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Lauenburg (district)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is a rough translation of an article in German. It may have been generated by a computer or by a translator with limited proficiency in English or the original language. Feel free to enhance the translation. For reference, the original article may appear under "Deutsch" in the "other languages" list. |
| Lauenburg | |
 Map of Schleswig-Holstein highlighting the district of Lauenburg |
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| State | Schleswig-Holstein |
| District seat | Ratzeburg |
| Area | 1263 km² |
| Population | 182,600 (2002) |
| Pop. density | 145 /km² |
| Licence plate code | RZ |
| Web page | herzogtum-lauenburg.de |
Lauenburg (in full Herzogtum Lauenburg, "Duchy of Lauenburg") is the southernmost district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the district of Stormarn, the city of Lübeck, the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (districts of Nordwestmecklenburg and Ludwigslust), the state of Lower Saxony (districts of Lüneburg and Harburg), and the city state of Hamburg.
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This area contains a number of historically important towns, e.g. Lauenburg, Mölln and Ratzeburg. This importance was due to the Old Salt Route (Alte Salzstraße), one of the major medieval trade routes. Salt from the salt-works south of the Elbe river was transported northward to Lübeck. The transport of salt was also the motive for constructing the oldest artificial waterway of Europe, the Stecknitz Canal (1398). It was replaced in 1900 by the Elbe-Lübeck Canal.
The landscape is characterized by numerous lakes, forming the Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park. The largest lake is the Ratzeburger See with an area of 16 km².
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The coat of arms display a white horse, the ancient symbol of the duchy of Lauenburg. The horse is surrounded by a black and white checked border, which represents the colours of Prussia. This is a modified version of the arms used when Lauenburg was part of the Danish monarchy, 1815-1864. The former arms featured a golden horse's head on a red shield.
The coat of arms were granted on November 12, 1866, after Lauenburg became part of Prussia. After the duchy became a district the usage of the coat of arms was discontinued, as districts were not allowed to use coats of arms. The coat of arms is sometimes displayed with a crown on top. |
From 1873 to 1882 the hereditary land marshal (Erblandmarschall) was responsible for administration and the appointment of offices. The landrat, as a Prussian official, dealt only with the national administration.
- 1873 - 1874: Regierungsassessor Jungbluth
- 1874 - 1881: Graf Andreas von Bernstorff
After October 1, 1882, the landrat became responsible also for local administration, free from state control.
- 1882 - 1897: Oskar von Dolega-Kozierowski
- 1897 - 1900: Graf Finck von Finckenstein
- 1900 - 1907: Friedrich von Bülow
- 1907 - 1919: Emil Mathis
- 1919 - 1927: Kurt Schönberg
- 1927 - 1933: Gustav Voigt
- 1933 - 1938: Theodor Fründt, NSDAP
- 1939 - 1945: Erich Jüttner, NSDAP
A change in government came after the Second World War with the 1946 county statute issued by the British military government. The landrat now temporarily functioned as an honorary head of the district council (Kreistag), which now dealt with the administration of the district directly. Later, however, the landrat took over the district administration again.
- 1945 - 1946: Ewald Raaz
- 1946 - 1948: Wilhelm Gülich, SPD
- 1948 - 1950: Fritz Vagt, CDU
- 1950 - 1969: Gerhard Wandschneider
- 1969 - 1975: Klaus Prößdorf
- 1975 - 2002: Günter Kröpelin, CDU
- 2002 - current: Gerd Krämer, no party
The district president (Kreispräsident) is the chairman of the district council and is selected from its members. The president chairs the meetings of the council and represents the district, together with the landrat, abroad.
- 19?? - 1994: Norbert Brackmann, CDU
- 1994 - 2003: Helga Hinz, SPD
- 2003 - present: Meinhard Füllner, CDU
Contrary to others in Schleswig-Holstein, the district is characterized by numerous relatively small municipalities, in which direct democracy and citizens' participation are pracitsed. The administration takes place mostly via offices, which are often of a very manageable size. To that extent, the scope of the planned Schleswig-Holstein administrative structure law will be not insignificant: after the draft of the Ministry of the Interior, a minimum size is to be implemented of 8000 inhabitants for amts and amt-free municipalities as regional reorganization to 1 April 2007. Thus, the existence of six of the eleven amts of the district are threatened. However, a minimum size for municipalities belonging to an amt has not yet been determined. Until the deadline the possibility exists for voluntary unions, which can cross district boundaries after the draft as well.
The economical emphasis of the district lies in the Hamburg bacon-belt, while the eastern part, in the water-rich Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park, caters more to tourism and is largely agricultural. The district belongs to metropolitan Hamburg.
- In 2003, the public transit system in the district was integrated into the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV).
- Connections to the Autobahn network are made by the A1 (Hamburg–Lübeck) in the west, the A 24 (Hamburg–Berlin) in the south, the A 25 (Geesthacht–Hamburg) and the A 20 (Lübeck–Rostock) in the north.
- Railway connections exist from Hamburg to Büchen and on to Berlin; and from Lueneburg to Büchen and on to Lübeck, via Mölln/Ratzeburg. Both routes are operated by the Deutsche Bahn AG. From Bergedorf to Geesthacht there is still the old Bergedorf-Geesthachter Eisenbahn (BGE) freight route, which now serves as a museum railroad line and belongs to the private AKN Eisenbahn.
- In the Elbe harbour of Lauenburg is one end of the Elbe-Lübeck Canal, opened in 1900. It connects the Central European canal network, via the Trave with Lübeck and the Baltic Sea. The canal served as the Old Salt Route.
- Nearby airports are Lübeck Airport and Hamburg Airport.
The district calls itself "Duchy of Lauenburg", since it goes back to the medieval Duchy of Lauenburg, which was one of the remnants of the original Duchy of Saxony. The Duchy of Saxony was divided in 1260 into the two states of Saxony-Wittenberg and Saxony-Lauenburg.
Saxony-Lauenburg was soon known as Lauenburg (without "Saxony" mentioned in its name). While the territory of Saxony-Wittenberg changed drastically over the centuries, the Duchy of Lauenburg remained almost unchanged, until it lost its independence in 1689, when it was inherited by the Principality of Lüneburg. 1815-1864 it belonged to the Duke of Holstein and the King of Denmark, who was one and the same. In 1864 it fell to Prussia. For a short period Lauenburg was still an autonomous entity, but in 1876 it was incorporated as a district into the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein.
Lauenburg was the first capital of the district. In 1937 the city of Ratzeburg, which had formerly been a part of Mecklenburg, became a part of the district.
(Populations as of June 30, 2005 in brackets)
| Amt-free towns | Amt-free municipalities |
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- Official website (German)
 Urban and rural districts in the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany  |
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| Urban districts | Flensburg · Kiel · Lübeck · Neumünster |
| Rural districts | Dithmarschen · Lauenburg · Nordfriesland · Ostholstein · Pinneberg · Plön · Rendsburg-Eckernförde · Schleswig-Flensburg · Segeberg · Steinburg · Stormarn |