Wedel

Wedel is a town in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Elmshorn, and 17 kilometres (11 mi) mile, west of Hamburg.

History

Foundation and Middle Ages

The first known mention of Wedel in a text is in a 1212 document naming the "brothers from Wedel" as witnesses. However, the mention is not definitive and it remains unclear whether a place of this name already existed elsewhere. Artifacts of pre- and early historical periods found here bear witness to early settlement at the site.

The name means "bank of water", identifying a place where a body of water must be crossed, in this case the "Wedeler Aue", a small brook which formed an obstacle on an important local trade route. The first clear and definitive reference to Wedel is in documents of the Count of Schauenburg, a member of the Lower Saxon aristocracy that ruled the area well into the 17th century. The castle of the Schauenburgs, built in 1311 and known as the Hatzburg, was located in Holm which is today a small village close to Wedel. That same year Adolf VI, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein-Pinneberg signed a peace treaty in which he promised the rulers of the city of Hamburg that there would be no harm coming from the Hatzburg. As the years went by the importance of the castle decreased and it fell into decay. The Schauenburgs moved later that century to the nearby city of Pinneberg. The castle itself stood until the beginning of the 18th century. Documents available from the first half of the 14th century make mention of a mill and church in Wedel.