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Hamelin
Panorama of Hamelin
Coat of arms	Location
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Hameln-Pyrmont
Lord Mayor	Susanne Lippmann (Ind.)
Basic statistics
Area	102.30 km² (39.5 sq mi)
Elevation	68 m  (223 ft)
Population	58,696  (30/12/2006)
- Density	574 /km² (1,486 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	HM
Postal codes	31785–89, 3250
Area code	05151
Website	www.hameln.de Coordinates: 52°06′11″N 9°21′36″E / 52.10306, 9.36

Hamelin (German: Hameln) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont. The Weser river runs through the town. Population: 58,872 (as of 2005).

Hamelin is also the gateway to the surrounding Weserbergland mountains, which can be visited by hikers and bikers.

The town is famous for the folk tale of The Pied Piper of Hamelin (German: Der Rattenfänger von Hameln), a medieval tale that tells of a tragedy that befell the town in 1284. The version written down by the Brothers Grimm made it popular throughout the world; it is also the subject of well-known poems by Goethe and by Robert Browning. Although Hamelin has a fine medieval old town with some remarkable buildings, the main attraction is the Pied Piper tale. In the summer every Sunday the tale is played by actors in the authentic places.

There was a monastery at the place, which was founded in as early as 851 AD. A village grew in the neighbourhood and became a town in the 12th century. The incident with the Pied Piper is said to have happened in 1284 and may be based on a true event, although somewhat different from the tale. In the 15th and 16th centuries Hamelin was a minor member of the Hanseatic League.

In June 1634, during the Thirty Years' War, Lothar Dietrich Freiherr von Bönninghausen, a General with the Imperial Army, lost a battle near Hamelin to Swedish General von Kniphausen.

The era of greatest wealth began in 1664, when Hamelin became a fortified border town of the Duchy of Brunswick-Calenberg. In 1867 the town became a part of Prussia.

After the Second World War, Hamelin prison was used by the British Occupation Forces for the detention of German war criminals. More than 200 of them were hanged there; among them Irma Grese and Josef Kramer.

Watershed of the River Weser.

• Afferde
• Hastenbeck
• Halvestorf
• Haverbeck
• Hilligsfeld (including Groß and Klein Hilligsfeld)
• Sünteltal (including Holtensen, Welliehausen and Unsen)
• Klein Berkel
• Tündern (pop. around 2,700), Official site (in German)
• Wehrbergen
• Rohrsen

• Gluckel of Hameln
• Heinrich Bürger (1806-1858)
• Wilhelm Freiherr von Hodenberg
• Karl Philipp Moritz
• Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden
• Susan Stahnke (b. 1967)
• Electronic group Funker Vogt

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Hameln

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Hameln, Germany

• Official site (German)
• Local newspaper (German)

v • d • e Towns and municipalities in Hamelin-Pyrmont (district)
Aerzen | Bad Münder | Bad Pyrmont | Coppenbrügge | Emmerthal | Hamelin | Hessisch Oldendorf | Salzhemmendorf