Schleswig (, , ; da, Slesvig;

South Jutlandic South Jutlandic or South Jutish (South Jutish: ; da, Sønderjysk; german: Südjütisch or Plattdänisch) is a dialect of the Danish language. South Jutlandic is spoken in Southern Jutland (''Sønderjylland''; also called Schleswig or Slesvig) o ...

: ''Sljasvig''; nds, Sleswig; archaic English: ''Sleswick'') is a town in the northeastern part 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 ...

, Germany. It is the capital of the '' Kreis'' (district)

Schleswig-Flensburg Schleswig-Flensburg (; da, Slesvig-Flensborg) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Dithmarschen and Nordfriesland, the Region Syddanmark in Denma ...

. It has a population of about 27,000, the main industries being leather and food processing. It takes its name from the

Schlei The Schlei (; da, Slien, also ''Slesvig Fjord''e.g. in: Adolph Frederik Bergsøe: ''Den danske stats statistik'', Kjøbenhavn 1844, p. 156) (more often referred to in English as the Sly Firth) is a narrow inlet of the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-H ...

, an inlet of the

Baltic sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

at the end of which it sits, and ''vik'' or ''vig'' which means "bay" in

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

and Danish. Schleswig or Slesvig therefore means "bay of the Schlei".

History

The

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

settlement of

Hedeby Hedeby (, Old Norse ''Heiðabýr'', German ''Haithabu'') was an important Danish Viking Age (8th to the 11th centuries) trading settlement near the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, now in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig-Holst ...

, located south of the modern town, was first mentioned in 804. It was a powerful settlement in the Baltic region, dominating the area for more than 200 years. In 1050, following several destructions, the population was moved to the opposite shore of the Schlei, becoming the city of Schleswig. In 1066 Hedeby was finally destroyed, and Schleswig remained as a part of the Danish kingdom. In 1544,

Gottorf Castle Gottorf Castle (german: Schloss Gottorf, da, Gottorp Slot, Low German: ''Gottorp'') is a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is one of the most important secular buildings in Schleswig-Holstein, and ha ...

became the residence of the local rulers. The dukes of Gottorf were vassals of the Danish kings and ruled over much of present-day Schleswig-Holstein. In 1721, when the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...

ended, the dukes of Gottorf lost their power and their land became Danish crown land. After the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. ...

(1864), Schleswig was annexed by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

Geography

Schleswig lies at the western end of the Schlei Förde, which separates the two peninsulas of

Angeln Anglia (German and Low German: ''Angeln''; Danish and South Jutlandic: ''Angel''; ang, Engla land) is a small peninsula on the eastern coast of Jutland (the Cimbric Peninsula). Jutland consists of the mainland of Denmark and the northernm ...

and

Schwansen Swania (german: Schwansen, da, Svans or ''Svansø'', meaning "swan island/peninsula") is a peninsula in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, protruding into the Baltic Sea. It is located between the Eckernförde Bay to the south and the Schlei (Englis ...

, and is on the western edge of the Schleswig-Holstein Uplands on the transition to the Geest country. The urban area ranges from 0 to above sea level. Brautsee (lake) is in the town. The nearest major cities are Flensburg, Husum and

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

. Autobahn 7 runs immediately west of the city.

Highways A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

76 and 77 end in Schleswig and B 201 runs to the north of the town. Schleswig station is a stop for

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

and

Intercity-Express The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerl ...

trains and is on the Hamburg–Neumünster–Flensburg and Husum–Kiel lines.

Climate

The climate is oceanic (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfb''), humid and mild with a slight continental influence. The annual mean temperature is 8 °C and precipitation averages 925 mm.

Sights

* Schleswig Cathedral (1134), with the tomb of King

Frederick I of Denmark Frederick I (Danish and ; ; ; 7 October 1471 – 10 April 1533) was King of Denmark and Norway. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch to reign over Denmark and Norway, when subsequent monarchs embraced Lutheranism after the Protestant Re ...

