Schwarzenbek is a town in the district of Lauenburg, in

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 ...

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 10 km northeast of

Geesthacht Geesthacht () is the largest city in the Lauenburg (district), District of the Duchy of Lauenburg (Herzogtum Lauenburg) in Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany, south-east of Hamburg on the right bank of the Elbe, River Elbe. History A church ...

, and 35 km east 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 ...

. Schwarzenbeks' coat of arms shows a black wolf on a yellow field, beneath the wolf, the water symbolizes the river Schwarze Beke (meaning Black Creek).

Schwarze Beke

The creek is eponymous for the city in the north of

. The "Schwarze Beke" springs southeast of Schwarzenbek at Gut Melusinenthal, goes through the Rülauer forest, a fruit plantation area, and some grassland before the creek ends up in a pipe following the train tracks and

anastomoses An anastomosis (, : anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf#Veins, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be ...

with the "Schwarze Au" which empties out in Aumühle in the "Bille" which anastomoses with a German main river the "Elbe".

History

The first known reference to a population around the "Schwarze Beke" was in the year 1291. The municipal law followed in 1953 given by the government of the state

. The location made Schwarzenbek attractive for many people after that not only that but also the transport connection the

with the "Deutsche Bahn" the most successful public transportation company in Germany. Connection to

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

and Hamburg, main cities in the north of Germany, have been there early in Schwarzenbek's history. Schwarzenbek fraternized with cities all over Europe what gave it its name as "Europastadt" (European city).

Aubenas Aubenas (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the southern part of the Ardèche Departments of France, department in Southern France. It is the seat of several government offices. The mountainous and rugged countryside is popular for vacation ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, Sierre in Switzerland and Zelzate in Belgium fraternized with Schwarzenbek in the year of 1955. Two more cities in Europe followed in 1960 including Cesenatico in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Delfzijl Delfzijl (; ) is a city and former municipality (which now belongs to the municipality of Eemsdelta) with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf and the Em ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. To show the inhabitants their fraternization to those cities the city named a district of Schwarzenbek Verbrüderungsring (Connection ring) and named streets in that quarter after those cities in Europe. Schwarzenbek was the second city in Germany which was awarded the Europapreis (European prize). Schwarzenbek's size grew tremendously the past years and didn't stop growing ever since.

Inhabitants

Schwarzenbek is the third largest city in district of Lauenburg and one of the parishes in the state "Schleswig-Holstein" after Geesthacht and Mölln. Most of the inhabitants are young families and commuters. Historical inhabitants are:

Town twinning

* Cesenatico, Italy *

, Netherlands *

Sierre Sierre (; ; ) is the capital municipality of the district of Sierre, located in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It has a population of 18,020. Sierre is nicknamed City of the Sun () for its average of 300 days of sunshine a year. It is t ...

, Switzerland * Zelzate, Belgium *

, France

Other personalities associated with the town

Francis Erdmann, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg Francis Erdmann of Saxe-Lauenburg ( Theusing, 25 February 1629 – 30 July 1666, Schwarzenbek), was duke of Saxe-Lauenburg between 1665 and 1666. He was the eldest son of Duke Julius Henry and his second wife Elisabeth Sophia of Brandenburg, da ...

(1629-1666), Duke of

Saxe-Lauenburg The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (, ), was a ''reichsfrei'' duchy that existed from 1296 to 1803 and again from 1814 to 1876 in the extreme southeast region of what is now Schleswig-Holstein. Its territorial centre was in the modern district of Herz ...

, died in Schwarzenbek

References

External links

Official siteInformation about Schwarzenbek
{{Authority control Towns in Schleswig-Holstein Herzogtum Lauenburg