“We arrived in Oesingen in the middle of the Heath, where we rested for two hours. Around midnight, we found another carter who took us as passengers. It got very cold in the early morning hours despite being the dog days of summer. I had to leave the cart and walk alongside it to keep warm.“1
From Goslar to Lüneburg
2 July – 8 July 1585
The Lüneburg Heath is today a nature reserve, a popular tourist destination, and a recreational site. Samuel Kiechel left the Harz Mountains behind and crossed the sparsely populated Heath to reach Lüneburg, the largest town in the region. Lüneburg was renowned for its salt production and was one of the wealthiest cities in early modern northern Germany.
To Brunswick
Samuel Kiechel and his guide left Goslar and walked to Wolfenbüttel, thirty kilometres to the north. The town was the residence of the Princes of Wolfenbüttel. Samuel arrived at lunchtime along a road that passed the ducal palace. He observed that it was fortified with a river from the Harz Mountains flowing around it.
Wolfenbüttel had been destroyed in 1542 when an army of the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Protestant Princes and free cities in the Empire, expelled Duke Henry II of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1489–1568). Henry was an ally of Emperor Charles V and the last Catholic prince in northern Germany. He was captured by the League and imprisoned. After Charles’ victory over the Protestant Princes in 1547, Henry was released and returned to Wolfenbüttel. However, his efforts to eradicate Protestantism in the Duchy failed. His son Julius (1528–1589) established the Reformation permanently in the Duchy. Duke Julius rebuilt and fortified Wolfenbüttel, as well as his palace there. He added a new suburb to the city with a set of canals built by Dutch engineers. The palace and canals are now the main tourist attractions of Wolfenbüttel.
Because Wolfenbüttel was only an hour from Brunswick, Samuel Kiechel and his companion did not stay. They continued their journey and arrived in the evening.
According to Kiechel, Brunswick was an imperial city. It was beautiful and fortified with walls, bulwarks and two moats. A small river from the Harz Mountains flowed through Brunswick. The city was home to many craftsmen who made weapons, armour, and other items used in warfare.
Located in the northern German state of Lower Saxony, Brunswick has been an important political and economic centre since the Early Middle Ages. Its strategic position on trade routes and proximity to the ore-rich Harz Mountains contributed significantly to its prosperity. Brunswick gained its autonomy and became an imperial city when the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg moved their residence to Wolfenbüttel in the fifteenth century.
Brunswick, 1572
This image from the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum” shows the city in profile view. The low angle means that most houses are hidden behind the walls. The fortifications themselves appear very strong. The land outside the walls consists of suburbs and what seem to be gardens and orchards. Churches dominate the skyline of Brunswick. Thirteen churches are depicted and named in the view.
The focus on churches in many early modern city-views served as a display of wealth and a symbol of the population’s piety. Religion was a dominant factor in everyday life. With the Protestant Reformation less than a hundred years old, religious views were highly politicised. Therefore, displaying the Christian virtue of a city was as important as showing its wealth or defensive strength. Publications such as the “Civitates” were used as a form of advertisement for the depicted cities. Their city views often emphasised those elements, while others, like derelict buildings or the low-quality housing of the poor, were omitted.
Crossing the Lüneburg Heath
Samuel Kiechel departed from Brunswick on 5 July. His journal recounts how early modern public transport worked: Our traveller went to a city gate early in the morning. Under the gate, carters from various villages in the Lüneburg Heath had gathered and were awaiting passengers. These carters had presumably delivered goods to Brunswick and were now returning, taking passengers to avoid travelling with empty carts.
At the gate, Kiechel encountered a ‘Nadlergeselle’ and a woman eager to travel to Lüneburg. A ‘Nadlergeselle’ was a journeyman skilled in drawing wires from different metals such as iron and copper. Our traveller and his two new companions paid a carter to take them four miles to the next village.
The route from Brunswick to Lüneburg led through the Lüneburg Heath, with both towns approximately one hundred kilometres apart. The carters waiting beneath the gate in Brunswick only drove to the surrounding villages. Travellers who wanted to go further would need to change transport at various hamlets within the Heath.
The cart set off from Brunswick at noon. After travelling the agreed-upon distance, Kiechel and the other two passengers disembarked. They paid another man to take them the remaining three miles to the village of Groß Oesingen, situated in the heart of the Lüneburg Heath.
Groß Oesingen was a small settlement. Contrary to our traveller’s account and according to modern maps, it is not situated in the centre of the Heath but in its southern part. The location was along the main road connecting Brunswick with Lüneburg and Hamburg, and it is mentioned in some itineraries. The road ran from Brunswick via Meinersen, Osen (Groß Oesingen), Sauerborg, and Ollendorf to Lüneburg.2
Samuel Kiechel and his two companions reached Groß Oesingen three hours after nightfall. They rested for two hours before seeking an opportunity to continue their journey. Just after midnight, the travellers found a carter willing to take them along.
It was rare in sixteenth-century Europe to travel at night. Towns and cities usually operated under a curfew, and their gates were locked. When Kiechel travelled at night, it was often due to necessity or because he was in a remote, rural area. The Lüneburg Heath could be considered such a remote location, at least according to Kiechel. Our traveller describes it as a flat plain with few trees or settlements. Sometimes, he saw no villages for miles. The inhabitants of the Heath breed sheep for a livelihood.
