Utin (in Latin letters VTIN - also "Uthine") was the name of a Wendish castle that was built in the 9th century on

Pheasant Island Pheasant Island (french: Île des Faisans/Île de la Conférence, es, Isla de los Faisanes, eu, Konpantzia, ) is an uninhabited river island in the Bidasoa river, located between France and Spain, whose administration alternates between the ...

in the lake known as the

Großer Eutiner See The Großer Eutiner See is a lake in Holstein Switzerland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It lies northeast of the town of Eutin. It has an area of , is up to 17 metres deep and lies at a height of about . It northern side borders directly on ...

in what is now the German state of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

. It was the centre of the eponymous Wendish ''

Gau Gau or GAU may refer to: People * Gaugericus (–626), Bishop of Cambrai * Gau Ming-Ho (born 1949), Chinese mountaineer * Franz Christian Gau (1790–1854), German architect and archaeologist * James Gau (born 1957), Papua New Guinean politi ...

''. The castle was linked to the shore via a bridge next to which a settlement, also called Utin, grew up. The castle was destroyed by the Holcetae tribe when they conquered

Wagria WagriaArnold, Benjamin (1991). ''Princes and territories in medieval Germany'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, p. 156. . (german: Wagrien, ''Waierland'' or ''Wagerland'') is the northeastern part of Holstein in the German state ...

in 1138/39. The site of the settlement - which was the origin of the present-day town of

Eutin Eutin () is the district capital of Eastern Holstein county located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of 2020, the town had some 17,000 inhabitants. History The name Eutin (originally Utin) is of Slavic origin. Its meaning i ...

- on the shore of the

, survived and retained the name "Utin" (also e.g. "Uthine") which over the course of time became "Eutin". The four letters "VTIN" became part of the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

of the town of Eutin. CoA Eutin

Origin of the name

The place name "Utin" is derived from the personal name ''Uta'' (or ''Uto'') - embellished by the suffix ''-in'' - and means "Uta's settlement".

Sources

History of Utin Castle

Eutin Castle
* Otto Rönnpag. "Die Fasaneninsel, der Ursprung Eutins". ''Jahrbuch für Heimatkunde, Eutin'', 1987 (pages 99-102) Eutin Archaeological sites in Germany Castles in Schleswig-Holstein {{SchleswigHolstein-struct-stub