Aurich is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the "Kreisstadt", or capital, of the district of Aurich. As of 2002, it has a population of 41,321. The history of Aurich dates back to the 13th century, when the settlement of Aurechove was mentioned in a Frisian document called the Brokmerbrief in 1276. In 1517, Count Edzard from the house of Cirksena began reconstructing the city after an attack. He established the town center, which is still in place today. In 1539, the land authorities were brought together in Aurich, making it the capital of the county and, later, East Frisia, remaining the seat of the land authorities when East Frisia was conquered by Prussia in 1744.
