Schleswig (, , ; ;

South Jutlandic South Jutlandic or South Jutish ( South Jutish: ; ; ) is a dialect of the Danish language. South Jutlandic is spoken in Southern Jutland (''Sønderjylland''; also called Schleswig or Slesvig) on both sides of the border between Denmark and Germ ...

: ''Sljasvig''; ) is a town in the northeastern part of

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. It is the capital of the '' Kreis'' (district)

Schleswig-Flensburg Schleswig-Flensburg (; ) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Dithmarschen and Nordfriesland, the Region Syddanmark in Denmark, the city of Flensb ...

. It has a population of about 27,000, the main industries being leather and food processing. It takes its name from the Schlei (Slien), an inlet of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

at the end of which it sits, and ''vik'' or ''vig'' which means "bay" in

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

and Danish. Schleswig or Slesvig therefore means "bay of the Schlei".

History

The

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

settlement of Hedeby, located south of the modern town, was first mentioned in 804. It was a powerful settlement in the

Baltic region The Baltic Sea Region, alternatively the Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states, refers to the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, including parts of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. Un ...

, dominating the area for more than 200 years. In 1050, following several destructions, the population was moved to the opposite shore of the Schlei, becoming the city of Schleswig. In 1066 Hedeby was finally destroyed, and Schleswig remained a part of the Danish kingdom. In 1544, Gottorf Castle became the residence of the local rulers. The dukes of Gottorf were vassals of the Danish kings and ruled over much of present-day Schleswig-Holstein. In 1721, when the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

ended, the dukes of Gottorf lost their power and their land became Danish crown land. After the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...

(1864), Schleswig was annexed by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

Geography

Schleswig lies at the western end of the Schlei Förde, which separates the two peninsulas of

Angeln Angeln (; ) is a peninsula on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Jutland, in the Bay of Kiel. It forms part of Southern Schleswig, the northernmost region of Germany. The peninsula is bounded on the north by the Flensburg Firth, which separates it ...

and Schwansen, and is on the western edge of the Schleswig-Holstein Uplands on the transition to the

Geest Geest (, , ) is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outw ...

country. The urban area ranges from 0 to above sea level. Brautsee (lake) is in the town. The nearest major cities are

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

Husum Husum (, ) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of the annual i ...

and

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

. Autobahn 7 runs immediately west of the city.

Highways A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

76 and 77 end in Schleswig and B 201 runs to the north of the town. Schleswig station is a stop for

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

and

Intercity-Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this Train categories in Europe, category) is a high-speed rail in Germany, high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland an ...

trains and is on the Hamburg–Neumünster–Flensburg and Husum–Kiel lines.

Climate

The climate is oceanic (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfb''), humid and mild with a slight continental influence. The annual mean temperature is 8 °C and precipitation averages 925 mm.

Sights

* Schleswig Cathedral (1134), with the tomb of King

Frederick I of Denmark Frederick I ( Danish and ; ; ; 7 October 1471 – 10 April 1533) was King of Denmark and Norway. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over Denmark and Norway, when subsequent monarchs embraced Lutheranism after the Protestant Reformatio ...

* Gottorf Castle (built 1161), former residence of the dukes, with the baroque Neuwerk garden, containing a replica of the Globe of Gottorf *Holm: old fishing village at the Schlei shore *Hedeby, Viking settlement

Twin towns – sister cities

Schleswig is twinned with: *

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Mantes-la-Jolie Mantes-la-Jolie (, often informally called Mantes) is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It is located to the west of Paris, f ...

, France * Vejle, Denmark * Waren, Germany

Notable people

Valdemar I of Denmark Valdemar I Knudsen (14 January 1131 – 12 May 1182), also known as Valdemar the Great (), was King of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. The reign of King Valdemar I saw the rise of Denmark, which reached its medieval zenith under his s ...

(1131–1182), King of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. *

Christian III of Denmark Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

(1503–1559), King of Denmark * Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (1710–1771), King of Sweden * Frederick August I, Duke of Oldenburg (1711–1785), nobleman * Asmus Jacob Carstens (1754–1798) a Danish-German painter, committed to German

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

. * Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel (1789–1867), matriarch of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg * Herman Wilhelm Bissen (1798–1868), Danish sculptor * Friedrich Bernhard Westphal (1803–1844), German-Danish genre painter and illustrator * Christian IX of Denmark (1818–1906), King of Denmark, 1863 - 1906. * Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Jessen (1821–1889), botanist * Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein (1821–1889), patriarch of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg * Friedrich Krichauff (1824–1904), politician in colonial South Australia *

Victor Hensen Christian Andreas Victor Hensen (10 February 1835 – 5 April 1924) was a German zoologist and marine biologist (planktology). He coined the term ''plankton'' and laid the foundation for biological oceanography and quantitative studies. Family ...

(1835–1924), zoologist * Ove H. Berg (1840–1922), American politician and businessman, emigrated to the US in 1881 * Julius Friedrich Theodor Engel (1842–1926), judge and politician * Hans von Seeckt (1866–1936), military officer * Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau (1869–1928), politician and diplomat, first Foreign Minister of the Weimar Republic * Christian Hansen (1885–1972), general * Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (1889–1968), General of paratroop forces * Anton Franzen (1896–1968), lawyer, judge and politician * Bernhard Rogge (1899–1982), naval officer * Bernd Kröplin (1944–2019), engineer and academic * Ralf Rothmann (born 1953), novelist * Thomas Heberer (born 1965), musician and composer * Ekkehard Wölk (born 1967), pianist, arranger and composer

Sport

* Jobst Hirscht (born 1948), athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres *

Hole Rößler Hole Rößler (born 17 April 1949) is a German modern pentathlete. He competed for West Germany at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1 ...

(born 1949), modern pentathlete * Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker (born 1984), footballer

References

External links

Official website
* * * * {{Authority control Towns in Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Flensburg