB 2 or A 2) is an autobahn in Germany that connects the Ruhr area in the west to Berlin in the east. The A 2 starts at the junction with the A3 near the western city of Oberhausen, passes through the north of the Ruhr valley, through the Münsterland and into Ostwestfalen, crossing the former inner German border and continuing through the Magdeburger Börde to merge into the Berliner Ring shortly before reaching Berlin. Major cities such as Magdeburg, Braunschweig, Hannover and Dortmund are situated very close to the A 2. The A 2 is one of the most important autobahns, connecting several large industrial areas with each other.

The A 2 was modified in the late 1990s, and completely rebuilt in the former East Germany. All of the A 2 has 3 travel lanes and a breakdown lane in each direction.

The Brunswick Ducal Field-Corps (German: Herzoglich Braunschweigisches Feldcorps), commonly known as the Black Brunswickers, was a volunteer military unit raised by Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel during the Napoleonic Wars. The Duke was a strong opponent of Napoleon's occupation of German territory. Formed in 1809 when war broke out between the First French Empire and the Austrian Empire, the unit initially consisted of approximately 2,300 infantrymen and cavalrymen before incorporating a number of artillery troops.

Most members of the unit wore distinctive black uniforms, although some soldiers, such as light infantrymen and uhlans, wore green uniforms. The Black Brunswickers also wore silver totenkopf badges on their hats. Their title originated from the Duke, who claimed Brunswick–Lüneburg, which the French had abolished in order to incorporate its lands into the Kingdom of Westphalia. The unit earned themselves a fearsome reputation over the following decade, taking part in several significant battles, including the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815, where the Duke lost his life. However, recruiting, the replacement of casualties, and finance had always been problematic for the unit, which was disbanded in the early 1820s.

Salzgitter (German pronunciation: [zaltsˈɡɪtɐ] ; Eastphalian: Soltgitter) is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven Oberzentren (metropolitan areas) of Lower Saxony. With 107,674 inhabitants and 223.92 square kilometres (86.46 sq mi) (as of 2015), it is the largest city by area in Lower Saxony and one of the largest in Germany. Salzgitter originated as a conglomeration of several small towns and villages, and is today made up of 31 boroughs, which are relatively compact conurbations with wide stretches of open country between them.

The city is part of two urban areas, Hildesheim and Braunschweig, because of its uneven distribution of urban quarters. Due to the uneven population distribution, the density of the areas within the Braunschweig urban area is over 1,500 people per km² with the Lebenstedt area having over 3,000 people per km². Over 70% (76,500) of the population lives within the urban area of Braunschweig, but most of the area is within the urban area of Hildesheim. 54.1% (41,000 people) of the city's population within the Braunschweig urban agglomeration area are immigrants or the children of immigrants.

Wolfenbüttel is a district in southeastern Lower Saxony, Germany. Neighboring districts are (clockwise from the north) the district-free City of Braunschweig, the district of Helmstedt, the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, and the districts of Goslar, Hildesheim and Peine. The district-free city of Salzgitter cuts through the district of Wolfenbüttel in the southwest.

Thomas Müntzer (c. 1489 – 27 May 1525) was a German preacher and theologian of the early Reformation whose opposition to both Martin Luther and the Catholic Church led to his open defiance of late-feudal authority in central Germany. Müntzer was foremost amongst those reformers who took issue with Luther's compromises with feudal authority. He was a leader of the German peasant and plebeian uprising of 1525 commonly known as the German Peasants' War.

In 1514, Müntzer became a Catholic priest in Brunswick, where he began to question the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. He then became a follower and acquaintance of Martin Luther, who recommended him for a post in Zwickau. His beliefs became increasingly spiritual and apocalyptic; by his arrival at Allstedt in 1523 he had completely broken with Luther. Amidst the peasant uprisings in 1525, Müntzer organized an armed militia in Mühlhausen. He was captured after the Battle of Frankenhausen, tortured and finally executed.

The County of Brunswick was a county in the medieval Duchy of Saxony. It existed from about the 9th century until 1235, when it was raised to a duchy, the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

The county developed out of the possessions of the Brunonen dynasty centered on the town of Brunswick and was enlarged by the inheritances of Henry the Fat of Northeim around Northeim and Göttingen and a part of the Billung inheritance around Lüneburg, which fell to the House of Welf in 1106. When the Duchy of Saxony was reorganized in 1180, the county became de facto independent from the Duchy, since the new Ascanian dukes could not establish control over it. In 1203, the three sons of Duke Henry the Lion divided the county among themselves; Henry received the western part including Hannover and Göttingen, William received the area around Lüneburg, and King Otto IV the area around Braunschweig. The independence of Brunswick was recognized when it was raised to the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1235, which would exist until 1918.