Despite the middle of summer, it became very cold in the open heathland at night. Our traveller had to get off the cart and walk to stay warm. At dawn, the group reached another village on the other side of the Heath from Brunswick. The travellers then hired another cart driver to take them to Lüneburg, where they arrived in the evening.
In Lüneburg
Lüneburg, 1572
Lüneburg is situated in the German state of Lower Saxony, approximately forty-five kilometres southwest of Hamburg. Samuel Kiechel arrived there on 6 July. He wrote: Lüneburg is a heavily fortified, imperial city, and white salt is produced there. A castle is located on one side of the town and once belonged to the Duke of Lüneburg. The citizens took it from him through guile. The Ilmenau River flows through Lüneburg and joins the Elbe two miles downstream. Boats navigate the Ilmenau.
Two views of Lüneburg appear in the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum”. The first is a profile view from the north. It is on the same page as Brunswick’s view and resembles it in style. Lüneburg is depicted as a large, fortified city. Churches dominate the skyline, but unlike Brunswick, other structures such as the city’s brickyard (“Dat Teigel hus”), the town hall (“Radt hus”), and one gate (“Dat bardewikhr Dor”) are highlighted and named.
On the right side of the image is the “Kalck berch” (Kalkberg). It is a distinctive hill amidst the otherwise flat landscape of the Lüneburg Heath, mainly composed of gypsum.
Samuel Kiechel mentioned a castle at the city’s edge, which had belonged to the Duke of Lüneburg but was seized by the citizens. In the Middle Ages, a castle stood atop the Kalkberg. During the War of the Lüneburg Succession (1370–1389), the citizens captured and destroyed it in 1371.
Lüneburg, 1598
The second view of Lüneburg is a detailed bird’s-eye view from the north. It shows the city’s fortifications, churches, and the Kalkberg. The layout of the streets is visible, with some streets labelled.
The Ilmenau splits upon entering Lüneburg. One branch flows through the city, while the other runs outside the walls. Along the branch within Lüneburg, the fish market and “De Kunst” are marked on the map. “De Kunst” or “Wasserkunst” refers to early modern waterworks that supplied water for wells and fountains in the city.
In the lower-left corner of the map, along the river, there is an area where wood is stored (“De Holt Hude”). The wood probably arrived via the river to be used in the city or transported further downstream towards the Elbe and Hamburg.
Lüneburg and the Ilmenau River
Lüneburg’s Salt
Salt was the source of Lüneburg’s wealth and was exported to various parts of northern Europe. The salt was essential in the Baltic Sea herring trade, as it was used to preserve the fish for transport. As a result, Lüneburg became an early member of the Hanseatic League and one of its wealthiest cities.
The salt was produced by boiling brine from local springs in large, rectangular pans made of lead. During the process, the water in the brine evaporated, leaving behind the salt crystals.
Salt production
Lüneburg saltworks
Kiechel visited the saltworks and was amazed to see the large pans used by workers to boil the brine. The pans, made of lead, did not melt or break on the fire. He learnt that the pans were used for eight days before being exchanged, melted down, and the lead reused for different purposes. According to Kiechel, they used only English lead. Pans made from the lead of local mines melted after two days on the fire.
The Lüneburg saltworks are located in the upper right corner of the bird’s-eye view of the city. The city walls surround them in a semicircle, and the area is called “DE SVLT”.
Samuel Kiechel spent two days in Lüneburg before departing for Hamburg.
Illustrations & References
All images are in order of first appearance with links to sources on external websites:
- Waterloo, Anthonie, Kustlijn met paard en wagen, 1630 – 1663; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
- Braunschweig, in: Braun/Hogenberg, Civitates Orbis Terrarum (1), Cologne 1593, fol. 23v; Heidelberg University.
- Brueghel, Jan, Een molen aan een drukbevaren rivier, 1620; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
- van Goyen, Jan, Vijf figuren rustend voor een boerenwoning,1651; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
- Brueghel, Jan, A Woodland Road with Travelers, 1607; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Lüneburg, in: Braun, Georg, Hogenberg, Frans, Civitates Orbis Terrarum (1), Cologne 1593, fol. 23v; Heidelberg University.
- Lüneburg, in: Braun, Georg, Hogenberg, Frans, Civitates Orbis Terrarum (5), Cologne 1598, fol. 42v; Heidelberg University.
- Hohndorff, Friedrich, Das Saltz-Werck zu Halle in Sachsen befindlich, Halle 1670, pp. 58-59; University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt.
- Die Reisen des Samuel Kiechel aus drei Handschriften, K. D. Haszler (ed.), Stuttgart 1866, pp. 9-10; Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. ↩︎
- Kronn und Auszbunde aller Wegweiser. Darinne verzeichnet seindt alle die Wege, so gehen ausz 71. den vornembsten Städten von Teutschland, 17. von Niderlandt, 39. von Frankreich, 29 von Italia, und 31. von Hispania …, Cölln 1597, p. 66. ↩︎