Wedel
Encyclopedia
Wedel is a town in the district of Pinneberg
Pinneberg (district)
Pinneberg is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Steinburg and Segeberg, the city of Hamburg and the state of Lower Saxony .-History:...

, in Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

, approximately 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) south of Elmshorn
Elmshorn
Elmshorn is a town in the district of Pinneberg in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. It is located 32 km north of Hamburg at the small river Krückau, close to the Elbe river, is the sixth-largest city in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...

, and 17 kilometres (10.6 mi) mile, west of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

.

Foundation and Middle Ages

The first known mention of Wedel in a text is in a 1212 document naming the "brothers from Wedel" as witnesses. However, the mention is not definitive and it remains unclear whether a place of this name already existed elsewhere. Artifacts of pre- and early historical periods found here bear witness to early settlement at the site.

The name means "bank of water", identifying a place where a body of water must be crossed, in this case the "Wedeler Aue", a small brook which formed an obstacle on an important local trade route. The first clear and definitive reference to Wedel is in documents of the Count of Schauenburg, a member of the Lower Saxon
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

 aristocracy that ruled the area well into the 17th century. The castle of the Schauenburgs
Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein
The Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein were titles of the Holy Roman Empire. The dynastic family came from Schauenburg near Rinteln on the Weser in Germany...

, built in 1311 and known as the Hatzburg, was located in Holm
Holm, Pinneberg
Holm is a municipality in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.It belongs to the municipality of MoorregeIn the eastern part is the local recreation area Holmer Sandberge, to the west of Holm begins the Elbmarsch....

 which is today a small village close to Wedel. That same year Adolf VI, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein-Pinneberg signed a peace treaty in which he promised the rulers of the city of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 that there would be no harm coming from the Hatzburg. As the years went by the importance of the castle decreased and it fell into decay. The Schauenburgs moved later that century to the nearby city of Pinneberg
Pinneberg
Pinneberg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, capital of the district Pinneberg in Germany. The town has 42,301 inhabitants. Pinneberg is located 18 km northwest of Hamburg....

. The castle itself stood until the beginning of the 18th century. Documents available from the first half of the 14th century make mention of a mill and church in Wedel.

The ox trade

The ox market in Wedel developed into one of the most important marketplaces for cattle in Northern Germany. Cattle dealers drove large trucks from all over Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

 to sell their livestock (especially oxen) here and their trade route became known as the Oxen Way
Hærvejen
Hærvejen is the name given to an ancient trackway in Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein. The route runs from Viborg via Flensburg to Hamburg, the territory of which it entered at Ochsenzoll and where it connected with other roads...

. Early armies took advantage of the easy route carved by the merchants, and so it came to also be known as the Army Way.

The Roland
Roland
Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Historically, Roland was military governor of the Breton March, with responsibility for defending the frontier of Francia against the Bretons...

 of Wedel is a well known local monument which stands in the town marketplace. The figure of Roland became popular in many parts of Germany as a symbol of the growing independence of cities from the nobility. In Wedel, Roland symbolized justice in the market and it was traditional to hold sales negotiations or settle disputes under his watchful eye. The first Roland erected here around 1450 was probably a simple wooden statue. The Roland standing in the town today is believed to have been raised in 1558 after being commissioned by Count Otto IV of Schauenburg and Holstein-Pinneberg
Otto IV of Schaumburg
Otto IV of Schaumburg , Count of Hogsmeade, adopted the teachings of Albus Dumbledore. However, with respect to his elder brothers, Durmstrang's Archbishop-Electors Gellert Grindewald and Igor Karkaroff , he refrained from open confrontation...

 and is made of Bückeburg
Bückeburg
Bückeburg is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It was once the capital of the tiny principality of Schaumburg-Lippe and is today located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge...

 sandstone.

The principal trading area of the ox market was located just before the crossing of the River Elbe. The livestock were sold to buyers arriving from the west, as well as to dealers from Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

. Up to 30,000 head of cattle would be traded in a springtime market that lasted several weeks. Wedel saw considerable conflict throughout the 17th century and the decline of the oxen trade began with the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

 (1618-1648). The region was devastated by war and life was made difficult for the inhabitants of the region due to constant assault from outside. Detailed descriptions of the wartorn period are found in the writings of the poet, clergyman, and theologian Johann von Rist
Johann von Rist
Johann von Rist was a German poet and dramatist best known for the hymns he wrote.-Life:He was born at Ottensen in Holstein on 8 March 1607; the son of the Lutheran pastor of that place, Caspar Rist...

 who was born in 1607 in Ottensen
Ottensen
Ottensen located in Hamburg, Germany in the Altona borough on the right bank of the Elbe river, is a former town. It is a now one of the 105 quarters of Hamburg. Ottensen is an urban area, which population was 32,757 in 2006....

, today a suburb of Hamburg.

The well-educated theologian
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 became pastor of the local church in 1635. In Wedel he found a place to resume his studies and to continue his contacts with prominent poets and scholars of the time. He wrote numerous works on common and religious themes, including poetry, plays, sermons, and essays about society and literature. Many of these were critical works that opposed the wars. Working with other prominent German poets of the time he helped create the "Elbschwanenorden", a group that worked to maintain the integrity of the German language. On his passing in 1667 he left a significant literary legacy.

