Brunsbüttel (;

Northern Low Saxon Northern Low Saxon (in Standard German, Standard High German: ', also ', lit. ''North(ern) Low Saxon/German''; in Dutch language, Standard Dutch: ') is a subgroup of Low Saxon dialects of Low German. As such, it covers a great part of the West ...

: ''Bruunsbüddel'') is a town in the district of

Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; ; ) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the ...

, 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 ...

, 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 ...

that lies at the mouth of the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) 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 Republic), then Ge ...

river, near the

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

. It is the location of the western entrance to the

Kiel Canal The Kiel Canal (, until 1948 called in German the ) is a fresh water canal that links the North Sea () to the Baltic Sea (). It runs through the Germany, German states of Germany, state of Schleswig-Holstein, from Brunsbüttel to the Holtenau di ...

History

The earliest reference to the town is in a document dated 14 July 1286. With the construction of the Kiel Canal () in 1911, the town was divided in two. During the opening days of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 is one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas explorat ...

Bayer MaterialScience Covestro AG is a German company producing polyurethane and polycarbonate raw materials. Products include isocyanates and polyols for cellular foams, thermoplastic polyurethane and polycarbonate pellets, as well as polyurethane based additives use ...

Lanxess Lanxess AG is a German specialty chemicals company based in Cologne, Germany. It was founded in 2004 after Bayer AG spun off its chemicals division and parts of its polymers business. History The company's roots trace back to 1863, with the fou ...

Sasol Sasol Limited, commonly referred to as Sasol, is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built around coal liquefaction processes that German ...

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 we ...

Energy

Vattenfall Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational corporation, multinational electrical power industry, power company owned by the List of government enterprises of Sweden, Swedish state. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germa ...

: Gas Turbine Power Station (near the

Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant The Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Brunsbüttel near Hamburg, Germany. It is owned 67% by Vattenfall and 33% by E.ON. It started operation in 1976 and has a gross power production of 806 MW. During its lifetime, it p ...

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 to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

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

* Horst Wohlers (born 1949), former football player, played 301 pro games, then a manager * Dirk Busch (born 1951 in Brunsbüttelkoog), a professor, singer, songwriter, composer and music producer. *

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),

heptathlete A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

References

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