Flensburg

Flensburg

Infobox German Location
Art = Town
Wappen = Wappen Flensburg.svg
lat_deg = 54 |lat_min = 46 |lat_sec = 55
lon_deg = 09 |lon_min = 26 |lon_sec = 12
Karte = Lage der kreisfreien Stadt Flensburg in Deutschland.pngBundesland = Schleswig-Holstein
Kreis = urban
Höhe = 12
Fläche = 56.38
Einwohner = 87065
Stand = 2006-04-01
PLZ = 24901–24944
PLZ-alt = 2390
Vorwahl = 0461
Kfz = FL
Gemeindeschlüssel = 01 0 01 000
NUTS = DEF01
LOCODE = DE FLF
Gliederung = 16 Stadtbezirke
Adresse = Rathausplatz 1
24937 Flensburg
Website = [http://www.flensburg.de/ www.flensburg.de]
Bürgermeister = Klaus Tscheuschner
Bürgermeistertitel = Oberbürgermeister
Partei = Ind

Flensburg (Danish: "Flensborg", Low Saxon: "Flensborg", North Frisian: "Flansborj") is an independent town in the North of the German state Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region Southern Schleswig. After Kiel and Lübeck it is the third largest town in Schleswig-Holstein.

The nearest larger towns are Kiel (86 km south) and Odense in Denmark (92 km northeast).Flensburg's city centre lies about 7 km from the Danish border.

In Germany, Flensburg is known for
* the nationwide database of traffic violators
* its beer "Flensburger Pilsener", also called "Flens"
* the center of the Danish national minority in Germany
* the greeting Moin
* the large erotic mail-order companies "Beate Uhse" and "Orion"
* its handball team SG Flensburg-Handewitt

Geography

Flensburg is situated in the north of the German state Schleswig-Holstein, on the German-Danish border. After Westerland on Sylt it is Germany's northernmost town. Flensburg lies at the innermost tip of the Flensburg Fjord, an inlet of the Baltic Sea. Flensburg's eastern shore is part of the Angeln peninsula.

Neighbouring municipalities

Clockwise from the northeast, beginning at the German side of the Flensburg Fjord, the following communities in Schleswig-Flensburg district and Denmark's Region Syddanmark all border on Flensburg:

Glücksburg (Amt-free town), Wees (Amt Langballig), Maasbüll, Hürup, Tastrup and Freienwill (all in Amt Hürup), Jarplund-Weding, Handewitt (Amt Handewitt), Harrislee (Amt-free community) and Aabenraa Municipality on the Danish side of the Flensburg Fjord.

Constituent communities

The town of Flensburg is divided into 13 communities, which themselves are further divided into 38 statistical areas. Constituent communities have a two-place number and the statistical areas a three-place number.

The communities with their statistical areas:

¹ Census results

Danish minority

The Danish minority in Flensburg and the surrounding towns run their own schools, libraries and Lutheran churches from which the German majority is not excluded. The co-existence of these two groups is considered a sound and healthy symbiosis.

In Denmark, Flensburg seems to be mainly associated with its duty-free shops where, amongst other things, spirits, beer and candy can be purchased at cheaper prices than in Denmark. Currently the duty free shops are able to sell canned beer to Scandinavians without paying deposits as long as the beverage is not consumed in Germany.

However, owing to the vagaries of the money markets, the bargains are not as great as they once.

Politics

The town council was led for centuries by two mayors, one for the north town (St. Marien) and the other for the south town (St. Nikolai and St. Johannis). The council members and the mayors were chosen by the council itself, that is, retiring officials had their successors named by the remaining councillors in such a way that both halves of the town had as many members. These councillors usually bore the title "Senator".

This "town government" lasted until 1742 when the "northern mayor" was made the "directing mayor" by the Danish King. From this position came what was later known as the First Mayor. The second mayor simply bore the title "mayor" ("Bürgermeister"). After the town had been ceded to Prussia, the mayors were elected by the townsfolk as of 1870, and the First Mayor was given the title "Oberbürgermeister", still the usual title in German towns and cities. During the Third Reich, the town head was appointed by those who held power locally at the time.

