ABSTRACT
NEHER,ERWIN(1944-) Physicist at the Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie
NEOFASCHISMUS See: RECHTSEXTREMISMUS
previously the DDR. They are BRANDENBURG, MECKLENBURG-
NIEDERSACHSEN 301
E S S T S S T t e - h , o„ house a„d hcne ta educated
NF See: Mst/ESFOKt/M
NGG S e « G W £ R K S C f t 4 f T ^ H i ? £ W G - G f l W S 5 -
NIEDERLAUSITZ See: L^t/S/rZ
NIEDERSACHSEN
responsibility for individual portfolios. Niedersachsen is divided into four REGIERUNGSBEZIRKE comprising nine KREISFREIE STÄDTE and 38 KREISE. The LANDESHAUPTSTADT is HANNOVER. Niedersachsen was formed by the British military government in 1946 from the former duchies of Braunschweig, Oldenburg, ,he ttny state of Schaumburg-Lippe and the former Prussian province of Hannover, PLATTDE^SCH is a unifying cultural tradition although the German spoken around Hannover is deemed to be the purest form of HOCHDEUTSCH Around 65% of the population is Protestant with just under 20% being Catholic
Agriculture is still an important component in the economy of Niedersachsen, reflecting the fertile valleys and lowlands contrasting with the barren heath and woodlands of the LÜNEBURGER HEIDE and the HARZ mountains. Mineral extraction has a long tradition in Niedersachsen with the prosperity of the medieval city of Lüneburg resting on the saltworks. Today, the potash industry is of importance, and the town of Salzgitter has vast iron-ore deposits mined by PREUSSAG. Virtually all of Germany's naturalgas production is in Niedersachsen and most of Germany's naturally occurring oil is pumped up here. Hannover is the site of the world's biggest industrial trade fair, the HANNOVER MESSE, and Wolfsburg rose from a tiny village in the 1930s to become the ultimate company city as the home of VOLKSWAGEN. Other important industrial centres include BRAUNSCHWEIG, Osnabrück, Hildesheim and Wilhelmshaven. Fisheries, shipbuilding and chemicals are important coastal industries, with tourism forming the dominant component of the local economy in some areas. Other industries include food and confectionery, electronics, rubber, machinery and textiles, with the world-famous Bockbier being brewed in the little town of Einbeck. The Lüneburger Heide is a vast nature reserve, the coastland area of OSTFRIESLAND has a thriving tourist industry (despite dreary weather) and the gentle curves of the Harz mountains have the reputation of being pensioners' walking country.
