Northeim (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document recording a property transfer by a Frankish nobleman to the Abbey of Fulda. In the 10th century the surrounding region became a county, administered by the Counts of Northeim. The first of them, Siegfried is mentioned in 982. From 1061 to 1070 Count Otto II held the stem duchy of Bavaria as an Imperial fief, but lost it again because of his involvement in the Saxon plot against King Henry IV. The monastery of St. Blasius was founded around 1100. In 1252 Northeim obtained town rights, and from 1384 to 1554 it was a member of the Hanseatic League. When protestantism was introduced in 1532 all the churches were allocated to the protestants. The town became part of the Kingdom of Hanover. A part of Northeim was devastated by a fire in 1832 when the representative town hall dating from the Middle Ages and more than 40 houses burnt down. Further damage was caused by a fire in 1892 which destroyed several historic buildings in the Market Place. After the railway from Hanover to Göttingen had been inaugurated in 1854 Northeim gained in importance and became a railway junction. The South Harz Railway was opened in 1868 and the Solling Railway in 1878. During the Second World War Northeim was hit by bombs in September 1944, February 1945 and in March 1945. The railway station, five factories and 18 houses were completely destroyed and 80 houses were damaged. The historic centre did not suffer severe bomb damage. Northeim, under the pseudonym of Thalburg, is the subject of William Sheridan Allen's book The Nazi Seizure of Power (), a comprehensive study of the success of Nazism at town level. The book describes how the Nazis took over all social groups in the town and Nazified them, but failed to instill positive enthusiasm for the Nazi state. Instead, the population was "atomized" and deprived of the means to express group grievances. The book has been criticized for neglecting the role of the churches, which remained largely autonomous. However, even its critics say that the book is crucial to our understanding of Nazi Germany and has played a key role in shaping