Version: 01082003
Editor: Franka Pals
Publisher: Novamedia
Disclaimer: Novamedia disclaims all liability for information provided within the ”Novamedia European Gaming and Lottery Files”.The information is supplied by independent journalistic sources. No parts of these files may be reproduced in any form by print, photo print, microfilm or otherwise, or re-distributed electronically in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Niedersachsen was founded in 1946, by uniting the former states of Hannover, Oldenburg, Braunschweig and Schaumburg-Lippe. The capital and the biggest city of Niedersachsen is Hannover with approximately 250,000 inhabitants.
From the north (clockwise) Lower Saxony is surrounded by the North Sea and the Federal German states: Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen, Hessen and Nordrhein-Westfalia and The Netherlands. The state and city Bremen exist of two small 'islands' inside the state of Niedersachsen.
In Niedersachsen's Wolfsburg, a rural and agricultural area, the success story started of the famous Volkswagen (VW).
"The history of the Beetle goes back to pre 2nd world war Germany when Ferdinand Porsche had a vision of a mass produced vehicle that was affordable to the average German, an idea that was shared with the young Adolf Hitler who himself could not drive, but was a car fanatic. Hitler was apparently influenced by the achievements of Henry Ford and his production lines - reading Ford's biography while in prison during 1923. Porsche had previously worked on some other small cars that used many elements later to be included in the Beetle. The Type 32 prototype NSU of 1934 was an air-cooled rear engined four cylinder horizontally opposed powered car that used torsion bar suspension and featured beetlelike styling.
Hitler became chancellor in February 1933 and declared at the Berlin auto show his intentions to get Germany motoring. Then a year later at the 1934 show he stated that his government would support the development of a 'peoples car'. Impressed by Porsche's design capabilities, Hitler delivered him the design brief of a car that could carry two adults and three children at a speed of 60mph with at least 33 mpg. The price was to be 1000 Reichmarks, not much more than a motorcycle at the time. Ferdinand Porsche was not convinced that a car could be made so cheaply, but considered the project a challenge, and took it on. The project car was named the Type 60, and due to time constraints Porsche based many components on the earlier NSU. The engine was an air-cooled flat-four also based on the NSU design.
By late 1935 the first Beetle prototypes were on the autobahns, the V1 saloon and a convertible V2, these cars had aluminium bodies mounted over traditional wooden frameworks.
On the 17th February, 1972, the beetle finally overtook Fords model 'T' as the most popular car ever made, later disputed by Ford who found new production figures, the beetle went on to make sure there was absolutely no doubt. The last beetle to be made in Germany left the production line in January 1978, bringing the end of an era. This was not the end of the beetle though, production continued in Puebla, Mexico in a factory that was built in 1954. The 20,000,000th Beetle rolled off the Mexican production line in May 1981 and with demand in Europe for the beetle still high, Volkswagen of Germany was importing beetles from Mexico up to 1985."
Many Beetles have been Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen Gmbh's (TLN) prizes in the past. Nowadays 'VW Passat' seems to be the favourite (special) prizes of TLN's gaming products!
Source and more information on the VolksWagen: www.pre67vw.co.uk/history/ default.asp.
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| Population: | 7.9 Million |
|---|---|
| Currency: | Euro |
| Internet | Internet penetration in Lower Saxony is 38.0%. Internet use* by states in %, November/December 2001
*Internet use = min. 1 x in the past 12 months (business or private). |
Website: http://www.niedersachsenlotto.de
Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen GmbH (TLN), founded in 1956, is the gambling enterprise in and for Lower Saxony. As one of the 16 German lottery societies regulated by state laws, Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen GmbH, ensures that nobody is offered anything illegal and made to suffer as a consequence. The 16 societies combine betting and jackpots nation-wide, with profits flowing back into the states. Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen is one of the largest tax-payers in the state of Lower Saxony. 16.6% of turnover is paid to the state as lottery tax, another 18 to 20% is paid as concessionary fees.
For this reason, TLN's core competencies are the maximum transparency, reliability and security of its gambling business.
Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen takes its business responsibility seriously and feels a close bond with Lower Saxony and its people through the regional organisation of its activities and also as an employer. A substantial part of the wealth created by this enterprise goes to social, sporting and cultural causes as well as environmental protection and ensures the continuation of the corresponding institutions. Within the scope of enterprising trade, Toto-Loto Niedersachsen also promotes foundations, institutions and business activities which are directly and indirectly connected to the company.
Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen's shareholders are:
In 1993, September 2nd, the Niedersächsischen Zahlenlotto GmbH (Lotto) merged with the Niedersächsischen Fußball Toto GmbH (Football Toto) founding the Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen GmbH.
TLN like the other 15 Lottery companies of the Federal Republic of Germany are member of the German Lotto- and Totobloc. At present, the company of Sachsen-Anhalt is in charge of the management of the German Lotto- and Totobloc. The bloc members retain complete independence but pool their stakes and operate common rules for participation in the games.
In the area of the present country Lower Saxony lottery was played since the 18th century. At that time Duke Karl von Gottes Gnaden resided in the area of Braunschweig and Lüneburg. By decree "vorgedachten höchsten Rescripte' dated May 16, 1771, in the same year on 21 August the days were set, when the citizen's lotto would take place in Braunschweig. This in an environment of music and a special market. Following rulers banned the gambling and other ones instigated gambling.
3.1.3 Products
TLN's gambling offer encompasses not only the main product of Lotto (two-thirds of total turnover), but also sports betting (ODDSET, from February, 2000) and Toto (11 result betting and choice betting- 6 from 45), the environment lottery - BINGO, "GlücksSpirale" (with lottery TV show), scratch-it card lottery and the bonus lottery games "Spiel77" and "Super 6".
Around 1.5 million people play weekly Niedersachsen's gaming products.
Total turnover in 2002 amounted to around 940.3 million Euro thereby topping the previous year's result by 108 million Euro. Total sales for 2001 was 831.3 million Euro.
The total turnover of the Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen GmbH in 2002 was another record year with 940.3 million Euro. An increase of 13.1 procent (108.7 millions Euro) At the same time the German Lotto- und Toto-Bloc had an opposite trend, decreasing approximately 2%.
The company result was rose from 28.4 million Euro to 41.6 million Euro, which was a raise of around 46 procent.
Total sales for 2000: 810.4 million Euro.Total revenues to State/Beneficiaries for 2001: 318.5 million Euro.
Total revenues to State/Beneficiaries for 2000: 313.9 million Euro
Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen is one of the largest tax-payers in the state of Lower Saxony. 16.6% of turnover is paid to the state as lottery tax, another 18 to 20% is paid as fees.
To the State Niedersachsen in 2002 348.5 million Euro was paid in the form of Lottery Tax, Good Causes and Concessionary Rights – as stated above around 37% of the turnover. That is 40.4 million Euro more than in the year 2001.The Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen GmbH is one of the biggest taxpayers. And above that 77.4 million Euro was paid for commissions to the sales points (2,600).
Employees (2001):
"Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Freien Wohlfahrtspflege"; sports associations and clubs in Lower Saxony; young athletes, school sports, public sports beyond school sports; "Niedersächsische Lottostiftung"; promotion of arts and culture; promotion of the protection of children and young persons and of measures for the benefit of women and families; "Stiftung Niedersachsen"; "Stiftung 'Kinder von Tschernobyl'"; public wellfare; "Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Medienentwicklung"; projects to conserve the environment of Lower Saxony; "Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz"; "Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Freien Wohlfahrtspflege"; "Deutscher Sportbund" and the state of Lower Saxony for the rehabilitation of sports facilities.
Around 37.5 million Euro was donated to sports activities and organisations in 2002.
Bingo, the "Umweltlotterie" (Environment Lottery), generated from September 1997 till the end of 2002 23.2 million Euro. More than 1.900 projects have been sponsored.
Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen GmbH selected in the mids of 2002 Wincor Nixdorf to act as prime contractor to equip all 2,600 lottery ticket outlets with new Xion /M lottery terminals, with multimedia information systems also to be installed. The order was worth around 20 million Euro.
Following hot on the heels of Mecklenburg- West-Pomerania, Lower Saxony is the second German province to choose these terminals from Wincor Nixdorf in Paderborn.
The XION /M terminals are equipped with touch-screens, scanners and special printers developed for the lottery market.
As well as the lottery terminals, Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen is also to be the first lottery company in Germany to implement the new Wincor Nixdorf Lotto-InfoBoard. This multimedia information system complete with integrated scanner can be used directly by lottery players to see how much they've won and to access other information and services.
The Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen GmbH, has chosen in February, 2002, upon the Telefónica Deutschland GmbH, to modernise its telecommunications net-work for the 2,600 lottery acceptance points. The new contract will run for five years and cover an expected volume of 15 million Euro.The project roll-out has been scheduled for August until November 2003.
Telefónica Deutschland GmbH will supply a complete virtual private network (VPN) connecting all outlets to the Telefónica Deutschland´s backbone. Dial-up technology includes the classic ISDN and DSL broadband connections. "Our goal of providing an open system architecture is opening up new channels for us," says Dr. Christiane von Richthofen, Toto-Lotto's general manager in Lower Saxony.
With a total of 270 dial-up nodes and 40,000km of backbone in Germany, Telefónica Deutschland provides a secure coverage in the German market. The backbone offers high levels of downtime security and high-speed data transfer. In applying the highly-secure IPSec encryption standard.
At the same time, Wincor Nixdorf will be installing a new generation of lottery terminals – with the Xion/Mtop – to run on a Linux system. The connection to the existing EssNet central system is carried out via t-channel, an open transaction interface. Using the Wincor Nixdorf download server, Xiload, it can be ensured that software downloads are processed much more effectively and safely. This ingenious solution makes it possible to distribute the software across the new VPN without forcing lottery outlets to lose sales through downtime.
In 1995, all German regional lottery organisations were connected to an X.25 network; Lower Saxony is one of the organisations to move over to an IP carrier.
In July, 2002, TLN gained certification to the WLA (World Lottery Association, www.world-lotteries.org) Security Control Standards. Having completed the review process early April, Asset Protection Consultancy, one of the WLA-approved independent review bodies, submitted a positive report to the WLA Executive Committee, which certified Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen on April 17.
Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen is the seventh lottery to receive certification to the WLA standards. The others are:
Setting international benchmarks for the lottery industry is one of the aims and objectives of the WLA. WLA security certification offers an independent assurance that a lottery company has an effective risk management control structure and has developed a logical, physical and procedural security system to protect corporate assets. In all, there are 93 standards covering 13 different aspects of the company's operations. In addition, twelve lottery-specific standards on subjects such as lottery drawings, retail operations, unclaimed prizes and scratch tickets are included in the latest version of the standards.
The Association has a permanent committee focusing on security issues and moderates an open discussion board about security.
The casino legislation for the state of Niedersachsen (Lower saxony) has been layed down in the "Niedersächsisches Spielbankgesetz (NSpielbG)", Lower Saxonian Casino Law, which came into force from September 1st, 2002.
Public casinos are allowed in the State of Niedersachsen under certain conditions. The Ministry of Interior affairs may grant casino licenses, only.
The casinos are subjected to pay a tax duty in the amount of 70% of the gross gaming yield. For the year of the opening of the casino and the following full two years the tax duty, however is, 65%. A Casino, that is offering only internet games (internetcasino), has to pay in the year of opening and the full year after that has to pay 30 % of the gross gaming yield and in the year after that 40% and the year after that 50%.
When the gross game yield of a casino, in the fiscal year, exceeds the sum of five million Euro, the duty tax will be increased with an additional tax of 0.0005% per full 500 Euros of the five million Euro of the exceeding gross game yield, however not more than 18%. The operator of the casino is freed to pay any other taxes.
The community, in which a casino is located (casino community), receives a share of the casino tax. The state government is authorised to regulate the height of the share of the casino community through an ordinance.
The share may not exceed 20% of the respective gross game yields.
The Ministry of the Interior will authorise the gaming orders laid down in the agreement with the Ministry of the Treasury through an ordinance, in which will be determined:
The Gaming Order is the 'Spielordnung für die öffentlichen Spielbanken in Niedersachsen (NSpielO)' and is into force from February, 1995.
Website: www.spielbankenniedersachsen.de
The first casinos in Niedersachsen were opened in 1975 in Hannover, Hittfeld, Bad Pyrmont and Bad Harzburg. From 1987 the Casinos were part of the 'Hannoverschen Spielbanken Gesellschaft mbH', which changed its name in 1997 into 'Spielbanken Niedersachsen GmbH'.
The following ten casinos are part of the Spielbanken Niedersachsen GmbH: