the district dates back to the two "ämter" of verden and achim, which were created in 1852 and 1859. after the kingdom of hanover became part of prussia, they were recreated as districts ("kreis"), and merged in 1932. in 1939 two municipalities of the district were added to bremen, in 1972 thedinghausen (previously an exclave of the district of braunschweig) was added.