Sassenburg-Stüde

Stüde is a village in the municipality of Sassenburg in Gifhorn district in the German state of Lower Saxony.

It has an area of about 1,900 ha which consists mainly of woodland, including many clumps of pines on sandy soil.

Stüde received national attention in 1975 when a forest and heath fire broke out there on 8 August and ran out of control, quickly leaping across the Elbe Side Canal and causing the most disastrous forest fire that summer.

Since 1991 Stüde has provided the start and finish for a marathon which follows the canal path almost entirely.

On the night of 31 December 1999/1 January 2000, under the name of the Millennium Run, the last marathon of 1999 in Europe and the first one of 2000 took place on the Stüde course.