Hitzacker is a town in the

Lüchow-Dannenberg Lüchow-Dannenberg is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany, which is usually referred to as Hanoverian Wendland (''Hannoversches Wendland'') or Wendland. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Uelzen and Lüneburg and the s ...

district 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 ...

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 betwee ...

. It is situated on 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 ...

, approx. 8 km north of Dannenberg, and 45 km east of

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 ...

. The 2007 population of Hitzacker was 4,982, and its postal code is 29456. The mayor is Holger Mertins. The town is located on the

German Timber-Frame Road The German Timber-Frame Road (German: ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'') is a German tourist route leading from the river Elbe in the north to the Black Forest and Lake Constance in the south. Numerous cities and towns each with examples of the vernacu ...

and is part of the ''

Samtgemeinde A ''Samtgemeinde'' (; plural: ''Samtgemeinden'') is a type of administrative division in Lower Saxony, Germany. ''Samtgemeinden'' are local government associations of municipalities, equivalent to the '' Ämter'' in Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenb ...

'' ("collective municipality") of

Elbtalaue Elbtalaue is a '' Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Lüchow-Dannenberg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Its seat is in the town Dannenberg. Actually, the word "Elbtalaue" means '' Elbe valley'' and describes a spatially not ...

. The famous library now in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest ...

was founded here by Augustus the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (who died in 1666) and was moved to its present location in 1643.

Geography

Location

Hitzacker is situated at the confluence of the River Jeetzel with the

. Whilst the so-called Elbe Heights (''Elbhöhen'', also ''Klötzie''), at the southeastern foot of which Hitzacker lies, belong to the natural region of the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen ...

(c.f. the Drawehn), the lowland areas of the old town belong to the Elbe valley water meadows (''Elbtalaue''). Its height varies from at the Jeetzel confluence to on the hill of ''Weinberg'' in the ''Klötzie''. Further down the Elbe, the hill of ''Kniepenberg'' near Drethem attains and offers a panoramic view over the Elbe valley depression.

Town divisions

Since the municipal reform of 1972, the borough of Hitzacker has consisted of the town itself and the 11 villages listed below. * Bahrendorf * Grabau * Harlingen * Hitzacker * Kähmen * Nienwedel * Pussade * Seerau * Tießau * Tiesmesland * Wietzetze * Wussegel Other settlements in the borough are: * Dötzingen, manor * Hagen, manor * Leitstade * Marwedel * Meudelfitz, manor * Meudelfitz, settlement * Posade, forest house (''Forsthaus'') * Sarchem * Schmessau * Schmardau Before 1972, Pussade and Posade Forsthaus belonged to the municipality of Harlingen, Dötzingen Manor, Hagen Manor, Marwedel, Meudelfitz Manor, Meudelfitz and Sarchem to the town of Hitzacker and Leitstade to Wietzetze. The manors of Dötzingen, Hagen and Marwedel are located today within the town of Hitzacker.

History

Man had already settled by around 3000 B.C. at the lake of ''Hitzackersee'' and the region has been continuously settled for over three thousand years. On the ''Weinberg'' next to the present old town (''Altstadt'')

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

built a castle in the eighth century. As a result, Hitzacker became an important trading centre even before its receiving

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

. Its actual foundation as a town took place in 1258, whereupon the castle lost its significance and was allowed to fall into ruins. A manuscript referring to Hitzacker dating to 20 January 1376 states the following: :"The dukes,

Wenceslas Wenceslaus, Wenceslas, Wenzeslaus and Wenzslaus (and other similar names) are Latinized forms of the Czech name Václav. The other language versions of the name are german: Wenzel, pl, Wacław, Więcesław, Wieńczysław, es, Wenceslao, russian ...

