history-rich cathedral and riders' town

If you are interested in the history of the town Verden then you are at the right place.

Apart from extensive information there is also a brief overview about town history.
In the town name 'Verden' is the old word Furt - meaning river crossing. Since ancient times trader used this favourable crossing over the river Aller as point of intersection for long-distance connections from east to west and from south to north.

As in the 8th-century AD Verden was still an important law place for the Saxons and so the Francian kings - is was probably Charlemagne - decided to found a bishopric seat right here. Until the Reformation in the 16th-century the Verden bishops achieved with changing skills their mission duty far into the Altmark. Separated from the bishopric seat the merchants' settlement of the 'Norderstadt' developed around the present town hall into an indenpendent town with tis own town charter. Verden became later even an indepedent Reichs' town. The bishop governed as lord of the manor over the whole support domain - with the exception of Verden, which was in close proximity!

image author: Bilderarchiv Stadt Verden

Only after the Thirty-Year War in the 17th-century united the Swedish queen both town quarters against the will of the Verden population and put them under the command of her gouverneur-general. In the following centuries Verden as garrison town had to buckle to foreign powers often. The kingdoms Sweden, Denmark, France, Hanover and lastly Prussia left their traces in the town and founded the noticeable cosmopolitism of the Verden citizens!

Situated in the heart of Lower Saxony and in the centre of the city triangle Bremen-Hamburg-Hanover, Verden became court and administration town in the 19th-century.

Since the 30ties of this century the town Verden has the been decorated with the addition of 'Reiterstadt' (riders' city). Every year anew is this term is being filled with life by regional, nationwide and international riding events as well as horse auctions and events surrounding the topic horse. They are the important centre of the annual series of events.

The connection of historical tradition and racing pulse of a middle level centre offers Verden's visitors apart from the ambiance of a medieval town centre a range of cultural and leisure time options.