Bad Oldesloe () is a town located in the northern

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

state of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

. It is the capital of the district of Stormarn. The area has been inhabited since

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

times. The flint tools found here from that era (6000–4500 BC) are clearly defined and known as the ''Oldesloer Stufe''. For a number of years in the 18th century the

Moravian Church The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...

had a congregation in Bad Oldesloe. It was called "''Pilgerruh''", i.e. "Pilgrims' Rest". It was given up because of difficulties with the Danish Church authorities. At that time, the

Duchy of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein (; ) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had his County of Holstein-Rendsburg elevated to a duchy ...

was ruled by the kings of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. On 24 April 1945, the town was heavily bombed by Allied forces in the final days of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Germany. Threehundred buildings were destroyed, and 706 people were killed as a result of the operation.

Buildings

16th century Mennokate: Memorial for

Menno Simons Menno Simons (; ; 1496 – 31 January 1561) was a Roman Catholic priest from the Friesland region of the Low Countries who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and became an influential Anabaptist religious leader. Simons was a contempor ...

, founder and

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

of the

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

s, a group of

anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

s. He had some of his works printed in this building.

Transport

Bad Oldesloe station is located on the Lübeck–Hamburg and the Neumünster–Bad Oldesloe railways.

Notable people

Hermann Olshausen Hermann Olshausen (21 August 1796 – 4 September 1839) was a German theologian. Biography Olshausen was born at Oldeslohe in Holstein. He was educated at the universities of Kiel (1814) and Berlin (1816), where he was influenced by Schleiermach ...

(1796–1839), theologian. *

Otto Wilhelm Sonder Otto Wilhelm Sonder (18 June 1812, Bad Oldesloe – 21 November 1881) was a German botanist and pharmacist. Life A native of Holstein, Sonder studied at Kiel University, where he sat pharmaceutical examinations in 1835, before becoming the pro ...

(1812–1881), botanist and pharmacist *

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

(1817–1903), grew up in Bad Oldesloe; classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist and writer. *

August Mommsen The Mommsen family is a German family of influential historians. *Jens Mommsen (1783–1851) ∞ Sophie Elisabeth Krumbhaar (1792–1855) **Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903), 1902 Nobel Laureate in Literature ∞ Marie Reimer (1832–1907) ***Marie Momm ...

(1821–1913), historian. *

Klaus Bargsten Klaus Bargsten (31 October 1911 – 25 October 2000) was the captain and sole survivor of the sunken German submarine . He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Career ''U-521'' under Bargsten's command was sunk on 2 June 19 ...

(1911–2000), captain and sole survivor of sunken U-521 * Henning Schwarz (1928–1993), CDU politician * Isa Genzken (born 1948), sculptor and contemporary artist * Rüdiger Schmidt-Grépály (born 1952), Cultural Manager at the Klassik Stiftung Weimar *

Katharina Fegebank Katharina Fegebank (born 27 February 1977) is a German politician for the Alliance '90/The Greens, who has served as Second Mayor of Hamburg since 2015. She has been serving as Senator for the Environment, Climate Action, Energy and Agricultu ...

(born 1977), politician (

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * The Greens (Benin) *The Greens (Bulgaria) * Greens of Bosnia and He ...

) * Wincent Weiss (born 1993), singer and model

Sport

* Axel Hager (born 1969), beach volleyball player; won bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics (grew up in Bad Oldesloe) * Rouwen Hennings (born 1987), footballer, played over 500 pro games *

Julia Görges Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...

(born 1988), tennis player *

Maximilian Ahlschwede Maximilian Ahlschwede (born 10 February 1990) is a German former professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football ...

(born 1990), footballer, played 300 pro games * Alexander Meyer (born 1991), footballer, played 230 games * Dan-Patrick Poggenberg (born 1992), footballer, played 250 pro games * Dren Feka (born 1997), footballer, played 80 pro games

Twin towns – sister cities

Bad Oldesloe is twinned with: *

Be'er Ya'akov Be'er Ya'akov () is a city in central Israel, near Ness Ziona and Rishon Lezion. The town has an area of 8,580 dunams (~8.6 km2), and had a population of in 2019. History Be'er Ya'akov was established in 1907 on 2,000 dunams of land purch ...

, Israel *

Jifna Jifna (, ''Jifnâ'') is a State of Palestine, Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank of the State of Palestine, located north of Ramallah and north of Jerusalem. Jifna has retained a Christianity, ...

, Palestine *

Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section ...

, Poland * Olivet, France

References

External links

www.badoldesloe.de
{{Authority control Towns in Schleswig-Holstein Stormarn (district) Spa towns in Germany