Schleswig (city)
Schleswig (
Danish:
Slesvig, English traditionally
Sleswick) is a town at the
Schlei firth in the northeastern part of
Schleswig-Holstein,
Germany. It is the capital of the
Kreis (district)
Schleswig-Flensburg. Today, it has a population of about 27,000, the main industries being leather and food processing. It takes it name from the
Schlei - an inlet of the
Baltic sea on the end of which it sits, and "vik" which means settlement in the old
Viking language.
Schleswig is a very old town. The
Viking settlement of
Hedeby, which is today a part of the city, was first time mentioned in
804. It was a powerful city in the
Baltic region, dominating the area for more than 200 years. In
1050, following several destructions of Haithabu, the town was moved to the opposite shore of the Schlei, becoming the city of Schleswig. In
1066 Hedeby was finally destroyed, and Schleswig remained as a part of the
Danish kingdom.
In
1544 the castle
Gottorf 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 ended, the dukes of Gottorf lost their power and their land became Danish crown land. In the
Second war of Schleswig (
1864) Schleswig was seized by
Prussia and became German.
Sights in Schleswig:
*
Cathedral of St Petri (
1134), with the tomb of the Danish king
Frederick I* Gottorf castle (origined
1161), former residence of the dukes
* Holm: old fishing village at the Schlei shore
*
Hedeby, Viking settlement
*
www.schleswig.de, city website (in German)
