- but see my comment below on SAlzgitter - is Salzgitter part of Dornton District?
No. Salzgitter has a long and complicated history - as does Dörnten (please be careful with spellings!).
Below is a link to a WiKi page which explains Salzgitter's history. There is a lot of text, but it might be interesting for you. Kniestedt no longer exists as a village - it was swallowed up in 1938 during the re-naming/re-organisation of the entire area. The name appears in a few roads, allotments, etc. The only mention Kniestedt gets on this WiKi page is under "Buildings" - apparently there is a nice farmhouse there which is now an old people's home and a music school.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SalzgitterThere is a good WiKi page for Kniestedt, but it is only in German. Here is a quick 'n dirty translation
of the important bits:
In the Middle Ages, Kniestedt belonged to the Salzgau, which in turn belonged to the bishopric of Hildesheim founded by Louis the Pious in 815. After the reorganisation of the Principality of Hildesheim, Kniestedt belonged to the Liebenburg office from 1330. After the end of the Hildesheim Collegiate Feud, the village fell to the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg in 1523. In 1643, Hildesheim received most of the former Great Abbey back, including Kniestedt. After the incorporation of the Diocese of Hildesheim by Prussia on 3 August 1802, the High Diocese of Hildesheim - and with it Kniestedt - fell to the Kingdom of Prussia. During Napoleonic rule from 1807 to 1813, Kniestedt belonged to the Kingdom of Westphalia as a commune in the canton of Salzgitter in the district of Goslar in the department of the Oker; 
the mayor (Maire) of the canton was provided by the von Kniestedt family. From 1815 Kniestedt belonged to the Kingdom of Hanover again. This was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866. After the reorganisation of the Prussian Land Order of 6 March 1884, the district of Goslar was formed in 1885 from the town of Goslar and the districts of Liebenburg and Wöltingerode, to which Kniestedt belonged from then on.
From 1937 onwards, large areas were needed as building and settlement land for the expansion of ore mining and the construction of the Reichswerke Hermann Göring. The affected owners had to cede their property and were compensated with replacement land. The Kniestedt estate was also transferred with all its land into the ownership of the Reichswerke; the family of the Count of Münster relocated to Hesse.
As a further consequence of the industrialisation of the region, Kniestedt was integrated into the municipality of Salzgitter(-Bad) on 1 April 1938. On 1 April 1942, the town of Watenstedt-Salzgitter was founded, which was renamed Salzgitter in 1951.That may explain a bit. Or confuse things even more.
But as for Dörnten:
From the Middle Ages onwards, Dörnten belonged to the Liebenburg office in the Hildesheim diocese. The affiliation to the diocese was interrupted by the Hildesheim Collegiate Feud, when the Liebenburg office fell to Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel with the Quedlinburg recess of 1523. In 1643, the Liebenburg office again came under the rule of the prince-bishop of Hildesheim. After the secularisation of the diocese, it fell to Prussia in 1802, belonged to the Kingdom of Westphalia from 1807 to 1812, then to Hanover until 1866 and then to Prussia again. The village was administered by the Liebenburg district until 1884, then by the Goslar district until the 1940s. In 1942 Dörnten became part of the state of Braunschweig as part of a territorial exchange, and with it the state of Lower Saxony in 1946. On 1 July 1972, Dörnten was incorporated into the municipality of Liebenburg.So as you can see, the borders and responsible offices changed many, many times.
In a nutshell: Kniestedt no longer exists as a village in its own right; it is part of Salzgitter-Bad.
I would assume (possibly a dangerous thing to do
) that the records from back then are held by the offices in Salzgitter, as opposed to Goslar.
All the best,
Karen
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Topic: Devers and German Butchers (Read 876 times)