From Danish rule to Germany

The last Schauenburger, Count Ernst, died in 1622 leaving rule of the region to the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 King Christian IV
Christian IV of Denmark
Christian IV was the king of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death. With a reign of more than 59 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch of Denmark, and he is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects...

. The 17th and 18th centuries here were marked by epidemics, devastatingly fires, and warfare. The plague struck the area several times and Wedel was razed by fire more than once.

In 1848 the large German population of Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

, including Wedel, rebelled
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...

 against Danish rule with the objective of joining the emerging German federation. In 1864, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n troops invaded the region ending over two centuries of Danish rule.

The community flourished seeing the selection of a mayor, the establishment of schools, industrialization and the renewal of trade. The Johann Diedrich Moeller Company optics company (today Möller-Wedel International) was formed in 1864 and developed a specialization in ophthalmology
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...

 and surgical microscopes. Trade in beer and Branntwein (distillates of wine) also flourished, and a tree nursury was established. In 1875 the town council requested the status of city for Wedel, which had a population of 1,669.

Industrialization continued in the region with the construction of a short-lived gun powder factory in neighboring Schulau in 1877 that exploded and burned a year later. The construction of a rail link in 1883 contributed to the development of a sugar processing factory and the German Vacuum Company. The population grew steadily and a community of immigrant workers, primarily from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, developed. The young city grew culturally as well with the establishment of a public library and museum after the turn of the century.

Into the 20th century

By 1909 Wedel and Schulau had grown into one another and Schulau was amalgamated into the Wedel. Development continued with the construction of a power plant and in 1930 a hospital was built. Like the rest of the country, the city was hard hit by the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. Several large firms collapsed: the sugar processor let go nearly 400 workers and overall unemployment was high with over 20 percent of the population living on public support.

This impacted the political life in Wedel. From 1929 the number of political meetings rose significantly. With public marches and mass meetings in particular the extreme parties determined the political scenery in the town. It came often to violent incidents.
Then the Nazis took to power in Wedel as they did over the entire Germany. Important administrative posts where occupied by the Nazis. The labor parties SPD and the KPD in Wedel, quite strongly represented before the Nazis came, were forbidden and went temporarily into the resistance. Many of their members were arrested and spent years in concentration camps.

In the 1930s the most important structural change of the townscape was the new building of the city hall in the Bahnhofstrasse, the housing developments at the Vosshagen, the Nordschleswig settlement and the Milich Settlement.

In 1939 Wedel honored its third honorary citizen. After the first honorary citizen, a mayor of many years and the second one a publicly engaged physician for the poor this honor was given to Rudolf Hoeckner a painter well known even outside the realms of Wedel.

At the same time people of Wedel wanted to attach a plaque to the birth house of another famous Wedel Burger. But to honor Ernst Barlach was not desired at this time because of the Nazi regime.

World War II

In March 1943 a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 bomber attack nearly reduced the town to ruins as nearly 70% of homes in Wedel were damaged or destroyed.

A subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp (No. 1541 Wedel) was located near the town. Between September 13, 1944 and September 27, 1944 500 Hungarian and Czech Jewish women were held there and forced to clear land and farm work. The women were later deported to the Hamburg-Eidelstedt camp. A few weeks later, on 17 October 1944, 500 men were used to dig anti-tank obstacles. This group included men from the town of Putten
Putten
Putten is a municipality and a town in Gelderland province in the middle of the Netherlands. In 2007 it had a population of 23,024.Putten is surrounded by a great variety of landscapes. To the east of Putten lies the Veluwe, the biggest national park of the Netherlands...

, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. On 20 November 1944, the SS closed the camp and deported the men to the camp at Meppen-Versen
Meppen, Germany
Meppen is a town in and the seat of the Emsland district of Lower Saxony, Germany, at the confluence of the Ems, Hase, and Nordradde rivers and the Dortmund-Ems canal...

. During 5 weeks in this camp, 27 men died, including 10 of those from Putten.

Post War

A severe housing shortage developed as refugees streamed west out of former German territories following the war, adding to the problem caused by the bombing. A 1947 census showed that Wedel had 7,902 native inhabitants and more than 6,500 refugees.

Large-scale housing construction programs were undertaken by the city, including the construction of barrack settlements, to help integrate the refugees and other homeless. Under the plan each person was allowed 4.9 square metre of living space.

In 1954 the largest and most ambitious reconstruction project in the country was started. The building of the garden city of Elbhochufer on a 40 hectares (98.8 acre) area. By 1962 almost 1,200 rental flats and apartmentst and over 500 row homes were created. The city grew quickly and began to attract new business.

The well known attraction in Wedel is the Wedel-Schulau Willkommhoeft or Welcome Point, established in 1952 to greet incoming ships. The Hamburg Yachting Club was established in the city in 1960-61 .

In 1962 and again in 1976, large tidal waves reached Wedel. As protection, dikes were built in 1978 that turned the surrounding marshes into beautiful hiking paths.

