What is Lüneburg?
{{Infobox German location |type = Stadt |name = Lüneburg |image_photo = Rathaus2.jpg |image_caption = Lüneburg Town Hall |image_coa = DEU Lüneburg COA.svg |coordinates = {{coord|53|15|9|N|10|24|52|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |image_plan = Lüneburg in LG.svg |state = Niedersachsen |district = Lüneburg |elevation = 17 |area = 70.34 |population = 72057 |Stand = 2006-12-31 |postal_code = 21335–21337–21339 |area_code = 04131 |licence = LG |Gemeindeschlüssel = 03 3 55 022 |divisions = 14 districts |website = {{url|http://www.lueneburg.de/}} |mayor = Ulrich Mädge |Bürgermeistertitel= Oberbürgermeister |party = SPD }} '''Lüneburg''' is a city in [[Lower Saxony]] in north [[Germany]]. It is about 50&nbsp;km southeast of [[Hamburg]]. It is the capital of the [[Lüneburg (district)|District of Lüneburg]]. About 102,660 people live there. The [[Ilmenau River]], a [[tributary]] of the [[Elbe]], flows through Lüneburg. In the [[Middle Ages]], it was [[Principality of Lüneburg|Principality]] and the town was very rich due to the [[salt]] trade. Salt used to be transported along the [[Old Salt Route]] to the [[Baltic Sea]] from where it was sent by [[ship]] to other countries. There were salt mines near the town for a thousand years. Salt mining stopped in 1980. The salt mining caused a lot of [[deforestation]]. The countryside changed into [[heathland]] which is called the Lüneburger Heide (Lüneburg Heath). On May 23, 1945, the [[Nazi]] [[war criminal]] [[Heinrich Himmler]] committed [[suicide]] in Lüneburg after he had been captured by the [[British Army]]. He swallowed a [[potassium cyanide]] capsule before his [[interrogation]] could begin. Lüneburg is twinned with [[Scunthorpe]], [[England]]. <center><gallery> image:AmSande.jpg|Am Sande Image:Lueneburg KranKaufhaus.jpg|Old crane and old store at the medieval Lüneburg harbour Image:Ratha