Einbeck

Einbeck
Street with timbered houses in Einbeck
Coat of arms
Einbeck
Location of Einbeck within Northeim district
Coordinates: 51°49′N 9°52′E / 51.817°N 9.867°E / 51.817; 9.867Coordinates: 51°49′N 9°52′E / 51.817°N 9.867°E / 51.817; 9.867
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Northeim
Government
• Mayor	Sabine Michalek (CDU)
Area
• Total	231.31 km2 (89.31 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	31,338
• Density	140/km2 (350/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	37574
Dialling codes	05561, 05562
Vehicle registration	EIN, GAN, NOM
Website	www.einbeck-online.de

Einbeck is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road.

The area of the current city of Einbeck is inhabited since prehistoric times. Various artifacts have been unearthed in the city of Einbeck itself and in the little villages and lost villages around it over the years. They date back to the Paleolithic Era.

In the Early Middle Ages a number of villages did exist along the river Ilme in the middle Leine valley before Einbeck was founded. On January 1, 1158 Einbeck was first mentioned in a deed of Friedrich Barbarossa which mentioned … in loco qui Einbike vocatur …. The deed related to a transfer of an estate in the 11th century. Count Udo of Katlenburg owned an estate on the bank of a brook, the Krummes Wasser. His grandson founded the stift Sankt Alexandri, that subsequently developed into an important sanctuary. On the other side of this brook a market town developed at the end of the 12th century, mainly due to convenient access for traffic. A church was built there as well, the market church (St. Jacob). The floodplain between market and stift was filled in and covered with buildings. The market and stift were walled in and a moat was built. In 1252 Einbeck received a town charter and a town council was established. In 1279 the town received through its sovereign, Heinrich Mirabilis, an extension of its town charter. Einbeck was topographically extended and a town wall is mentioned that enclosed the market church St. Jacob and the stift St. Alexandri. St Jacob was (and is) located in the center of the city around the ‘old market’, St. Alexandri was built only some hundred meters away. Extensions were called the ‘new market’, first mentioned 1389 as was the ‘new town’. The new town received its own church, St. Mary, first mentioned 1318.

The city gained importance during the reign of the dukes of Grubenhagen. Smaller villages as Oldendorf or Tiedexen were deserted and inhabitants moved inside the city walls. Written evidence about the export of Einbecker beer dates back to 1351. The beer was brewed in larger houses that had the entitlement to brew. These houses are still easily identified through their arched wide doors, necessary to move in the brewing kettle, called a brewing pan. The organization of the process and the marketing of the beer was led by the city council. Einbeck joined the Hanse in 1368 thus broadening the distribution area which now reached from Antwerp in the west to Riga in the east and from in the north to Munich in the south. In Munich the name Einbeck was mispronounced as "ein bock" (a billy goat), and when the ducal brewhouse copied the taste, Bock style beer was born.