In 1945, after the Second World War, a twofold leadership based on a British model was introduced. Heading the town stood foremost the "Oberbürgermeister", who was chosen by town council and whose job was as chairman of council and the municipality. Next to him was an "Oberstadtdirektor" ("Higher Town Director") who was leader of administration. In 1950, when Schleswig-Holstein brought its new laws for municipalities into force, the title "Oberbürgermeister" was transferred (once again) to this latter official. At first, and for a while, he was chosen by council. Since that time, the former official has been called the "Stadtpräsident" ("Town President"), and is likewise chosen by council after each municipal election. However, since 1999, the "Oberbürgermeister" has been chosen directly by the voters as once before.

The first directly elected "Oberbürgermeister" Hermann Stell died on 4 May 2004 of a stroke. On 14 November of the same year, the independent candidate suggested by the CDU Klaus Tscheuschner was elected to replace Stell with 59% of the vote. Since the last municipal election in 2003, Hans Hermann Laturnus has been Flensburg's "Stadtpräsident".

Represented on Flensburg town council are the CDU, the SPD, the South Schleswig Voter Federation ("Südschleswigscher Wählerverband") and the Greens.

Coat of arms

Flensburg's coat of arms shows in gold above blue and silver waves rising to the left a six-sided red tower with a blue pointed roof breaking out of which, one above the other are the two lions of Schleswig and Denmark; above is a red shield with the silver Holsatian nettle leaf on it. The town's flag is blue, overlaid with the coat of arms in colour.

The lions symbolize Schleswig, and the nettle leaf Holstein, thus expressing the town's unity with these two historic lands. The tower recalls Flensburg's old town rights and the old castle that was the town's namesake ("Burg" means "castle" in German). The waves refer to the town's position on the Flensburg Fjord.

The coat of arms was granted the town by King Wilhelm II of Prussia in 1901, and once again in modified, newly approved form on 19 January 1937 by Schleswig-Holstein's High President ("Oberpräsident")

Town partnerships

Flensburg maintains partnerships with the following towns:
* Carlisle, United Kingdom, since 1961
* Neubrandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, since 1987
* Słupsk, Poland, since 1988

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

West of Flensburg runs the A 7 Autobahn, leading north to the Danish border, whence it continues as European route E45. Furthermore, Federal Highways ("Bundesstraßen") B 200 and B 199 pass through the municipal area.

Also west of the town lies the Flensburg-Schäferhaus airport.

Local transport is provided by several buslines such as "Aktiv Bus GmbH" and "Allgemeinen Flensburger Autobus Gesellschaft" (AFAG) along with others. They all operate within an integrated fare system within the Flensburg transport community ("Verkehrsgemeinschaft Flensburg"). They also all subscribe to the Schleswig-Holstein tariff system whereby anyone travelling from anywhere in Schleswig-Holstein or Hamburg may use Flensburg buses free to connect with their final destinations. It works both ways, of course, and a rider boarding any bus in Flensburg need only name his destination anywhere in Schleswig-Holstein or Hamburg, pay his fare, and travel all the way to that destination on the one ticket.

Flensburg's main railway station has lain since 1929 south of the Old Town. From there, trains run on the mainline joining Hamburg, Neumünster and Fredericia, among them some InterCity connections as well as trains serving the line running to Eckernförde and Kiel. Another stop for regional trains to Neumünster is to be found in Flensburg-Weiche. The stretch of line to Niebüll has been out of service since 1981, efforts to open it again notwithstanding. The secondary line to Husum and the lesser lines to Kappeln and Satrup no longer exist. Even the tramway, which opened in 1881 to horse-drawn trams, was electrified in 1906 and at one point ran four lines was replaced with buses in 1973.

