  braunschweig or brunswick (; low german: brunswiek ; "brunswick" (definition 2), the american heritage dictionary p. 245 3d. ed. 1992), is a city of 250,556 people,"bevÃ¶lkerungsfortschreibung" (in german). landesbetrieb fÃ¼r statistik und kommunikationstechnologie niedersachsen. december 31, 2011. accessed august 5, 2012. located in the state of lower saxony, germany. it is located north of the harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the oker river, which connects to the north sea via the rivers aller and weser. a powerful and influential centre of commerce in medieval germany, braunschweig was a member of the hanseatic league from the 13th until the 17th century, and the capital of the state of brunswick until its disestablishment in 1946. ==history== thumb|left|dankwarderode castle ===foundation and early history=== the date and circumstances of the town's foundation are unknown. tradition maintains that braunschweig was created through the merger of two settlements, one founded by brun(o), a saxon count who died in 880, on one side of the river oker â the legend gives the year 861 for the foundation â and the other the settlement of a legendary count dankward, after whom dankwarderode castle (dankward's clearing), which was reconstructed in the 19th century, is named.[http://www.braunschweig.de/kultur_tourismus/stadtportraet/
Capitals_of_former_nations Cities_in_Lower_Saxony Members_of_the_Hanseatic_League Populated_places_established_in_the_9th_century