Brunsbüttel () is a town in the district of

Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, Northern Low Saxon, Low Saxon: ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; da, Ditmarsken; la, label=Medieval Latin, Tedmarsgo) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of ...

, in

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 Sch ...

, 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 ...

that lies at the mouth 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 Repu ...

river, near the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. It is the location of the western entrance to the

Kiel Canal The Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North- oEast alticSea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the N ...

History

The earliest reference to the town is in a document dated 14 July 1286. Blaeu 1645 - Ducatus Holsatiæ nova tabula

With the construction of the Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal) in 1911, the town was divided in two. During the opening days of

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 opposin ...

, on 4 September 1939, the

No. 149 Squadron RAF No. 149 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron between 1918 and 1956. Formed 1918 in the Royal Flying Corps as a night-bomber unit, it remained in that role for the rest of its existence which spanned three periods between 1918 and 1956. ...

carried out the second bombing of that war, targeting warships near the town.

Economy

Brunsbüttel became an industrial area in the 1960s and 1970s. The ''ChemCoast Park Brunsbüttel'' is still the most important enterprise zone and at also the largest industrial area in

Chemical Plants

Total S.A. TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and ...

Bayer MaterialScience Covestro AG is a German company which produces a variety of polyurethane and polycarbonate based raw materials. Products include isocyanates and polyols for cellular foams, thermoplastic polyurethane and polycarbonate pellets, as well as polyuret ...

Lanxess Lanxess AG is a German specialty chemicals company based in Cologne, Germany that was founded in 2004 via the spin-off of the chemicals division and parts of the polymers business from Bayer AG. Shares in Lanxess AG were listed in Germany’s DA ...

Sasol Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa and built on processes that were first developed by German chemists and engineers in the early ...

Yara International Yara International ASA is a Norwegian chemical company. It produces, distributes, and sells nitrogen-based mineral fertilizers and related industrial products. Its product line also includes phosphate and potash-based mineral fertilizers, as well ...

Energy

Vattenfall Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational power company owned by the Swedish State. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The company's name is Swedish for "waterfall", and ...

: Gas Turbine Power Station (near the

Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant The Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Brunsbüttel near Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timez ...

which is out of service) * A terminal to import of

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...

is under construction. Originally expected to become operational in approximately 2026, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia it

Harbours

* Brunsbüttel Ports GmbH (port operation and logistics)

Twin towns - sister cities

Brunsbüttel is twinned with: * Horní Počernice (Prague 20), Czech Republic (2004)

Notable residents

Jennifer Oeser Jennifer Oeser (born 29 November 1983 in Brunsbüttel, Schleswig-Holstein) is a retired German heptathlete. Career Oeser's first international championship was the 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics and she finished in eighth place wit ...

(born 1983), athlete *

Karen Duve Karen Duve (born 16 November 1961 in Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , ...

author

References

Dithmarschen Populated riverside places in Germany Populated places on the Elbe {{Dithmarschen-geo-stub