Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Lunenburg, NS, World War I memorial

See also Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia or Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (municipal district).

Lunenburg is a small town on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada at 44.37° North 64.32° West, approximately 90 kilometres southwest of Halifax, on the Atlantic coast. Its population in 2001 was 2,568. During the summer, large numbers of tourists increase the area's population.

Lunenburg was founded in 1753, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. This designation ensures protection for much of Lunenburg's unique architecture and civic design.

Lunenburg was named in honour of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, (George II), who was also the Duke 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.

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.

Lunenburg County is named after the town.

External links

• Town of Lunenburg
• Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic
• Lunenburg in Pennsylvania Dutch