Wietze is a small village west of Celle in Lower Saxony in Germany. The village of Wietze has played a special role in the history of crude oil extraction. As early as the 17th century, crude oil from mineral deposits at Wietze was scooped from tar pits on the surface and used as a grease and medicament. In 1858 one of the first boreholes in the world for the extraction of oil was sunk here. From 1920 to 1963 oil was also extracted from underground mines.