District community Apensen

The administrative district of Apensen is situated south of community of Stade and has 7150 inhabitants and an area of 7397 ha. It shares its borders with the town of Buxtehude, which is of considerable importance for its presentation and development.

Grundoldendorf, Beckdorf with the districts of Goldbeck and Nindorf as well as Sauensiek with the districts Revenahe, Kammerbusch and Wiegersen all belong to the administrative community of Apsensen. Since the end of 1997, the administrative district was the first community in the community of Stade to change its local government and the citizens voted for a full time district mayor of the community for the first time.

In all three member communities young families are provided for with well equipped Kindergartens in the different districts. This can also be applied to the primary schools although at present children can only be taught up to the 3rd year in Beckdorf.

Even when you are only looking at the communities on the face of it, you will soon realise that every community has its own characteristics, which can at least partly be linked back to their administrative and regional reforms:

For example, in Apensen you can find generous outdoor sport facilities for schools. There are currently plans to build a new secondary school and after August 2001, pupils will have the opportunity to be taught at the different levels of secondary education in the administrative district.  

There have many celebrations held in the bountiful hall, which have been loved by everyone. The main attraction of the village is the wonderful and interesting church, whose groups with their cultural and social aspects do a lot for the senior and the youth in the administrative district.

The pride and joy of the Beckensdorfers is undoubtedly the sports hall, which is at the disposal of all clubs. Handball is very successful here and is promoted by the youth's dedicated hard work. There is also great approval of the annual Harvest festival, which takes place in the town. In the case of the town planning support law, Beckdorf was changed from a village with old style to a rural community. The club "Die Kranzbinder" created a historic square, the Beekhof, on the outskirts of the village.

Sauensiek on the other hand offers a variety of ways you can spend your free time, for example swimming in the municipal outdoor pool with a big grass area or playing tennis at the tennis courts built in 1983 or camping at the campsite. The active youth of the village invites you throughout the year to several events, for example to the Easter fire, and therefore create a sense of togetherness in the community.

The charming landscape of the administrative district, which boasts forest and moor areas, offers relaxation and peace from the everyday life in the Este valley as well as in the barrows. The "Litberg" (mountain) in Sauensiek is highest point in the community of Stade, as it is 65m above sea level.

The clubs are the cultural basis of our communities and because of this fact they have an important role. As there are no theatres or cinemas and no other options normally available in a town, free time is spent at clubs. At sports clubs, marksmen's associations, glee clubs, at the country ladies, the fire station and many more, citizens come together to take part in a variety of activities.

Since 1973, the administrative district of Apensen has had a close relationship with the French community Ploermel/Bretagne. These contacts have been secured through visits from both sides and  a contract, which was signed in 1980. Many friendships and personal contact have been made because of the annual meeting between grown ups as well as younger people.

Since 1952 there has already been a god parenthood between the church community of Apensen and the church communities of Dittmannsdorf and Witzschdorf in Saxony, which has been preserved up to this day. Since unification, the god parenthood has been enhanced through local contacts, which meant that contacts with Ploermel were created. There have already been "triangle meetings". Since 1990 another partnership has been founded, with the ev.-luth. church community in Vilnius/Lithuania. Interested citizens are welcome to become an active part of all the god parenthoods.

The administrative district of Apensen is considered to be an area where people from Hamburg and Buxtehude move to, however there is not enough land for building on to meet the demand. Especially since the change of population structure it means that political life has become more interesting. The local citizens, in comparison to the town citizens, bestir themselves with public politics. Citizen's initiatives do not have a great influence on the administrative district council. This modern democratic instrument does not even stop at the gates of a Geest- community.