Gifhorn

Gifhorn () is a town and capital of the district of Gifhorn in the east of Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about 42,000 and is mainly influenced by the small distance to the more industrial and commercially important cities nearby, Brunswick and Wolfsburg. Further, Gifhorn is part of the Hanover-Brunswick-Göttingen-Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region. The Municipality Gifhorn includes the villages of Gamsen, Gifhorn, Kästorf, Neubokel, Wilsche and Winkel.

==Sights== Gifhorn is home to the International Wind- and Watermill Museum, which contains a comprehensive collection and working replicas of the world's most common windmills. The castle in the town centre was built in a Weser Renaissance style from 1526 to 1533. Kavalierhaus (Cavalier House) is a renaissance building dating from 1546. Saint Nicolai Church is a baroque aisleless church which was built from 1734 to 1744. Around the Market Place various well-preserved half-timbered houses built in the 16th and 17th centuries can be visited, e.g. the Old Town Hall with impressive wood sculptures dating from 1562. Some houses have interesting bay windows. House no. 2 in Steinweg street, called Höfersches Haus and dating from 1570, is considered to be one of the oldest houses in town.