Established businesses

* A.H. Johannsen (Flensburg's last and oldest rum house)
* Beate Uhse AG (erotica trading chain)
* Flensburger Brauerei Emil Petersen GmbH und Co. KG (brews the famous "Flensburger Bier")
* Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (shipbuilding)
* Motorola (telecommunications)
* Orion (erotica wholesale)
* Queisser Pharma GmbH
* Versatel (telecommunications)
* Danfoss Compressors GmbH (refrigerator compressors)
* Lufthansa Systems (IT services)
* Krones AG, Werk Flensburg (machine building for the drink industry)
* Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft mbH (vehicles)
* Robbe & Berking (silver manufacture since 1874)
* Mitsubishi HiTec Paper Flensburg GmbH (since 1696 paper has been produced at this same place, but today particularly heat-sensitive paper)
* Servage Hosting Flensburgs largest web hosting service provider
* Stadtwerke Flensburg GmbH (Town Works)

Media

In Flensburg, the "Flensburger Tageblatt", from the "Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag" (newspaper publisher) is published daily, as is the bilingual (German and Danish) Flensborg Avis. There are also two weekly advertising flyers, "MoinMoin" (named for a common regional greeting) and "Wochenschau" (roughly "A Look at the Week") as well as an illustrated town paper ("Flensburg Journal"), the Flensburg "campus newspaper" and a town magazine ("Partout"). Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) runs one of its oldest studios right near the Deutsches Haus. Flensburg is the site of a number of radio transmission facilities: on the Fuchsberg in the community of Engelsby, Norddeutscher Rundfunk runs a transmission facility for VHF, television and medium wave. A cage aerial is mounted on a 215 m-high guyed, earthed steel-lattice mast. This transmitter is successor to the Flensburg transmitter through which the announcement of Germany's surrender was broadcast on 8 May 1945. From the broadcasting tower on the Fuchsberg come the programmes og Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Danmarks Radio. From the broadcasting tower at Flensburg-Freienwill come the countrywide VHF radio programmes of R.SH, delta radio, Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio. Flensburg has no local transmitter of its own. Schleswig-Holstein's state broadcasting laws only allow transmitters that broadcast statewide. From 1993 to 1996, "Radio Flensburg" tried to establish a local Flensburg radio station by using a local transmitter just across the border in Denmark. It had to be shut down, however, owing to the Danish transmitter's own financial problems. From October 2006 Radio Flensburg broadcast as an [Internetradio] over the web. The "Offener Kanal" ("Open Channel") shows programmes made by local citizens seven days a week, mostly in the evenings, and can also be seen on cable television.

Public institutions

Flensburg is home to the following institutions:
*Handwerkskammer Flensburg ("Handicraft Chamber")
*IHK Flensburg ("Chamber of Industry and Trade")
*Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (government office in charge of road traffic)

Education

* University of Flensburg with about 4,000 students; founded in 1946 as a Pedagogical College, raised to university in 1994. Unlike the University of Kiel, however, it is not a full university – theology, medicine, law and some other programmes are not offered here. The college does, however, have the right to confer doctorates.
* Fachhochschule Flensburg, a Fachhochschule with more than 3,000 students; in 1886 a royal steamship machinist school was established, out of which developed a ship's engineers' school. From this grew the Fachhochschule for Technology, which was converted into the current Fachhochschule Flensburg in 1973, at which time the economics programme was also introduced.
* Marineschule Mürwik (naval school), the future officers of the German Navy are trained here.
* Flensburger Volkshochschule (German)
* Voksenundervisningen (Danish)

Also on hand in Flensburg is a complete range of training and professional schools, including a number of Danish ones. Flensburg is home to Schleswig-Holstein's Central State Library, a university library, a town bookshop and the Danish Central Library for South Schleswig. The last named offers not only intensive courses in Danish, but also, with its "Slesvigsk samling" collection, a vast repository of unique material about the border area's history and culture. Flensburg has an extensive town archive. The Danish minority's archive is housed at the Danish Central Library.

Culture and sightseeing

Theatre

* "Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landestheater" (at the "Stadttheater") and Symphony Orchestra
* "Niederdeutsche Bühne der Stadt Flensburg" ("Low German Stage of the city of Flensburg")
* "Det Lille Teater" (Danish theatre)
* "Theaterwerkstatt Pilkentafel" (Theatre Workshop)
* "Orpheus-Theater"

Archives and libraries

* Town Archive, very comprehensive collection, at the town hall
* "Dansk Centralbibliotek for Sydslesvig", with archive of the Danish minority and Schleswig book collection
* Town library
* State Central Library and "Zentrale Hochschulbibliothek" (Central College Library)

Museums

* "Museumsberg" – Museum for artistic and cultural history.
* "Schifffahrtsmuseum" – Museum for shipping and shipbuilding.
* "Rummuseum" – History of the "Rum Town" of Flensburg.
* "Naturwissenschaftliches Museum" – Animal and plant worlds of northern Schleswig-Holstein.
* "Museumshafen" – Private initiative for maintaining old traditional working boats mainly from the Baltics (Segelschiffe).
* "Museumswerft" – Shipbuilding (sail) of bygone centuries. The place also has a children's boatyard.
* "Fischereimuseum" – Initiative of the fishery association, lies on the old Fischery harbour.
* "Phänomenta" – For experiencing and understanding nature and technology.
* "Salondampfer "Alexandra" – Passenger Steamer built 1908. The "Alexandra" regularly makes small trips in the Flensburg Förde (Bay)
* "Klassische Yachten Flensburg" – Classic Yacht Harbour. Private Initiative to present classic yachts typical for the Baltics.
* "Gerichtshistorische Sammlung" – a collection of legal history at the Flensburg State Court.
* "Bergmühle" – Association for maintaining the historic windmill from 1792.
* "Johannesburger Heimatstube" – Documents, pictures and writings from East Prussia.

Buildings

Flensburg has a well preserved Old Town with many things to see from centuries gone by. Characteristic is the row along the waterfront. Three of the four old town cores are found along this north-south axis. The building boom in Imperial times led to a partial rebuilding of the Old Town, but without destroying its structure, and rather leading to notable expansion of the town. Virtually unscathed in the Second World War, Flensburg, like other places in Germany, adopted a policy of getting rid of old buildings and building anew in the style of the times. This trend was limited in Flensburg by a lack of money, but before the policy was finally stopped in the late 1970s, countless old buildings had been demolished in the north and east Old Town to be replaced by newer structures. Despite great losses, Flensburg still comes across as having a compact, well preserved Old Town in the valley with good additions to what was built in the founders' time on the surrounding heights.

*Johanniskirche, town's oldest church, 12th century
*Marienkirche, High Gothic, Baroque additions, tower from 1885, well decorated
*Nikolaikirche, Gothic main church, famous organ design by Hinrich Ringeringk
*Heiliggeistkirche ("Helligåndskirken"), former chapel of the "Hospital zum Heiligen Geist"
*Franziskanerkloster, ruins from 1263
*Nordertor, a gate, and the town's landmark
*Kompagnietor another gate, built in 1602, shipping company and harbour gate
*Alt-Flensburger Haus, where the Eckener brothers' parents lived, Norderstraße 8
*Flensborghus, a former orphanage, today seat of the Danish minority, Norderstraße 76
*Many merchants' houses running from the main streets Holm-Große Straße-Norderstraße, the town's greatest architectural attraction
*Südermarkt 9 (market) with the town's oldest house
*Nordermarkt (market) with the "Schrangen" (market hall) and Neptunbrunnen (fountain)
*Rote Straße with nice craftsmen's houses
*Jürgenstraße with the "Gängeviertel" ("Warren Neighbourhood", "ie" with very dense building and narrow streets), former suburb.
*Oluf-Samson-Gang, picturesque lane with little half-timbered houses, Flensburg's historic red light district.
*Row of warehouses
*Pontoon bridge
*Scanty ruins of the town wall, at the Nikolaikirche and at the Franciscan monastery
*"Bergmühle" and "Johannismühle" (mills)
*Deutsches Haus, gathering and event hall in the town core
*"Hauptbahnhof" (Main Railway Station), completed in 1929
*Town Hall, seventeen-floor cube from 1964, in 1997 totally renovated, popularly known as the "Umzugskarton" ("Moving Carton")
*"Altes Gymnasium", built in 1914, Flensburg's oldest Gymnasium (school)Gymnasium, founded in 1566 as "Gymnasium trilingue" (Latin, Greek, Hebrew)
*"Duborg Skolen", Flensburg's Danish Gymnasium, as well as other school buildings
*Walzenmühle (Flensburg) Business complex with mostly IT companies including Athena IT-Group and Servage Hosting
*West Indies Warehouse

