Lower Saxony was one of the main receiving federal states for refugees and displaced persons. Of the 12 million displaced persons from the east, about 1.8 million were received by 1949 - corresponding to a quarter of the previous population. The city and district of Luneburg also recorded an enormous increase in population.
Lower Saxony was also particularly heavily involved in the allocation of refugees. Due to their intact infrastructure, food supply in largely rural areas was better and the housing situation was also less catastrophic than in the war-torn cities. Since many refugees did not want to remain in the Soviet occupation zone, the administrative district of Luneburg, with its 563 kilometres of border with the Soviet occupation zone was exposed to uncontrollable immigration. In addition, there were the refugees from the Baltic Sea waiting for redistribution in Schleswig-Holstein.
The refugees were initially received by friendly and helpful people, but also met with rejection. It took decades for the groups to grow together, but since the 1970s the differences have increasingly disappeared, place of origin playing an ever-smaller role.
Illustration:
1.) A total of 528,000 inhabitants, 374,000 of whom were refugees, 192,000 of whom came from East Prussia, Silesia, Pomerania and the Baltic States, the rest were bombed out city dwellers, former forced labourers and zone refugees. The administrative district of Luneburg on 1st May 1946
2.) Total number of inhabitants 67,063, of whom 23,468 were displaced persons, of whom 6,782 were East Prussians. The district of Luneburg in 1956
3.) Total 60,000, of which 37,000 were residents in 1939. Luneburg 1950: The population had grown by a third due to the influx of refugees and displaced persons from the East. "Little East Prussia" in the Luneburg Heath was a catchphrase at the time.
The administrative district and the city of Luneburg also recorded enormous population growth after the war. In 1956 the population of the district was 67,063. 23,468 displaced persons were added to the 35,085 old-established inhabitants, of whom 6,782 came from East Prussia alone.