Aumühle () is a municipality in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

in northern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, about 21 km (14 mi) east of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. Its

Friedrichsruh Friedrichsruh () is a district in the municipality of Aumühle, Herzogtum Lauenburg district, Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany. Friedrichsruh manor is known as a residence of the princely House of Bismarck, mainly of Chancellor Otto von ...

district is home to the family estate and

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

Geography

Aumühle lies on the river Bille in the Sachsenwald, the largest forest in Schleswig-Holstein.

History

In 1350 Aumühle was first mentioned in writing as ''Au-Mühle'' (mill on the river Au). In 1846, a station on the newly-constructed Hamburg-Berlin railway line was opened at Friedrichsruh. Aumühle station itself was added in 1884. BismarckMausoleum

In 1871 Kaiser

Wilhelm I of Germany Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany ...

gifted the

Sachsenwald The Sachsenwald () is a forest near Hamburg, Germany. The forest derives its name, which can be translated as 'Saxon woods' or 'Saxony forest', from being located in the former Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, which itself is a part of the greater Lower ...

forest, adjacent to the Au, to

in recognition of his services to the newly unified German nation. Bismarck had a manor house built there, opting to retain the historic name of Friedrichsruh. Bismarck now lies buried in the Bismarck Mausoleum situated there.

Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...

, the last head of state of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, moved to Aumühle after his release from

Spandau Prison Spandau Prison was a former military prison located in the Spandau borough of West Berlin (present-day Berlin, Germany). Built in 1876, it became a proto-concentration camp under Nazi Germany. After the Second World War, it held seven top Nazi l ...

in 1956. He lived there until his death in 1980, and was buried in its Waldfriedhof cemetery. In Aumühle lived German journalist and politician Olaf von Wrangel.

Transport

Aumühle is the eastern terminus of

Hamburg S-Bahn The Hamburg S-Bahn is a rapid transit railway system in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Together, the S-Bahn, the Hamburg U-Bahn, the AKN Eisenbahn, AKN railway and the regional railway form the backbone of railway public transport in the city ...

line S21.

Twin towns

Aumühle is twinned with: *

Mortagne-sur-Sèvre Mortagne-sur-Sèvre (, literally ''Mortagne on Sèvre'') is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. The commune was formed by the consolidation Mortagne-sur-Sèvre, Évrunes and Saint-Hilaire-de-Mor ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Sleen Sleen is a village in Drenthe, Netherlands of about 2,500 people. Sleen has been inhabited for centuries. Much ancient history can be found in the area, particularly in the forests (which are planted, though). At birth and during the Republiek de ...

, today a part of

Coevorden Coevorden (; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Drenthe, in the east of Netherlands, the Netherlands. During the ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

References

External links

Aumühle official website
1350s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Populated places established in the 1350s Municipalities in Schleswig-Holstein Bismarck family Herzogtum Lauenburg Karl Dönitz {{HerzogtumLauenburg-geo-stub