Großhansdorf is a municipality in the district of Stormarn, 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 ...

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 ...

. It is situated approximately 3 km east of

Ahrensburg Ahrensburg () is a town in the district of Stormarn, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located northeast of Hamburg and is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Its population is around 31,000. ''Schloss Ahrensburg'', the town's symbol, is ...

, and 25 km northeast 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 ...

History

Großhansdorf was first mentioned in 1274 in a deed of

's St. Catherine's Church congregation, to which Großhansdorf was affiliated at that time. In 1435 the city of Hamburg acquired Großhansdorf and administered it as part of its forest villages domain (''Walddörfer''), consisting of a series of Hamburgian

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

s surrounded by then else

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

territories. In 1642 the erection of a water mill is recorded, which operated until the 19th century. Since 1701 Großhansdorf was the seat of a ''forest rider'' (), an official of Hamburg's police administration, which is recalled in today's coat-of-arms of Großhansdorf. Hamburg then formed a free imperial city within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. By 1806 the rotation of arable fields among the resident farming families — as typical within

crop rotation Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. This practice reduces the reliance of crops on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, along with the pro ...

— was replaced by coupling fields () to become fixed particular family properties, which thus could be alienated — such as by sale or compulsory auction — and therefore pledged to secure credits. So agriculture was integrated into monetary economy. Between 1811 and 1813 Großhansdorf formed a part of the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

, Bouches-de-l'Elbe département, before it was restored to Hamburg, then forming a sovereign

city state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

within the new loose

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...

. In 1872 Groß-Hansdorf (as it was then spelled) and neighbouring Schmalenbeck merged in ''Groß-Hansdorf-Schmalenbeck'', a municipality within the state of the

Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and 7th-largest in the European Union with a population of over 1.9 million. The Hamburg Metropolitan Region has a ...

, which then still consisted of the eponymous city and a number of smaller municipalities and towns. Since 1921 the electric elevated , the eastern part of today's ''U 1'' line of Hamburg's underground and elevated railway) is connecting Großhansdorf by three stations ( Großhansdorf, Kiekut and Schmalenbeck) with Hamburg. By the territorial redeployment through the

Greater Hamburg Act The Greater Hamburg Act (), in full the Law Regarding Greater Hamburg and Other Territorial Readjustments (), was passed by the government of Nazi Germany on 26 January 1937, and mandated the exchange of territories between Hamburg and the Free S ...

Groß-Hansdorf-Schmalenbeck was ceded from the state of Hamburg to the Prussian

Province of Schleswig-Holstein The Province of Schleswig-Holstein ( ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia (from 1868 to 1918) and the Free State of Prussia (from 1918 to 1946). History It was created from the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which had been conquere ...

with effect of 1 April 1937, forming since a municipality within the Stormarn district. The name Groß-Hansdorf prevailed in colloquial usage. The British occupation forces elevated the province to the State of Schleswig-Holstein in 1946. For one and a half years (1949–1951) Groß-Hansdorf-Schmalenbeck formed a part of Ahrensburg collective municipality, before it regained municipal status, under the now official name Großhansdorf since. The inhabitants spread over the locality Schmalenbeck (c. 60%) and the locality Großhansdorf (unofficially: Alt-Großhansdorf; c. 40%). Following the massive destructions by

Bombing of Hamburg in World War II The Allied bombing of Hamburg during World War II included numerous attacks on civilians and civic infrastructure. As a large city and industrial centre, Hamburg's shipyards, U-boat pens, and the Hamburg-Harburg area oil refineries were atta ...

many a homeless Hamburger moved to Großhansdorf.

References

Stormarn (district) {{Stormarn-geo-stub