Salzwedel
Salzwedel (German pronunciation: [ˈzaltsveːdl̩], officially known as Hansestadt Salzwedel; Low German: Soltwedel) is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the district (Kreis) of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, and has a population of approximately 21,500. Salzwedel is located on the German Timber-Frame Road.
Salzwedel | |
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 Typical old housing in Salzwedel | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
Location of Salzwedel within Altmarkkreis Salzwedel district <imagemap>File: Salzwedel in SAW.png | 240x240px poly 147 136 144 114 148 109 145 105 140 108 138 101 143 94 143 86 151 83 153 90 158 93 162 88 172 94 169 103 182 103 181 120 171 121 171 130 167 133 162 133 160 138 152 138 147 134 Apenburg-Winterfeld poly 192 36 206 29 213 21 224 21 239 4 252 2 257 8 268 12 273 9 276 14 284 21 293 21 294 25 287 30 293 35 294 45 281 44 276 48 268 47 260 53 242 53 246 69 262 69 265 74 258 78 255 89 232 90 213 110 200 95 198 85 194 82 196 74 202 70 204 57 193 53 194 43 194 34 Arendsee poly 87 173 81 171 74 163 86 157 87 147 98 147 98 138 108 139 108 131 119 119 120 110 125 107 127 101 137 101 138 108 143 106 148 109 143 113 147 124 147 138 143 145 142 151 132 152 139 157 138 159 124 158 125 151 121 147 114 154 109 154 102 162 105 170 97 176 93 169 86 174 82 170 Beetzendorf poly 18 56 15 70 15 89 27 82 44 78 47 91 62 90 68 102 75 96 69 87 67 76 74 68 73 58 64 61 60 51 49 50 29 53 17 57 Dähre poly 14 87 20 103 26 104 27 126 36 121 39 129 53 127 52 119 69 117 69 128 82 130 86 118 96 117 83 103 80 96 75 96 67 101 62 90 47 90 45 78 26 81 15 89 Diesdorf poly 110 234 124 213 131 213 144 225 151 222 150 211 154 206 161 202 161 194 166 192 183 198 186 191 183 181 178 169 183 166 194 172 197 180 205 181 215 179 221 174 231 178 237 177 241 179 253 181 269 173 283 174 283 189 284 201 279 209 278 221 285 225 284 236 288 242 278 282 245 295 241 289 242 283 228 275 220 273 202 276 196 269 186 273 172 271 159 271 146 273 128 265 120 254 115 243 124 240 121 235 116 240 112 234 Gardelegen poly 41 127 38 132 55 155 70 179 82 171 76 161 86 157 88 146 82 129 70 128 69 117 53 119 53 127 41 130 Jübar poly 172 96 199 94 213 111 235 90 253 89 258 92 268 90 273 96 262 105 262 123 245 139 251 154 233 163 221 163 219 174 210 180 201 180 195 173 183 167 171 167 170 155 174 153 175 143 165 140 171 131 171 120 181 118 183 102 170 104 172 96 Kalbe poly 98 239 76 212 75 204 78 195 77 190 86 180 87 172 91 169 96 175 103 171 102 163 107 154 115 152 121 148 123 158 129 159 139 159 141 156 133 153 142 150 146 142 146 136 158 139 160 133 166 133 165 141 173 143 173 153 169 155 169 167 179 168 182 181 186 192 184 197 167 192 161 193 161 204 152 208 150 214 151 224 146 225 132 213 125 214 111 234 105 237 97 237 Klötze poly 99 101 108 119 114 119 119 112 125 108 127 102 138 101 144 95 144 83 132 74 124 74 116 81 116 86 109 92 100 92 101 99 Kuhfelde poly 87 147 81 130 85 117 94 117 88 108 100 103 107 118 114 118 119 112 120 118 113 127 109 131 109 138 99 139 99 147 87 146 Rohrberg poly 60 49 72 51 81 37 89 35 88 22 93 20 121 18 121 24 127 27 142 22 158 24 169 35 178 35 180 29 186 29 185 35 193 35 194 54 203 58 202 71 196 72 193 83 199 86 199 94 185 93 184 97 171 93 165 88 160 92 154 90 153 83 145 85 139 84 130 74 125 74 123 79 117 81 115 85 110 83 110 78 98 72 89 75 80 72 75 68 75 61 69 61 65 62 62 55 62 50 Salzwedel poly 73 67 67 73 66 85 74 96 87 107 100 103 100 92 108 91 116 83 111 81 98 71 87 74 81 69 72 68 Wallstawe desc bottom-right </imagemap> | |
  Salzwedel  Salzwedel | |
| Coordinates: 52°51′N 11°09′E / 52.850°N 11.150°E | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Saxony-Anhalt |
| District | Altmarkkreis Salzwedel |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2022–29) | Olaf Meining[1] (SPD) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 304.53 km2 (117.58 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 19 m (62 ft) |
| Population (2022-12-31)[2] | |
| • Total | 23,543 |
| • Density | 77/km2 (200/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 29410, 29413, 29416 |
| Dialling codes | 03901, 039032, 039033, 039037, 039038 |
| Vehicle registration | SAW |
| Website | www.salzwedel.de |
Geography
Salzwedel is situated at the river Jeetze in the northwestern part of the Altmark. It is located between Hamburg and Magdeburg. Distances from Uelzen are 44 km (27 mi) E, 12 km (7 mi) S of Lüchow, 41 km (25 mi) N of Gardelegen and 24 km (15 mi) W of Arendsee. In 1968 test drillings revealed a significant reservoir of natural gas near the city.
