Until the early 19th century, the territory of the district belonged to
Brunswick-Celle,
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and the
Bishopric of Hildesheim. After 1815, both Brunswick-Celle and Hildesheim belonged to the
Kingdom of Hanover. In 1866, Hanover fell to
Prussia. The Prussian administration established districts (
Kreise) in 1885, among them Peine. The region has a
smelting tradition, the associated mining tradition lasted until 1976 when the last existing mine was closed. One of the best known events in local history was the mining disaster of
Lengede in 1963, when 29 miners died and 11 miners were rescued two weeks after the incident. ==Geography==