(built 1161), former residence of the dukes, with the baroque Neuwerk garden, containing a replica of the Globe of Gottorf *Holm: old fishing village at the Schlei shore *Hedeby, Viking settlement

Twin towns – sister cities

Schleswig is twinned with: *

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civ ...

, England, United Kingdom * Mantes-la-Jolie, France *

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and th ...

, Denmark * Waren, Germany

Notable people

Herman Wilhelm Bissen (Christian Albrecht Jensen)

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-548-0725-28, Nordafrika, Bernhard-Hermann Ramcke (cropped)

Valdemar I of Denmark Valdemar I (14 January 1131 – 12 May 1182), also known as Valdemar the Great ( da, Valdemar den Store), was King of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. The reign of King Valdemar I saw the rise of Denmark, which reached its medieval zen ...

(1131–1182), King of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. * Christian III of Denmark (1503–1559), King of Denmark *

Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden Adolf Frederick, or Adolph Frederick ( sv, Adolf Fredrik, german: Adolf Friedrich; 14 May 171012 February 1771) was King of Sweden from 1751 until his death. He was the son of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin, and Albertina ...

(1710–1771), King of Sweden *

Frederick August I, Duke of Oldenburg , title = Duke of Oldenburg , image = Friedrich August von Oldenburg.jpg , caption = , succession = Duke of Oldenburg , predecessor = Kings of Denmark as counts , successor = William I , reign = ...

(1711–1785), nobleman * Asmus Jacob Carstens (1754–1798) a Danish-German painter, committed to German Neoclassicism. *

Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel (; 28 September 1789 – 13 March 1867) was the consort of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and the matriarch of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksbu ...

(1789–1867), matriarch of the

House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

Herman Wilhelm Bissen Herman Wilhelm Bissen (13 October 1798 – 10 March 1868) was a Danish sculptor. Biography Bissen was born at Schleswig in the Duchy of Schleswig. He was the son of Christian Gottlieb Wilhelm Bissen (1766-1847), a farmer, and Anna Margret ...

(1798–1868), Danish sculptor * Friedrich Bernhard Westphal (1803–1844), German-Danish genre painter and illustrator * Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Jessen (1821–1889), botanist * Friedrich Krichauff (1824–1904), politician in colonial South Australia * Victor Hensen (1835–1924), zoologist * Ove H. Berg (1840–1922), American politician and businessman, emigrated to the US in 1881 * Julius Friedrich Theodor Engel (1842–1926), judge and politician *

Hans von Seeckt Johannes "Hans" Friedrich Leopold von Seeckt (22 April 1866 – 27 December 1936) was a German military officer who served as Chief of Staff to August von Mackensen and was a central figure in planning the victories Mackensen achieved for Germany ...

(1866–1936), military officer *

Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau Ulrich Karl Christian Graf von Brockdorff-Rantzau (29 May 1869 – 8 September 1928) was a German diplomat who became the first Foreign Minister of the Weimar Republic. In that capacity, he led the German delegation at the Paris Peace Conference ...

(1869–1928), politician and diplomat, first Foreign Minister of the Weimar Republic * Christian Hansen (1885–1972), general * Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (1889–1968), General of paratroop forces * Bernhard Rogge (1899–1982), naval officer * Bernd Kröplin (1944–2019), engineer and academic *

Ralf Rothmann Ralf Rothmann (born May 10, 1953 in Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein) is a German novelist, poet, and dramatist. His novels have been translated into several languages with Knife Edge (''Messers Schneide'') and Young Light (''Junges Licht'') being t ...

(born 1953), novelist *

Thomas Heberer Thomas Heberer (born 13 November 1947 in Offenbach/Main, Germany) is a Senior Professor of Chinese Politics & Society at the University Duisburg-Essen, Germany. Education Thomas Heberer studied Social Anthropology (major), Philosophy, Politica ...

(born 1965), musician and composer * Ekkehard Wölk (born 1967), pianist, arranger and composer

Sport

* Jobst Hirscht (born 1948), athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres * Hole Rößler (born 1949), modern pentathlete * Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker (born 1984), footballer

References

External links

Official website
* * * * {{Authority control Towns in Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Flensburg