Blankenhagen Castle

The Leine (German: [ˈlaɪnə] ; Old Saxon Lagina) is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is 281 km (175 mi) long. The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About 40 km (25 mi) downriver, the river enters Lower Saxony and runs northwards. Important towns along its course, from upstream to downstream, are Göttingen, Einbeck, Freden, Alfeld, and Gronau, before the river enters Hanover, the largest city on its banks. Downstream some 40 km (25 mi) north of Hanover, near Schwarmstedt, the river joins the Aller and reaches the North Sea via the Weser. Its northern (lower) reaches are only navigable today by the smallest commercial carriers, though in the past, it served as an important pre-railway barge transport artery as far upriver as Göttingen. The river is somewhat polluted by industry, so the water is not used for drinking, but the pollution has never been severe enough to prevent fish from living in it. Like many western rivers since the 1960s, it has enjoyed increasingly cleaner waters since the implementation of environmental controls. Sport fishing is enjoyed from small boats and along the banks, although yields are normally low. At least one point of the river (Göttingen) is partially diverted into a canal that runs more or less parallel to the river. Serial killer Fritz Haarmann disposed of most of his victims' remains in the Leine river.

Grethem is a municipality in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Eickeloh is a municipality in the Heidekreis district, in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Gilten is a municipality in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Ahlden is a Samtgemeinde ("collective municipality") in the Heidekreis district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Its seat is in the village Hodenhagen. The Samtgemeinde Ahlden consists of the following municipalities: Ahlden (Aller) Eickeloh Grethem Hademstorf Hodenhagen

The Serengeti-Park in Hodenhagen, Lower Saxony, is a zoo and leisure park in North Germany.

Hodenhagen is a municipality in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town was once the site of Hudemühlen Castle, which is now destroyed. The castle was famous as the home of the kobold Hinzelmann. The site of another medieval castle, Hodenhagen Castle on the River Meiße, is also located nearby. Serengeti Park, an amusement park with a safari theme, is located within the municipality.

Ahlden House (German: Schloss Ahlden) is a stately home at Ahlden on the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was built in 1549, originally as a water castle on the river Aller, which has since changed its course. Nowadays the three-winged mansion is a private residence and is used as an arts auction house. It is principally known as the place of imprisonment of Sophia Dorothea of Celle, otherwise Sophie Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wife of George I of Great Britain and the mother of George II of Great Britain.

Bunkenburg was a castle built during the 13th and 14th centuries in the shape of a circular fort located on the banks of the Aller opposite Ahlden in north Germany. Only a section of the rampart, roughly 60 metres long and 3 metres high, exists today. The name of the castle is probably derived from the material, bog iron, used for its construction and known in common parlance as Bunke.

Hodenhagen Castle (German: Burg Hodenhagen) is the site (Burgstall) of a former lowland castle (Niederungsburg) built in the 13th century in the vicinity of Hodenhagen in the German state of Lower Saxony. This medieval manor house only lasted just under 100 years and was destroyed in 1289.

Blankenburg Castle (German: Burg Blankenburg) was a small castle in the village of Engehausen in the municipality of Essel in the German state of Lower Saxony. It dates roughly to the 13th century. All that remains are parts of the surrounding rampart. Today a rural farmstead, formerly a manor house, stands on the site of the old castle. The castle was built on the north bank of the river Aller above the flood plain. Today it lies on a silted-up branch of the old river. The ruins of a rampart can still be seen on the southeastern side of the former castle site; the opposite side of the embankment had been levelled around 1900. The extent of the castle has been estimated at 50 x 50 m. Today an old farmhouse stands in the middle of the site. At the beginning of the 20th century the foundations and parts of a vault were reported to have been found. The castle was attributed to the Lords of Blankena or Blankenhagen, who were mentioned in the middle of the 13th century in the records in connexion with the Hodenhagen Castle. Their line must have soon died out however.

Ahlden is a municipality in the Heidekreis district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Aller, approx. 15 km southwest of Bad Fallingbostel, and 30 km southeast of Verden. Ahlden is located in the Samtgemeinde ("collective municipality") of Ahlden.