LUNEBURG, a town in the Prussian province of Hanover, near a small hill named the Kalkberg, on the navigable Ilmenau, 14 m. above its confluence with the Elbe and 3o m. by rail S.E. of Hamburg. Pop. (1933) 31,171, Luneburg existed in the days of Charlemagne, and gained importance after the erection of a convent and a castle on the Kalkberg in the loth century. After the destruction of Bardo wiek, then the chief commercial centre of North Germany, in 1189, Luneburg inherited much of its trade and subsequently became one of the principal towns of the Hanseatic League. Having belonged to the duchy of Saxony it was the capital of the duchy of Brunswick-Liineburg from 1235 to 1369; later it belonged to one or other of the branches of the family of Brunswick. The reformed doctrines were introduced into the town in 1530 and it suffered heavily during the Thirty Years' War. It reached the height of its prosperity in the 15th century, and in the 17th century it was the depot for much of the mer chandise exported from Saxony and Bavaria to the mouth of the Elbe; after a period of decay the 19th century witnessed a revival of its prosperity. In 1813 the German war of liberation was
begun by an engagement with the French near LUneburg.
The finest of its squares are the market-place and the so-called Sand. The churches of St. John, with five aisles; of St. Michael, containing the tombs of the former princes of Luneburg, and of St. Nicolas, are Gothic edifices of the 14th and 15th centuries. The town-hall dates from the 13th century. It contains a mag nificent hall—the FUrstensaal—decorated with wood-carving and stained-glass windows.
The gypsum and lime quarries of the Kalkberg afford the materials for cement works. Other industries are the making of beer, spirits, chemicals, ironware, carpets and haircloth.