Lost buildings

*Gertrudenkirche, church in the Ramsharde (former neighbourhood where Neustadt now stands), folded after the Reformation, graveyard maintained until 1822
*Jürgen-Hospital, abandoned after the Reformation, the new St. Jürgen-Kirche stands there today
*Old Town Hall, 15th century, demolished in 1883
*Government building, appellate court and house of the estates, from 1850 to 1864 political centre of the Duchy of Schleswig, gave way to a department store in 1964
*Speicher Johannisstraße 78 (warehouse), bombed in 1945
*Town fortifications

Others

* Flensburg Fjord
* Old Cemetery, parkland with noteworthy grave markers from the 19th century
* "Christiansenspark", remnant of a very big landscape park
* "Volkspark" in the town's east end
* "Marienhölzung" (Danish "Frueskov"), woods in the town's west end

Regular events

*May/June: "Rumregatta" (yearly)
*May/June: "Danske Årsmøder" (yearly)
* June/December: "Campusfete" (twice yearly)
* June: "Rote-Straße-Fest" (yearly)
*July: "Dampf-Rundum" (every two years)
* July/August: "Flensburger Hofkultur" (yearly summer cultural programme)
*August: "Flensburger Tummelum" (Old Town Festival) (every two years)
*October: "Apfelfahrt des Museumshafen" (yearly)
*October: "Flensburg Shortfilmfestival" (yearly)
*December: Christmas market (yearly)

Personalities

Honorary citizens

The town of Flensburg has bestowed honorary citizenship upon the following persons, named here in chronological order:

*1851: Friedrich Ferdinand Tillisch, Minister for the Duchy of Schleswig
*1857: Christian Rönnekamp, salesman and shipowner
*1867: Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel, Prussian King's Governor
*1872: Karl von Wrangel, General
*1895: Otto Fürst von Bismarck, Reich Chancellor
*1911: Friedrich Wilhelm Selck, Commercial Councillor
*1917: Heinrich Schuldt, Town Councillor
*1924: Dr. Hugo Eckener, Aviation pioneer
*1930: Dr. Hermann Bendix Todsen, "Oberbürgermeister"
*1999: Beate Uhse, Pilot and businesswoman

Sons and daughters of the town

* Lütke Nannens (1497–1574), Franciscan monk and critic of the Reformation.
* Johan Lorentz (about 1610–1689), Danish composer.
* Georg Waitz (1813-1886), Historian.
* Hans Christiansen (1866–1945), artistic craftsman and Art Nouveau founder.
* Elvira Madigan (1867–1889), tragic Danish circus performer.
* Hugo Eckener (1868–1954), pioneer of German Zeppelin aviation.
* Emmy Hennings (1885–1948), writer and dadaist
* Hans von Luck (1911-1997), army colonel and author the book "Panzer Commander"
* Rolf Boysen (born 1920), actor.
* Dieter Thomas Heck (born 1937), television moderator and singer.
* Kay Nehm (born 1941), jurist and "Generalbundesanwalt" (≈Federal Prosecutor General).
* Jutta Lampe (born 1943), actress.
* Marion Maerz (born 1946), hit singer
* Andreas Delfs(born 1959), Conductor
* Dorothea Röschmann (b. 1967), Opera soprano
* Kim Frank (b. 1982), actor
* "Echt" (popular about 1997–2001), five-man music group.
* "Stina" (1992-), really super cool girl.

Theodor Mommsen, Germany's first Nobel Prize winner for literature, lived long in Flensburg.

ee also

* Flensburg, Minnesota
* Isted Lion, in German known as the "Flensburger Löwe".

External links

* [http://www.flensburg.de/ Flensburg's official website]
* [http://www.flensburg-tourismus.de/2.html?&UL=1&ACT=4&BUILD=6254&STRMVER=4&CAPREQ=0&L=1 Flensburg tourism information]
* [http://www.flensburg-online.de/ Flensburg online]
* [http://www.flensborg-avis.de/ Danish newspaper in Flensburg]
* [http://www.flensburger-tageblatt.de/ German newspaper in Flensburg]
* [http://www.museumsberg.flensburg.de/ Museumsberg Flensburg]

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