Lauenburg (district)

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Template:Infobox German district noregbez Lauenburg (in full Herzogtum Lauenburg, "Duchy of Lauenburg") is the southernmost district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the district of Stormarn, the city of Lübeck, the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (districts of Nordwestmecklenburg and Ludwigslust), the state of Lower Saxony (districts of Lüneburg and Harburg), and the city state of Hamburg.

1 Geography
2 Politics
3 Transportation
4 History
5 Towns and municipalities
6 External links

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Geography

This area contains a number of historically important towns, e.g. Lauenburg, Mölln (Schleswig-Holstein) and Ratzeburg. This importance was due to the Old Salt Route (Alte Salzstraße), one of the major medieval trade routes. Salt from the salt-works south of the Elbe river was transported northward to Lübeck. The transport of salt was also the motive for constructing the oldest artificial waterway of Europe, the Stecknitz Canal (1398). It was replaced in 1900 by the Elbe-Lübeck Canal.

The landscape is characterized by numerous lakes, forming the Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park. The largest lake is the Ratzeburger See with an area of 16 km².

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Politics

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Coat of arms

Image:Lauenburg district coa.png

The arms display a white horse, the ancient symbol of the duchy of Lauenburg. The horse is surrounded by a black and white checked border, which represents the colours of Prussia.

The coat of arms were granted on November 12, 1866, after Lauenburg became part of Prussia. After the duchy became a district the usage of the coat of arms was discontinued, as district were not allowed to use coat of arms. The coat of arms is sometimes displayed with a crown on top.

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Land advice

From 1873 to 1882 the hereditary land marshal was responsible for the current administration and the occupation of official places. The land advice as a Prussian official was incumbent on only the supervision over the national administration.

1873 - 1874: Regierungsassessor Jungbluth
1874 - 1881: Graf Andreas von Bernstorff

Since October 1 1882, the land advice apart from the state control was responsible also for the local autonomy.

1882 - 1897: Oskar von Dolega-Kozierowski
1897 - 1900: Graf Finck von Finckenstein
1900 - 1907: Friedrich von Bülow
1907 - 1919: Emil Mathis
1919 - 1927: Kurt Schönberg
1927 - 1933: Gustav Voigt
1933 - 1938: Theodor Fründt, NSDAP
1939 - 1945: Erich Jüttner, NSDAP

To a change of the administrative structure it came to the Second World War with the 1946 circle statute issued by the British military government: Temporarily functioned the land advice now as honorary chiefs of the kreistages, who became administrative business a director of circle in such a way specified transferred. Later however the land advice took over again the line of the district administration.

1945 - 1946: Ewald Raaz
1946 - 1948: Wilhelm Gülich, SPD
1948 - 1950: Fritz Vagt, CDU
1950 - 1969: Gerhard Wandschneider
1969 - 1975: Klaus Prößdorf
1975 - 2002: Günter Kröpelin, CDU
2002 - current: Gerd Krämer, no party

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District President

The district president is a chairman of the kreistages and from its center is selected. It leads the meetings of the kreistages and represents the circle together with the land advice outward.

19?? - 1994: Norbert Brackmann, CDU
1994 - 2003: Helga Hinz, SPD
2003 - heute: Meinhard Füllner, CDU

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Arrangement

The district is characterized, contrary to others in Schleswig-Holstein, by numerous relatively smaller to very small municipalities, in which direct democracy and citizens' participation are lived. The administration takes place mostly via offices, which have even also only a very visible size. To that extent the circle of the planned schleswig holsteinischen administrative structure law will be not insignificant concerned: after the draft of the ministry of the Interior a minimum size is to be implemented of 8000 inhabitants for offices and office-free municipalities as regional reorganization to 1 April 2007. Thus six of the eleven offices of the circle are threatened in their existence. A minimum size for office-belonging municipalities is not however so far intended. Up to the deadline exists the possibility for freiwilligen unions, which can exceed the kreisgrenzen after the draft also.

The economical emphasis of the circle lies in the Hamburger Speckgürtel (Hamburg Bacon-belts), while the eastern part in the water-rich nature park Naturpark Lauenburgische Seen tends to more to the gentle tourism and is agriculturally coined/shaped. The district belongs to Metropolregion Hamburg.

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Transportation

The ÖPNV in the district was integrated 2003 into the HVV.

The connections to the Autobahn Network are made by the A 1 (Hamburg - Lübeck) in the west, the A 24 (Hamburg - Berlin) in the south, theA 25 (Geesthacht - Hamburg) and the A 20 (Lübeck - Rostock) in the north.

Railway connections from Hamburg to Buechen and further to Berlin; and from Lueneburg to Büchen and further over Mölln/Ratzeburg to Luebeck. Both distances will are used by the Deutsche Bahn AG, and operate of Hamburg mountain village after Geesthacht give it still the old BGE-distance which only in the goods traffic and as museum railroad line and belong the private AKN.

In the Elbhafen of Lauenburg begins the 1900 opened Elbe-Lübeck-Kanal, which connects the Central European Wasserstrassennetz by the Trave with Lübeck with the Baltic Sea; the channel serves Alte Salzstraße - at the same time as Wanderweg.

The next airfield is Flughafen Lübeck or the Hamburger Flughafen Fuhlsbüttel.

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History

Template:Main The district calls itself "Duchy of Lauenburg", since it goes back to the medieval Duchy of Lauenburg, which was one of the remnants of the original Duchy of Saxony. The Duchy of Saxony was divided in 1260 into the two states of Saxony-Wittenberg and Saxony-Lauenburg.

Saxony-Lauenburg was soon known as Lauenburg (without "Saxony" mentioned in its name). While the territory of Saxony-Wittenberg changed drastically over the centuries, the Duchy of Lauenburg remained almost unchanged, until it lost its independence in 1689, when it was inherited by the Principality of Lüneburg. 1815-1864 it belonged to the Duke of Holstein and the King of Denmark, who was one and the same. In 1864 it fell to Prussia. For a short period Lauenburg was still an autonomous entity, but in 1876 it was incorporated as a district into the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein.

Lauenburg was the first capital of the district. In 1937 the city of Ratzeburg, which had formerly been a part of Mecklenburg, became a part of the district.

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Towns and municipalities

(Populations as of June 30 2005 in brackets)

Towns and municipality, not part of an Amt
1. Geesthacht, town (29,404) 2. Lauenburg, town (11,692) 3. Mölln, town (18,496)	4. Ratzeburg, town * (13,708) 5. Schwarzenbek, town (14,865) 6. Wentorf bei Hamburg (11,433)