Jesteburg is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is situated approximately 25 km south of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, and 6 km east of

Buchholz in der Nordheide Buchholz in der Nordheide (, ; Northern Low Saxon: ''Bookholt'') is the largest town in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km southwest of Hamburg. Geography Buchholz is home to the Brunsberg ...

. Jesteburg is also the seat of the ''

Samtgemeinde A (, ; plural: ''Samtgemeinden'') is a type of administrative division in Lower Saxony, Germany. ''Samtgemeinden'' are local government associations of Municipalities of Germany, municipalities, equivalent to the ''Amt (administrative division) ...

'' ("collective municipality") Jesteburg. In Jesteburg lies the confluence of two small rivers, the Schmale Aue and the

Seeve Seeve is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany, a tributary of the Elbe. It is approximately long. The municipality of Seevetal is named after this river. Course The Seeve source located is near Wehlen, south-east of Undeloh in the northern pa ...

History

The first official mentioning of Jesteburg dates back to the year 1202, in a document signed by the

Hartwig II Hartwig of Uthlede (died 3 November 1207) was a German nobleman who – as Hartwig II – Prince-Archbishop of Bremen (1185–1190 and de facto again 1192–1207) and one of the originators of the Livonian Crusade. Biography Coming from a fami ...

Archbishop of Bremen This list records the bishops of the Archdiocese of Bremen, Roman Catholic diocese of Bremen (), supposedly a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cologne, Archbishopric of Cologne, then of the bishops of Bremen, who were in personal union archbishops ...

. The castle which gave the town its name is supposed to have guarded the Seeve passage until the 13th century. Remains of this ''Burg'' have not yet been found. In 1872/73, the railroad between

and

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

which still runs through Jesteburg was built. During an Allied air raid on nearby Hamburg in January 1943

incendiary bombs Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry. Incendiarie ...

where dropped on Jesteburg, several buildings where destroyed. On 19 April 1945, the railroad bridge was blown up by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

to slow the advance of British troops. Between 1933 and 1945 the population of Jesteburg nearly doubled, mostly due to refugees.

Attractions

In 1986/87, the ''Heimathaus'' was re-erected on the Niedersachsenplatz. The Heimathaus is a 450-year-old building originally from Eyendorf. The town of Jesteburg also hosts the '' Kunststätte Bossard'', an

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

Gesamtkunstwerk A ''Gesamtkunstwerk'' (, 'total work of art', 'ideal work of art', 'universal artwork', 'synthesis of the arts', 'comprehensive artwork', or 'all-embracing art form') is a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms or strives to do so. ...

''.

References

External links

Official website
Harburg (district) {{Harburg-geo-stub