In the course of the Thirty Years' War troops of the Catholic League under Johan 't Serclaes, Count of Tilly conquered the Prince-Archbishopric in 1627/1628.

The Leaguist takeover enabled Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, to implement the Edict of Restitution, decreed March 6, 1629, within the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen and the Prince-Bishopric of Verden.

By the Peace of Westphalia the Prince-Archbishopric was transformed into the Duchy of Bremen in 1648, which - together with the Principality of Verden - was first given as a prey for its participation in the Thirty Years' War to be ruled in personal union by the Swedish Crown.

As in Sweden proper, the constitutional and administrative bodies in the Swedish dominions gradually lost de facto importance due to ever growing centralisation.

In 1813 the Duchy was restored to the Electorate of Hanover, which - after its upgrade to the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814 (and still ruled in personal union with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) - incorporated the Duchy in a real union and the ducal territory, including Zeven, became part of the Stade Region, established in 1823.

In 1824/1825 Carl Friedrich Gauß carried out the trigonometric geodetic surveying of the Stade Region, as commissioned by King George IV of Hanover and the United Kingdom.

Local businesses include the head office of the recently created DMK dairy combine (before 2011 Nordmilch), producing milk based products such as quark under the well known (throughout Germany) "Milram" label.