SALZGITTER

city, Lower Saxony Land (state), north-central Germany, in the foothills of the Harz Mountains southwest of Brunswick. The area covers the largest deposit of iron ore in Germany, and in 1937 the former Reichswerke (state works), the Hermann Gring Reich Company for Ore Mining and Iron Smelting, was established to exploit this resource. In 1942 the old town of Salzgitter and 27 adjoining villages were incorporated into the existing municipality, known until 1951 as Watenstedt-Salzgitter. Watenstedt was chosen as the centre for the preparation of the ore and for the metallurgical works, and an 11-mile (18-kilometre) branch canal for the transport of Ruhr coal was built from the adjoining district of Hallendorf to the Mittelland Canal. In 193840 and after World War II, the districts of Lebenstedt, Salzgitter-Bad, Thiede, Gebhardshagen, and Hallendorf were developed as modern residential estates. The ore, with a comparatively low iron content, is mined around the Salzgitter ridge and Salzgitter-Bad. In addition to coking plants, blast furnaces, steel plants, and rolling mills, industries include the production of railway cars and wagons, trucks, machinery, radio and television sets, textiles, and pharmaceuticals. Much of the municipal land is agricultural (wheat, sugar beets, grazing). Salzgitter-Bad is a well-known spa with a brine spring from which salt has been extracted since about 800. The district of Lebenstedt is the seat of the municipal administration. Pop. (1989 est.) 111,674.