Braunschweig

About Braunschweig

Braunschweig or Brunswick is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser. In 2025, it had a population of 255,500. The Braunschweig-Wolfsburg-Salzgitter region had 1.02 million residents including the cities Wolfsburg and Salzgitter, it is the second largest urban center in Lower Saxony after Hanover. The urban agglomeration of Braunschweig had a population of 551,000 with over 40% having a migration background, making it the most diverse urban agglomeration in the whole state. The city consists of 42.2% immigrants (approximately 108,278) with a high number of migrants coming from other European countries, Asia and Africa. 73% of the Germans residing in Braunschweig come from different parts of the country, particularly North Rhine Westphalia, Hessen and the former states of East Germany. The city has one of the highest intregrated proportions of migrants in the nation, having nearly 8 out of 10 people with migration background speak German on a daily basis. Braunschweig is considered an important regiopolis. It is one of the largest regiopolitan cities in Northern Germany and the largest regiopolis in Lower Saxony. The city is seen as a major hub within the region due to it having multiple characteristics of a metropolitan city in a smaller scale or in a comparative amount to other metropolitan cities in Germany.

144 km² (49 sq. mi.) of the city's area is made up of greenspaces such as parks and forests. Braunschweig has a population density of 5 323 per km² (13 787 per sq. mi.) excluding the green areas because only about 48 km² (25½ sq. mi.) of the total area is properly urban, making it quite a dense city and one of the densest cities by urban core density. Many districts of the city have a density over 4,450 people per square kilometer (11,525 per sq. mi.) such as Weststadt, Innenstadt, Westliches Ringgebiet, Nordstadt, or Östliches Ringgebiet. The densest quarter of the city is Hagenquarter with a population of 7,528, being 0.25km² and a density of 30,112 per km². followed by the south side of Westliches Ringgebiet (South of cyriaksring) with a population of 8,436 and an area of 0.31 km², a density of 27,213; Kultviertel, being 0.26 km² and having 5,233 residents makes the quarter's density 20,127 per km²; Emsviertel(Weststadt) having 5,023 residents, and area of 0.33km2 making the density 15,221 and Schwarzer Berg with 0.45km² of area and a population of 4,800 and a density of 10,667. Due to the city's limited urban core and efforts in preserving green spaces, 81% of the residential buildings are multi-storey apartments limiting 74% of the flats with a space below 100 square meters (1000 sq. ft.). The city is constructing more residential areas within city limits so that by 2030 the population increases by 15.000 from 2014.

A powerful and influential centre of commerce in medieval Germany, Brunswick was a member of the Hanseatic League from the 13th until the 17th century. It was the capital city of three successive states: the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1269–1432, 1754–1807, and 1813–1814), the Duchy of Brunswick (1814–1918), and the Free State of Brunswick (1918–1946).

Today, Brunswick is the second-largest city in Lower Saxony and a major centre of scientific research and development.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.