Salzgitter is a relatively young town, celebrating its 66th birthday in 2003. Even so, in 1953, the local discovery of a 2000-year-old smelting oven in the Salzgitter area proved the importance of iron ore smelting to the region, even before the town’s rebirth in 1937. In fact, Salzgitter’s history is closely related to its natural resources. Salt and iron ore have influenced the development of the Salzgitter region for centuries.

While salt, the source of its early prosperity, is now less important to the community, the modern town of Salzgitter owes much to the foundation of the “Reichswerke fur Erzbergbau and Eisenhutten” in 1937. In time this became the Salzgitter Group of Steele Companies - the third largest steel producer in Germany.

After the Second World War, more than 45,000 refugees moved to Salzgitter. This influx, together with the fact that the occupying powers of the time were dismantling all the industrial plants, caused a great deal of unemployment and Salzgitter was declared a depressed area. In 1950 the workers formed a sit-in demonstration on the foundations of the steelworks (which were due to be demolished) in order to prevent their destruction. This was the turning point for the town!

Salzgitter is now a dynamic new town that made its way through difficult times to a confident future. Much like Swindon, Salzgitter has reinvented itself to face the challenges of a changing industrial environment and to build a prosperous and thriving town. These parallels with Swindon’s industrial and commercial past demonstrate just how appropriate and important the agreement to twin has been for both communities.