and Albert of Saxony and Lüneburg and Duke Bernard of Brunswick of Lüneburg allow the council of the town of Lüneburg to add the 30 marks of the lot which Lord Ludolf von Tzellenstede undertook to pay on the town's behalf on 13 April next, and the 150 marks of the lot which he also agreed to pay on the following 25 December, as well as the 100 marks of the lot the council paid on behalf of Lords Ordenberg and Siegfried Bock, i.e. 280 marks of the lot and the interest due to be added to the pledge for the castles of

Bleckede Bleckede (, Polabian ''Bleketsa'') is a town in the district of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated mostly on the left bank of the Elbe, approx. 20 km east of Lüneburg. Bleckede is located on the German Timber-Frame Roa ...

and Hitzacker and the taxes from Lüneburg and Hitzacker, in the event that the lords do not repay the council on the said days, and vow also not to relieve the council from the pledges before they have repaid the sum pledged and the above money." In 1548, on the Friday after

Jubilate Sunday The Fourth Sunday of Easter is the day that occurs three weeks after the Christian celebration of Easter. Western Christianity Tridentine Catholicism (pre-1970) In the historical Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, this day was officially kn ...

, a conflagration reduced the village of Hitzacker to ashes apart from the church and one house. In 1610 a number of people in Hitzacker and the surrounding area were accused of witchcraft and sorcery. On the third day of Christmas in 1668 the church, vicarage and eight houses burned down. In the Polabian ("Wendish") language of the region that died out in the 18th century Hitzacker was called ''Ljauci'' (''Lgautztgi''). The borough of Hitzacker was created as part of the municipal reform in 1972 from ten hitherto independent parishes.

Politics

The town of Hitzacker belongs to state constituency No. 48 – Elbe and federal constituency No. 38 – Lüchow-Dannenberg – Lüneburg.''Landtagswahlkreise ab 16. Wahlperiode. Wahlkreiseinteilung für die Wahl zum Niedersächsischen Landtag.'' Anlage zu § 10 Abs. 1 NLWG, p. 4.
pdf
; 87 kb).''Beschreibung der Wahlkreise.'' Anl. zu § 2 Abs. 2 Bundeswahlgesetz. In: ''Achtzehntes Gesetz zur Änderung des Bundeswahlgesetzes.'' Anl. zu Artikel 1. Bonn 18. März 2008, p. 325.
pdf
; 200 kb).

Council

The

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...

of Hitzacker has 17 councillors. as at:

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...

of 10 September 2006

Mayor

The Mayor (''Bürgermeister'') of Hitzacker is Holger Mertins.

Partnerships

The town used to be partnered with the municipality of Wisch in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Culture and places of interest

* Town roundabout with timber-framed houses and the 1589 customs house (''Zollhaus'')

Museums

Hitzacker Archaeological Centre The Hitzacker Archaeological Centre (german: Archäologisches Zentrum Hitzacker) is an archaeological open-air museum in Hitzacker in the German state of Lower Saxony. The core theme of the museum is the presentation of Bronze Age settlements. T ...

* The Old Customs House Museum (''Das Alte Zollhaus'') * Hunting Lodge and Forest Museum in Göhrde

Buildings

* Katemin Mill (''Kateminer Mühle'')

Other

* Excavations at the Hitzacker See * Sacrifice stone (''Opferstein'') near Pudripp * Wildlife enclosure (''Wildgehege'') in Hitzacker * Prince's Graves (''Fürstengräber''), Marwedel *

Megalithic tomb A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

s and

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

near Pussade * The ''Wirtschaftliche Forschungsgesellschaft'' or ''Wifo'': former Nazi underground fuel depot in the Dötzingen Forest outside Hitzacker * Hitzacker's shooting guild, the Schützengilde von 1395 zu Hitzacker (Elbe)'', is one of the oldest in Europe.

