Lüneburg
In the Middle Ages, the town was very rich due to the salt trade.  Salt used to be transported along the Old Salt Route to the Baltic Sea from where it was sent by ship to other countries.   There were salt mines near the town for a thousand years.  Salt mining stopped in 1980.  The salt mining caused a lot of deforestation.  The countryside changed into heathland which is called the Lüneburger Heide (Lüneburg Heath).