Amt Neuhaus

Amt Neuhaus
Municipality
Aerial view of the village center
Coat of arms
Location of Amt Neuhaus within Lüneburg district
Amt Neuhaus Show map of Germany Amt Neuhaus Show map of Lower Saxony
Coordinates: 53°17′07″N 10°55′56″E / 53.28528°N 10.93222°E / 53.28528; 10.93222
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Lüneburg
Subdivisions	8 districts
Government
• Mayor (2019–24)	Andreas Gehrke[1] (CDU)
Area
• Total	237.16 km2 (91.57 sq mi)
Elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	5,320
• Density	22/km2 (58/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	19273
Dialling codes	038841
Vehicle registration	LG
Website	www.amt-neuhaus.de

Amt Neuhaus is a municipality in the District of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Amt means "municipal office" in German. The original "municipal office of Neuhaus" existed since at least the 17th century until 1885, consecutively as part of Saxe-Lauenburg (which ceased to exist in 1689), Electorate of Hanover (1689-1810), Kingdom of Hanover (1814-1866), and the Prussian Province of Hanover (1866-1885).

In 1885, Prussia dissolved the municipality of Neuhaus, while the area remained part of the Province of Hanover. However, in 1945 the area of the former municipality was annexed to Mecklenburg and thus became a part of the Soviet Occupation Zone due to lying on the right bank of the Elbe River, and thus along with the former County of Blankenburg and the municipality of Calvörde became one of a few small areas of the Province of Hanover (since 1946 Lower Saxony) that were part of East Germany from 1949 to 1990.

After German reunification in 1990, the municipalities that had once made up Neuhaus until 1885 quickly held a referendum to secede from Mecklenburg and return to Lower Saxony as a joined municipality in 1992, which out of reasons of tradition took up the old name of Amt Neuhaus, or "municipal office of Neuhaus". It is thus, together with neighbouring Wendischthun in Bleckede, the only part of former East Germany that is today part of a Land that during the Cold War belonged to West Germany.