Divisions
The town Salzwedel consists of Salzwedel proper and the following Ortschaften or municipal divisions:[3]
- Andorf
- Barnebeck
- Brietz
- Chüden
- Dambeck
- Henningen
- Klein Gartz
- Langenapel
- Liesten
- Mahlsdorf
- Osterwohle
- Pretzier
- Riebau
- Seebenau
- Stappenbeck
- Steinitz
- Tylsen
History
The castle of Salzwedel in the Altmark was first documented in 1112. As part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the settlement was first mentioned as a town in 1233. To the northeast of the old town (Altstadt), a new town (Neustadt) began development in 1247. In the Middle Ages Salzwedel belonged to the Hanseatic League from 1263 to 1518. As to religion Salzwedel belonged to the Diocese of Verden (till 1648).
The city from 1247 began developing as a reestablishment from the old part of the town. In 1701 it became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1713, the two towns Altstadt and Neustadt became one. Salzwedel became part of the Prussian Province of Saxony in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars. In 1870 it received a railroad connection. The medieval part of the town remains the commercial and administrative center of the town until today.
As in other German cities and towns during the time of Nazi Germany, the Jewish residents of the city were systematically deprived of their rights, then expelled from the city. Salzwedel was hit by five air raids from 1942-1945, and more than 300 people lost their lives, especially on 22 February 1945.[4]
In 1943, the Neuengamme concentration camp built a female subcamp in Salzwedel, capable of holding more than 1,000 female prisoners. Eventually more than 3,000 women were held there, both Jews and non-Jews. The guard staff at the camp included sixty SS men and women. One Aufseherin is known today by name, Lieselotte Darnstaedt, who was born in 1908. Darnstaedt also served at Ravensbrück before coming to Salzwedel. On April 14, 1945, the US Army liberated the Salzwedel women's subcamp, and also a men's camp nearby for male non-German political prisoners. They were shocked to find more than ninety corpses of women who had died of typhus, dysentery and malaria. At the beginning of 1945, prior to the arrival of American ground forces, Allied war planes attacked the main train station of Salzwedel, killing 300 people. The US Army eventually turned over control of the city to the Soviet Red Army, causing Salzwedel to become part of the German Democratic Republic.
On November 9, 1989 the East-West German border crossing near Salzwedel was opened, along with East-West border crossings in the rest of the country, allowing East Germans residing in Salzwedel and elsewhere to travel freely to West Germany for the first time since the building of the Berlin Wall. In 1990 Salzwedel received its first democratically elected city government.
The official name of the city was changed into Hansestadt Salzwedel on 1 April 2008, in reference to its history as a member of the Hanseatic League.
In January 2003 the town incorporated the former municipalities Brietz, Dambeck and Mahlsdorf, in January 2009 Benkendorf, in January 2010 Chüden, Klein Gartz, Langenapel, Liesten, Osterwohle, Pretzier, Riebau, Seebenau and Tylsen, and in January 2011 Steinitz and Wieblitz-Eversdorf.
Population development
- 1998 – 20,614
- 1999 – 20,499
- 2000 – 20,349
- 2001 – 20,130
- 2002 – 19,926
- 2003 – 21,360
- 2004 – 21,070
- 2005 – 21,316
- 2006 – 20,777
- 2015 – 24,410
- 2016 - 24,199
- 2017 - 24.002
- 2018 - 23.655
- 2020 - 23.306
- 2021 - 22.999
Mayors
Olaf Meining is the Mayor of Salzwedel since 2022. Since March 2016 Sabine Blümel is the Lord Mayor.
