Ahrensburg

For the town in Estonia with old German name Arensburg, see Kuressaare.
Ahrensburg

Coat of arms
Ahrensburg

Coordinates: 53°40′29″N 10°14′28″E / 53.67472°N 10.24111°E / 53.67472; 10.24111Coordinates: 53°40′29″N 10°14′28″E / 53.67472°N 10.24111°E / 53.67472; 10.24111
Country Germany
State Schleswig-Holstein
District Stormarn
Government
 • Mayor Michael Sarach (SPD)
Area
 • Total 35.3 km2 (13.6 sq mi)
Population (2014-12-31)[1]
 • Total 31,602
 • Density 900/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 22926
Dialling codes 04102
Vehicle registration OD
Website www.ahrensburg.de

Ahrensburg (German pronunciation: [ˈaːʁənsˌbʊɐ̯k]) is a town in the district of Stormarn, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located northeast of Hamburg and is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Its population is around 31,000. Schloss Ahrensburg, the town's symbol, is a Renaissance castle dating from 1595.

Geography

Ahrensburg is situated in the Tunneltal, in which Alfred Rust excavated many items dating back to the ice age.

Ahrensburg is situated next to the Autobahn A1 and on the railway route between the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Lübeck.

History

Early history

The Ahrensburger Tunneltal is a place of numerous excavations from the Upper Paleolithic culture. The culture is called Ahrensburg culture by archaeologists.

Middle Ages

The town dates back to the 13th Century, when the Counts of Schauenburg founded the village of Woldenhorn (which later became the town of Ahrensburg) and the neighbouring villages Ahrensfelde, Meilsdorf and Beimoor. Woldenhorn is first mentioned in the year 1314. The village came into the possession of the Cistercian Reinfeld Abbey in 1327, and Woldenhorn became the seat of the monastery reeve until the middle of the 16th century.

The "Arx Arnsburga", also called Arnesvelde castle, was built around the year 1200. Ruins of the castle are still visible in the Hagen forest to the south of the town. The town coat of arms shows the castle in the upper field. There are records of reeves based in the castle in 1295 and 1304. In 1326, Count John III of Schauenburg had his reeve relocated to Trittau and abandoned the castle.

Modern period

After the dissolution of the monasteries due to the Reformation, the whole area came into the possession of the king of Denmark. He rewarded his general Daniel Rantzau 1567 with lordship over these villages. His brother and heir Peter Rantzau built a Renaissance residence in the form of a water castle, now the symbol of the town, and the castle church around 1595. The construction of almshouses directly by the church was exemplary.

The "Ahrensburg Estate" belonged to the so-called Noble Estates, which possessed a large amount of freedom and self-administration.

The Rantzaus' estate was heavily indebted by the middle of the 18th century and, in 1759, was acquired by the businessman Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann. Schimmelmann remodelled the castle and village in the baroque style and the current layout of the town reflects these plans.

On the 7 June 1867 the estate village Woldenhorn became an independent Prussian country community and renamed itself Ahrensburg after a decision by the community council. It belonged to the "Amt Ahrensburg", from which the "amtsfreie" community once more seceded in 1912.

The construction of the railway between Hamburg and Lübeck in the year 1865 made Ahrensburg a popular destination for outings outside Hamburg and the number of inhabitants increased. By 1910, the population had reached 2,750. The incorporation of various surrounding communities in the year 1928 led to an increase in the town area to about 5 km2.

Building of the settlements "Daheim/Heimgarten" (partially on the territory of the current community of Ammersbek) and "Am Hagen" (originally called "Franz Seldte Settlement") commenced in 1933. The rush of settlers from around Hamburg lead to the creation of the current housing layout.

When Ahrensburg received city rights in 1949, the town had some 17,775 inhabitants - around half of which were refugees from the former eastern German regions.

Erica Keck, who was elected mayor in 1950, became the first female elected mayor in Germany.

Religion

Ahrensburg was the seat of the Stormarn Provost of the Lutheran church from 1823 until 1899.

Ahrensburg had a small Jewish community until the beginning of the 1930s. The Synagogue was burnt down in the Kristallnacht in 1938 during the period of Nazism.[2] The Jewish cemetery (opened in 1822) can still be seen at the edge of town (Ahrensburg-West).

Politics

Since the local election on 26 May 2008, the town council is made up as follows:

Distribution of vote and seats in local council
Party Overall % of vote Number of seats in council
CDU 36.0% 13 seats
SPD 23.0% 8 seats
WAB 16.1% 5 seats
GRÜNE 16.7% 6 seats
FDP 8.2% 2 seats

International relations

Ahrensburg is twinned with:

Notable people

Honorary citizen

Born in Ahrensburg

References

  1. ↑ "Statistikamt Nord – Bevölkerung der Gemeinden in Schleswig-Holstein 4. Quartal 2014] (XLS-file)". Statistisches Amt für Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein (in German).
  2. ↑ "Internet-Archiv "Synagogen in Deutschland" der TU Darmstadt". Cad-cook.architektur.tu-darmstadt.de. Retrieved 2014-03-11.

External links

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