Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

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Old Town Lunenburg*
UNESCO World Heritage Site

Image:Lunenburg Aerial.jpg
Aerial view of Lunenburg
State Party Image:Flag of Canada.svg Canada
Type Cultural
Criteria iv, v
Reference 741
Region Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription 1995  (19th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
Region as classified by UNESCO.

Lunenburg (2006 population: 2,317) is a Canadian port town in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia.

Situated on the province's South Shore, Lunenburg is located on a peninsula at the western side of Mahone Bay. The town is approximately 90 kilometres southwest of the county boundary with the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Contents

[edit] History

Lunenburg was founded in 1753 and was named in honour of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, (George II), who was also the ruler of Brunswick-Lunenburg.

At one time an important seaport and shipbuilding centre, the town is now home to numerous small businesses, high-tech industries and trade plants including High Liner Foods, which was at one point the largest fish plant in Canada. This plant now handles little more than manufacturing and most fishing is done offshore.

Image:Picture 058 2.jpg
Lunenburg waterfront (as viewed from a hotel)

[edit] People and Culture

Image:LunenbergWarMemorial.jpg
Lunenburg's World War I memorial

Lunenburg is the birthplace of the world famous schooner Bluenose and her daughter Bluenose II which remains an important tourist attraction in the town, her home port. Tourism is now Lunenburg's most important industry and many thousands visit the town each year. A number of restaurants, inns, hotels and shops exist to service the tourist trade including the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

The original inhabitants of Lunenburg (mostly Germans from the southern Rhineland, Swiss and French protestants from Montbeliard) came during the same wave of immigration that produced the Pennsylvania Dutch. They were "Foreign Protestants" encouraged by the British to settle in the area. Many of the original families and descendants still inhabit and influence the development of the town today. Up until the early 20th century, Lunenburg served as a service center to the whole county as evidenced in the need to bring school teachers from Lunenburg to new settlements in the western part of the county such as Waterloo.

[edit] World Heritage Site

The historic town was designated a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1995.

This designation ensures protection for much of Lunenburg's unique architecture and civic design, being the best example of planned British colonial settlement in North America.

[edit] Gallery

Panoramic view.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Lunenburg

[edit] References

(Coordinates: 44°22′37″N, 64°19′08″W)

pdc:Lunenburg Kaundi (Nei-Schottland) Deitscherei de:Lunenburg_(Nova_Scotia) it:Lunenburg hu:Lunenburg ja:ルーネンバーグ pt:Lunenburg fi:Lunenburg sv:Lunenburg vi:Lunnenburg, Nova Scotia zh:盧嫩堡

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