Sumte (, ) is a village in the municipality of

Amt Neuhaus Amt Neuhaus is a municipality in the District of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. ''Amt'' means "municipal office" in German. The original "municipal office of ''Neuhaus''" existed since at least the 17th century until 1885, consecutively as p ...

, located 30 km east of the county town

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 ...

in the state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

in northern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Sumte was part of the only exchange of territory between states of the former

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

(

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

) and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. The location east of the river

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 ...

is unique for a community in Lower Saxony.

Geography

Sumte is located in 3 km distance of the river Elbe which would flood the area several times a year without levee. The Sumte area is characterized by wet grassland and fertile fields. Furthermore, the embarkment of the Elbe river resulted in several oxbow lakes of which the Lake Sumte is the biggest. The Sumte area has historically always been a rural territory. The nearest city with more than 100 000 inhabitants is Hamburg in 65 km distance (city center).

History

The first documented mentioning of Sumte dates back as early as 1352 as ''Zommete,'' which is of Slavic origin and means

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

. The name indicates a founding of the village by Slavic people as fisherman's settlement. At times of the German eastward expansion German settlers mixed with the ancestral Slavic people and the old German village of Sumte was formed. Sumte belonged to the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Ha ...

until it became

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n province in 1871. After

world war II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Sumte belonged to the

British occupation zone The British occupation zone in Germany (German: ''Britische Besatzungszone Deutschlands'') was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. The United Kingdom along with her Commonwealth were one of the three major Allied po ...

but was resigned to the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...

, since it was the only territory in the British zone east of the river Elbe and the upkeep costs of this bridgehead would have been too high. Therefore, Sumte became part of the Soviet controlled

. After the German

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...

in 1990, people raised their voices for a small reunifaction, which means they wanted to belong to Hannover again, which now was the state of Lower Saxony. In 1993, the two federal states Mecklenburg Western Pomerania, which was newly formed and Lower Saxony signed a treaty to exchange the territory of Amt Neuhaus and thus Sumte belonged to Hannover again. The proximity to Lüneburg and to the Hamburg Metropolitan Region lead to an economic recovery of the Sumte region. In October 2015 plans became public that the government of Lower Saxony plans to set up a refugee transit camp with up to 1000 refugees. These plans made Sumte worldwide famous, since the ratio of 10 refugees versus 1 inhabitant would have been unique in a developed country. After close inspection of the local infrastructure and two townhall meetings, the maximum number of refugees was reduced to 750. On 2 November 2015 the first 100 refugees arrived in Sumte. Locals and the ASB as operator of the camp, installed a shop, a kindergarten and a medical station within the refugee camp, which can be used by inhabitants of Sumte as well.

Geography

History

References

Further reading