Culture and sights
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008) |
Main sights
Salzwedel's sites of interest include the historic part of town, encompassed by the historic city wall and town gates. The city also contains the birth house of Jenny von Westphalen, later the wife of Karl Marx.
- numerous half-timbered houses
- town gates: Neuperver Gate built 1460-1470, Stonegate built around 1530, and medieval city fortifications with Hungerturm Tower and the Kluhs, a store house dating from 1490 built on the wall[5]
- remains of a castle (Castle Tower and Garden)
- Townhall (former monastery)
- Townhall Tower
- The Monk Church
- gothic Brickchurches St.Marien, St.Katharina und St.Lorenz
- another churches: St. Georg and Holy-Spirit-Church
- former Townhall, today's local court of Salzwedel
- Fairy-Tale Garden
- Johann-Friedrich-Danneil-Museum
- "Baumkuchen" Bakeries
Festivals
- Parkfestival, music event taking part in a 2-year-rhythm with the participation of national and international artists like Die Prinzen, Nina Hagen, Joe Cocker, Reamon, Heather Nova, Leningrad Cowboys, Madsen, Blackmail, City and so on.
- Smack-Festival, one of the biggest Hard-Rock-Festivals in Saxony-Anhalt.
Cuisine
The delicacies of the town are Baumkuchen, Salzwedeler (Altmärker) Wedding-Soup and Tiegelbraten (mutton).
Institution
The Nicolaus Gercken Family Foundation is located in the city of Salzwedel.
Transport
Salzwedel is accessed by route 71 (north to south) and 248 (west to east). Access to the nearest autobahn is A39 which is 59 kilometres (37 miles) away in Wolfsburg, the A250 is 80.9 km (50.3 mi) away in Lüneburg, the A24 in Dreieck and the A241 is 81.4 km (50.6 mi) away. Salzwedel station is on the Stendal–Uelzen railway, part of the America Line (Amerikalinie), which was restored in the 1990s linking Berlin and Bremen. The line connects Stendal and Uelzen. Other stations are in Wittenberge near Arendsee and in Oebisfelde.
Notable people
- Balthasar Christian Bertram (died 1787), violinist and composer
- Heinz Billing (1914-2017), Freeman, a physicist and pioneer of computer development and in the exploration of gravitational waves
- Andy Böhme (born 1970), skeleton pilot
- Klaus Decker (born 1952), football player
- Doris Maletzki (born 1952), sprinter
- Friedrich Meinecke (1862–1954), historian
- Michel Niemeyer (born 1995), football player
- Stephan Praetorius (1536–1604), pastor
- Jürgen Scharf (born 1952), politician (CDU)
- Kurt Schütte (1909–1998), German mathematician
- Peter Urie (1955-2005), priest and bishop in the Republic of Kazakhstan
- Jenny von Westphalen (1814–1881), wife of Karl Marx
- Johann Walther (1563–1620), deacon and preacher at the Johanneskirche, Danzig
- Lorenz Weinrich (born 1929), German historian
People associated with Salzwedel
- Wilhelm Harnisch (1787–1864), educator and writer, visited the school and described Salzwedel in My life Morning
- Hermann Hager (1816–1897), chemist and pharmacist, pharmacist teaching in Löwenapotheke
- Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778–1852), father of gymnastics, attended high school Salzwedel
- Reinhard Jirgl (born 1953), writer, lived from 1953 to 1964 with grandparents in Salzwedel
- Hermann Masius (1818–1893), educator, school teacher temporarily in Salzwedel
- Siegfried Schneider (born 1946), politician, mayor and city manager of Salzwedel
- Brooks Shane Salzwedel (born 1978), American Artist descendent of Salzwedel, sharing the namesake.
International relations
Salzwedel is twinned with:
Wesel, Germany, since 1990
San Vito dei Normanni, Italy, since 1990
Felixstowe, United Kingdom, since 1994
References
- ^ Bürgermeisterwahlen in den Gemeinden, Endgültige Ergebnisse, Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden – Stand: 31. Dezember 2022" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt. June 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ Hauptsatzung der Hansestadt Salzwedel Archived 2021-12-01 at the Wayback Machine, § 12, 24 October 2018.
- ^ "Angriffe in der Region".
- ^ Matthias Puhle: Hanse - 16 Städtebilder in Sachsen-Anhalt, p. 102, Dössel (Saalekreis) 2008
External links
- Official website (in German)