Leuphana (Λευφάνα) is a city name, first mentioned by Ptolemy in the year 150 in the Atlas Geographia.
Ptolemy mentioned in Geographica 2, that ten cities unified by their not being under Roman occupation, created a settlement named Leuphana.
Johann Grässe put Leuphana in his place name dictionary on par with
Lüneburg
Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also called ...
. Ptolemy mentioned a large number of German settlements that were not under Roman occupation, such as Ascalingium.
After Günnewig, Leuphana is located on the lowest stretch of the
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
, although it is unknown on which side. Speculation is that Leuphana is near
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
,
Dömitz
Dömitz () is a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, 25 km southwest of Ludwigslust, and 37 km northwest of Wittenberge
Wittenberg ...
(Mecklenburg), or in the area near
Altmark :''See German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German.''
The (English: Old MarchHansard, ''The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ...'', Volume 32. ...
.
However, identification of Leuphana is far from certain. Ptolemy may have been mistaken, as he was about Poleis. Grässe also may have been incorrect, both men confusing it with
Levefanum, that was located on the left side of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
. The nomenclature expert Jürgen Udolph has the opinion that Leuphana has nothing to do with Lüneburg. His opinion on the matter is supported by other nomenclature experts.
Research by the Institute for
Geodesy of the Technical University of Berlin, into a geodesic deformation analysis of the Ptolemaic map concluded that Leuphana lies to the east of Lüneburg on the Elbe, located next to
Hitzacker
Hitzacker is a town in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Elbe, approx. 8 km north of Dannenberg, and 45 km east of Lüneburg. The 2007 population of Hitzacker was 4,982, and its posta ...
, which speaks in favor of the correctness of the Ptolemaic localization. This finding is supported through the archaeological excavations in Marwedel near Hitzacker, where the University of Göttingen and the Free University of Berlin and their archaeologists Olaf Fabian and Ivonne Baier located a settlement from the time period of 78/80 to 225. In 1928 and 1944, the graves of
Chieftains from Marwedel were found, two
elite tombs with rich grave offerings from the Germanic time of 150.
Since March 20, 2007, the
University of Lüneburg
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
has adopted the name Leuphana. The advertising agency
Scholz and Friends of Hamburg proposed the name change to the university board in 2006.
''Markenentwicklung für Universitäten.''
Auf: ''markenbusiness.com.'' 29 March 2007.
References
Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at :de:Leuphana; see its history for attribution.
{{reflist
External links
''Google Earth in Antiquity.''
In: ''Der Spiegel.'' 39/2010, S. 152 ff., retrieved 7 February 2013.
Ancient cities
Settlements in Germania Magna