Economy and infrastructure

Tourism

Hitzacker has a long tradition as a tourist destination. For instance, the Local History Working Group of Lüchow-Dannenberg (''Heimatkundliche Arbeitskreis Lüchow-Dannenberg'' or HALD) held a conference in 1983 with the title "100 Years of Tourism in Hitzacker – 50 Year Old Local History and Museum Society“. Around the turn of the century, holidaymakers from the Hamburg and Hanover regions came to the spa hotel on the Weinberg hill. The hotel had its own spring used as a drinking fountain and for bathing by those taking the ''Kur''. Day excursions on the river, along the Elbe, took place, and it had its own shipping line: Hamburg-Lauenburg-Dömitz. Today tourism has experienced a change. The health business has been replaced by "wellness" and beauty facilities. Hitzacker has since become a recognised climatic spa. Many of its hotels offer so-called wellness treatments and there is a spa area with a Kneipp basin and barefoot path. Hitzacker is the venue for musical events like the Hitzacker Summer Music Days (

Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker ("summerly music days Hitzacker") is the name of a traditional international festival of classical chamber music in Hitzacker, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1946, it is held annually for nine days beginning with ...

) under the artistic direction of Dr. Markus Fein, and Hitzacker Music Week (''Musikwoche Hitzacker'') under the direction of Ludwig Güttler. There are three museums, including the Archaeological Centre with a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

open-air museum.AZH – Archäologisches Zentrum Hitzacker::.. ARCHAEO-CENTRUM.DE
On the Weinberg, vines have been cultivated for several centuries, and once a year the vintage is celebrated by the officiating wine queen. Hitzacker takes part in various marketing initiatives; for example the town is on the

, the

Lower Saxon Asparagus Road The Lower Saxon Asparagus Road (german: Niedersächsische Spargelstraße) is a tourist route in North Germany that confers recognition of the asparagus as a delicacy in the region. The vegetable is grown in the areas between Brunswick and Lün ...

and a partner in the German-Dutch

Orange Route The Orange Route ( nl, Oranje-Route, german: Oranier-Route) is a holiday route, that runs from Amsterdam in the Netherlands through North and Central Germany and returns to Amsterdam. It is 2,400 kilometres long and crosses the Netherlands and nine ...

Transport

Hitzacker has a railway link to Dannenberg and Lüneburg on the Wendland Railway. Another station on the same line is located in the local village of Leitstade. There are bus links to Lüneburg, Uelzen and Dannenberg as well as the county town of Lüchow. In Hitzacker there is a passenger ferry over the Elbe.

Education

There are three schools in Hitzacker: * Hitzacker Primary School * Bernhard Varenius School * Hitzacker Free School

Notable townsfolk

* Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick and Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel (1633–1714), duke, writer and art lover * Hans Georg Ahrens (born 1944), German opera singer * Claus von Amsberg (1926–2002), German diplomat and Prince of the Netherlands * Bernhard Varenius (1622–1650), physician, geographer * Ferdinand Wohltmann (1857–1919), agronomist * Rudi Müller-Glöge (born 1951), German lawyer and vice-president of the Federal Labour Court

References

*Johann Parum Schultze; Reinhold Olesch (ed.): ''Fontes linguae Dravaenopolabicae minores et Chronica Venedica J. P. Schultzii''. (= Slavic Research; Vol. 7). Böhlau, Köln and Graz 1967 *Christian Hennig von Jessen: ''Vocabularium Venedicum (oder Wendisches Wörter-Buch)'' (1705). Reprint by Reinhold Olesch. – Cologne 'inter alia'' Böhlau 1959 (source for Pastor C. Hennig von Jessen was the Polabian-speaking farmer, Johann Janieschge from Klennow)

Sources

* Berndt Wachter: "Die Fortführung der Grabung auf dem Weinberg bei Hitzacker (Elbe) im Jahr 1971“. In: ''NNU 41'' (1972), p. 227 ff. * Berndt Wachter: "Eine slawische Wallanlage – Die Grabung auf dem Weinberg in Hitzacker (Elbe) im Jahre 1972“. In: ''NNU 42'' (1973), p. 300 ff.

External links

*
Website of the Elbtalaue municipality

Official website
{{Authority control Lüchow-Dannenberg Populated riverside places in Germany Populated places on the Elbe