October 1470, Uelzen was the venue for a Hanseatic League Convention. A special honour as these resolutions of the association of cities only took place annually - primarily in Lübeck." The town became part of the Electorate of Hanover in 1708, the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814, and the Prussian Province of Hanover in 1866. Uelzen was the site of a Nazi concentration camp that was established in Uelzen until 17 April 1945. The camp was a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp. Uelzen was hit by five air raids on 18 April 1944, 10 November 1944, 27 November 1944, 22 February 1945 and 7 April 1945 and 1362 buildings were destroyed or damaged. The heaviest raid was on 22 February 1945 when 149 people lost their lives and 95 houses were completely destroyed. On 7 April 1944, three civilians were killed and 153 houses were destroyed or damaged The town as a whole was destroyed by 27 per cent. Governance Uelzen belongs to the Bundestag constituency of Celle-Uelzen. In 2009 Henning Otte (CDU) was directly elected, having been on the state list (place 19) since 2005. Kirsten Lühmann (SPD) was elected in 2009 via the state list. In the years 1998, 2002 and 2005 Peter Struck (SPD), former defence minister and chairman of the SPD party in the German Bundestag, was directly elected. Mayor The mayor of Uelzen since 2014 has been Jens Markwardt (independent). In the 2014 election he was confirmed in office with 64.4% of the vote. The deputy mayors are Karsten Jäkel (CDU) und Ariane Schmäschke (The Greens). 1913–1946: Johann Maria Farina. 1946: Dr. Heinz Lücke (CDU). 1946–1948: Adolf Hochgraefe (SPD). 1948–1950: Dr. Heinz Lücke. 1950–1952: Adolf Hochgraefe. 1952–1961: Dr. Heinz Lücke. 1961–1963: Adolf Hochgraefe. 1963–1964: Dr. Heinz Lücke. 1964–1972: Alfred Krüger (CDU). 1972–1979: Rudi Schrödter (SPD). 1979–1981: Hans-Alexander Drechsler (SPD). 1981–1991: Rudolf Froin (CDU). 1991–1997: Günter Leifert (SPD). 1997–2001: Günter Leifert (hauptamtlich). 2001–2014: Otto Lukat (SPD). 2014: Jürgen Markwardt (independent). Twin towns – sister cities Uelzen is twinned with: Barnstaple, England, United Kingdom Bois-Guillaume, France Kobryn, Belarus Tikaré, Burkina Faso Arts and culture Theatre The number of cultural offerings is large and varied given the size of the city. The multitude of cinemas, the theatre on the Ilmenau (Theater an der Ilmenau), the Jabelmann Events Hall and the fringe theatre on the Rosenmauer are some of Uelzens attractions. Museums