The town earned pan-regional fame when Friedensreich Hundertwasser was selected to redesign the railway station: the final work of the celebrated Viennese artist and architect was ceremonially opened in 2000 as the Hundertwasser Station, Uelzen, and remains a popular tourism destination.

The Polabian name for Uelzen is Wilcaus (spelled Wiltzaus in older German reference material), possibly derived from wilca or wilsa (< Slavic *olăša) 'alder'.

In 1270 Duke John of Brunswick-Lüneburg, a Welf who ruled the Principality of Lüneburg from 1252 to 1277, granted Uelzen its town privileges (Stadtrechte).

While Uelzen only played a small role in the Hanseatic League, there is evidence that it traded with Livonia and Spain.

[citation needed] At the Schnellenmarket, a London trading office purchased Uelzener linen, earthenware pitchers were offered for sale and brewery business flourished.

The town is situated on the Ilmenau, and the banks in Uelzen are dotted with small parks wetland areas.

The following parishes belong to the borough of Uelzen: Groß Liedern, Halligdorf, Hambrock, Hansen, Hanstedt II, Holdenstedt, Kirchweyhe, Klein Süstedt, Masendorf, Mehre, Molzen, Oldenstadt, Riestedt, Ripdorf, Tatern, Veerßen, Westerweyhe, and Woltersburg.

Permanent exhibitions include furniture from the Middle Ages, a glass collection, artwork by painter Georg Wolf, and archaeological finds from the local area.

The Hundertwasserbahnhof is a railway station in Uelzen at the eastern edge of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park in northeastern Lower Saxony.

Cities directly reachable by rail from this hub are Hamburg, Hannover, Lüneburg, Celle, Braunschweig, Bremen and Berlin.