8000 - 4000 BC
It is assumed the favourite settlement area at the Geest slope was already populated in the area of Verden's old town in the middle Stone Age.

Around 150 AD
The geographer Ptolemy names the place Tuliphurdium.

Around 450 AD
In the time of Migration the Saxons came into the local area, which in parts populated by the Chauci.

782
Charlemagne holds in Verden, the main place of Saxon Gau (country subdivision) a tribunal about the Saxons when they refused Christianity. According to tradition 4 500 Saxons were put to death.

Around 800 AD
A certificate about the foundation of the bishopric Verden carried the date of the 29. June 786. This certificate has been recognised as a forgery from the time around 1150. The foundation of the bishopric happened probably around 800.

810
In a certificate, which was issued by Charlemagne to the monastery Ebersbach in the Alsace the name 'Ferdi in Saxonia' appears as place of issue. At this time Verden probably had a church where Charlemagne was holding court days. At that time there was most likely a bishops see here also. Wooden remnants from an early wooden church date back to that time.

849
King Louis the German placed the bishopric Verden under his protection. The privilege deed from the year 849, is the oldest in the Lower Saxon state archive.

985
Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor bestowed the bishop Erpo the market right, the right to mint and issue coins, the customs right and the toll right and as such the absolute power in the area of these privileges.

Continue here to Verden 2: from 9th/10th-century to 1578

Continue here to Verden 3: from 1618/48 to 1938

Continue here to Verden 4: from 1946 to 2008