Infrastructure

Today Wedel is a city with around 34,000 inhabitants and has a lively culture life.

Wedel has two museums, the Ernst Barlach birth house and the city museum. In addition a good amateur theatre and a theatre-ship to see art, shows, cabaret and concerts. Besides there are all school forms including the private University of Applied Sciences Wedel
University of Applied Sciences Wedel
The University of Applied Sciences Wedel is the oldest private university in Germany, located in Wedel.-Bachelor's Degree Programmes:* Bachelor's Course Business Administration* Bachelor's Course Computer Science...

 (FH Wedel) and the Physikalisch-Technische Lehranstalt Wedel (PTL Wedel) a private full-time vocational school
Vocational school
A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...

.

It has a very well equipped public library, an excellent Adult Education Center and a school of music.

Sports

Sport plays a very active role in Wedel. All different kinds of sport are played on the numerous outside sports fields and on the well maintained indoor gymnasiums. The beautiful dyke and walkways in the marshlands along the Elbe are used by numerous inline skaters
Inline skating
Inline skating is a recreational sport practiced widely internationally. Inline skates typically have 2 to 5 polyurethane wheels, arranged in a single line. The in-line design allows for greater speed than roller skates and better maneuverability...

 and cyclists.

Important runs and competitions in these disciplines started some years ago.

Transportation

Wedel railway station
Wedel railway station
Wedel station is a railway station on the Altona-Blankenese line, serviced by the rapid transit trains of the Hamburg S-Bahn, located in Wedel, Germany.It is a terminus of the line S1.-External links:*...

 connects the town with the rapid transit
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

 trains of the Hamburg S-Bahn
Hamburg S-Bahn
The Hamburg S-Bahn is a railway network for public rapid mass transit in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Together the S-Bahn, the Hamburg U-Bahn, the AKN railway and the regional railway form the backbone of railway public transport in the city and the surrounding area...

 toward Hamburg.

Partner Towns

  • Caudry
    Caudry
    Caudry is a commune of the Nord department in northern France.-History:In the Middle Ages, as tradition will have it, Maxellende, a daughter of the lord of Caudry, was stabbed to death by one Harduin d'Amerval on 13 November 670 after turning him down. Following this Harduin became blind...

    , France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

  • Vejen
    Vejen
    Vejen Municipality is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 817 km², and has a total population of 42,447...

    , Denmark
    Denmark
    Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

  • Wolgast
    Wolgast
    Wolgast is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom that can be accessed by road and railway via a bascule bridge...

    , Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany


Since 1982 Wedel has also had a partnership with Makete
Makete
Makete is one of the 7 districts of Iringa Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the North and West by the Mbeya Region, to the East by the Njombe District and to the South by the Ludewa District. It is divided into six divisions and 17 wards. Makete District was founded in 1979 with the policy of...

, a district in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

.

Population

Year 1910 1925 1933 1939 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Number 5.938 6.168 7.661 8.308 31.850 31.783 32.060 32.221 32.354 32.164 32.014 32.177

Notable citizens

  • Johann Rist (1607-1667), pastor, writer, and composer
  • Hermann Molkenbuhr (1851-1927), politician
  • Rudolf Höckner (1864-1942), painter
  • Ernst Barlach
    Ernst Barlach
    Ernst Barlach was a German expressionist sculptor, printmaker and writer. Although he was a supporter of the war in the years leading to World War I, his participation in the war made him change his position, and he is mostly known for his sculptures protesting against the war...

     (1870-1938) painter, sculptor, and writer
  • Hellmuth Walter
    Hellmuth Walter
    Hellmuth Walter was a German engineer who pioneered research into rocket engines and gas turbines...

     (1900-1980), engineer and inventor
  • Fritz Sänger (1901-1984), journalist and editor
  • Eduard Schüller (1904-1976) engineer
  • Peter Frankenfeld
    Peter Frankenfeld
    Peter Frankenfeld was a German comedian, radio and television personality....

     (1913-1979) television moderator
  • Paul Edwin Roth (1918-1985) actor
  • Armin Dahl (1922-1998) stuntman
  • Jörn Pfab ( 1925-1986), artist
  • Hansjörg Martin (1920-1999), novelist
  • Ole West (born 1953), painter
  • Thomas Seeliger
    Thomas Seeliger
    Thomas Seeliger is a German former footballer and now coach from Altona 93.-References:***...

     (born 1966), footballer
  • Mathias Rust
    Mathias Rust
    Mathias Rust is a German aviator known for his illegal landing on May 28, 1987 near Red Square in Moscow. As an amateur pilot, he flew from Finland to Moscow, being tracked several times by Soviet air defence and interceptors...

     (born 1968), pilot who landed in Moscow
    Moscow
    Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

     on Red Square
    Red Square
    Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...

  • Peyman Panahandeh (born 1974), Rally Driver

External links



• Weitblick nach Wedel
--Wasserturm Wedel
--Hamburger Jachthafen in Wedel
--Strandbad Wedel
--ISIS Imbiss am Schulauer/Wedel Hafen Harbour
--Willkommhöft Westen I in Wedel
--Willkommhöft Süden II in Wedel
--Willkommhöft Osten II in Wedel
]
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