Schöningen

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The title of this article contains the character ö. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Schoeningen.

Coordinates: 52°8′N, 10°57′E

Schöningen


Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Helmstedt
Population	13,086 source (2005)
Area	35.36 km²
Population density	370 /km²
Elevation	114 m
Coordinates	52°8′ N 10°57′ E
Postal code	38364
Area code	05352
Licence plate code	HE
Mayor	Matthias Wunderling-Weilbier
Website	www.schoeningen.de

Schöningen is a city of 13,000 inhabitants (2005) in the district of Helmstedt, Lower Saxony, Germany. In its current form, it was created in 1974 by joining the municipalities of Esbeck, Hoiersdorf, and Schöningen.

The main industry in Schöningen is open-cast mining of lignite, which is used for electricity generation in the Buschhaus plant. Both mining and generation are operated by the BKB AG, open-cast mining will be closed down in 2015. The Buschhaus plant now inhibits three lines of thermal waste treatment.

[edit] History

The first historical mentioning of Schöningen was in 748. In the 14th century, Schöningen became a city; at the same time the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg built a palace here.

In archaeology, Schöningen is famous for seven palaeolithic wooden spears found in an opencast mine near the town. The spears are about 400,000 years old, and are the world's oldest known wooden artifacts. They were found in combination with the remains of about 20 wild horses, whose bones contain numerous butchery marks. This is considered proof that early humans were active hunters.