it was completed in 1899. Blaufärberhaus The oldest still existing residential house is located in the Luhestraße. The Blaufärberhaus (blue-dyer's house) was built on the Luhe island immediately after the great town fire in 1585. The gable is richly decorated with Renaissance motifs. The building is not open to the public. Saint George's Chapel Formerly outside the town, a leprosarium, the St. Georg foundation, was established in 1401. The chapel was first documented in 1445. The present hospital building was constructed in 1766, the chapel was built in 1750 and got its current appearance in 1903. Further buildings Historic buildings of the old town are situated on the Luhe island, specifically in Deichstraße, Mühlenstraße, Luhestraße, and Kehrwieder. The Alte Stadtschule (old town-school) was erected in Eckermannstraße in 1893 in historicism style. It is the oldest school in Winsen and nowadays a pure primary school. In the upper floor of the main building, there is a historic auditorium that is used for events. On the opposite side of the street, the gym of the MTV Winsen built in 1889 was located. It was destroyed to the ground in a fire in April 2016. The half-timbered building was the first gymnasium in Winsen. The historic town hall was built in 1896. The former Amtsschreiberhaus ([scrivener]'s house) was mentioned in a document in 1714. The hotel "Zum Weißen Ross" already existed in 1684. It was the residence of Edwin von Manteuffel, commander of the Prussian Army in Austro-Prussian War, in 1866. The carefully restored Buchengasse, a connection between Rathausstraße and Plankenstraße, invites to linger. The ducal watermill was first mentioned in 1385 and moved to the southern end of the Luhe island (Mühlenstraße) in 1750. The brick-facade was added in 1940. Twin towns – sister cities Winsen is twinned with: Drezdenko, Poland Fukui Prefecture, Japan Le Pont-de-Claix, France Pritzwalk, Germany Notable people Johann Peter Eckermann (1792–1854), poet and friend of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Wilhelm Moritz Keferstein (1833–1870), professor of zoology and comparative anatomy in Göttingen Rudolf Sievers (1841–1921), businessman, Senator and member of the Reichstag (NLP) Eduard Schlöbcke (1852–1936), building officer, Agnes Stavenhagen (1860–1945), born Denninghoff; operatic soprano and chamber singer Ernst Preczang (1870–1949), author and co-founder of books Gutenberg Franz Evers (1871–1947), author and editor of the monthly magazine Litterarische Blätter Willem Fricke (1928–2009), actor Erich Brüggemann (born 1928), freelance artist, known for marquetry, sculpture, painting, drawing, carpentry Jürgen Peter Ravens