Itzehoe, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

🇩🇪 Itzehoe is a town in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As the capital of the district Steinburg, Itzehoe is located on the Stör, a navigable tributary of the Elbe, 51 km north-west of Hamburg and 24 km north of Glückstadt.

History Itzehoe is the oldest town in Holstein. Its nucleus was a castle, built in 809 by Egbert, one of Charlemagne's counts, against the Danes. The community that sprang up around it was variously called Esseveldoburg, Eselsfleth and Ezeho. In 1201 the town was destroyed but it was restored in 1224. The new town was granted the Lübeck rights by Adolphus IV in 1238 and the old town in 1303. During the Thirty Years' War Itzehoe was twice destroyed by the Swedes, in 1644 and 1657, but was rebuilt on each occasion. It passed to Prussia in 1867, with the duchy of Schleswig-Holstein.

Itzehoe was listed as a garrison depot (Wehrkreis X (Hamburg)) of the former 225th Infantry Division, which was implicated in the 1940 Vinkt Massacre in Belgium.

During World War II, Itzehoe was not initially a primary target for the Allied strategic bombing campaign, but was hit by an Allied bombing raid very late in the war, when Allied carpet bombing on 2 May 1945 (just two days before the German surrender at Lüneburg Heath) caused 22 fatalities in the city.

Sights The Church of St. Laurentii and the building in which the Holstein estates formerly met are noteworthy. The town has a convent founded in 1256, many schools, a hospital and other benevolent institutions.

Itzehoe is also the location of the Wenzel Hablik Museum.

Transport Itzehoe is situated at the Marsh Railway and offers connections to Hamburg and the island of Sylt.

During the period up to and including the Wacken Open Air festival many festival goers depart for the festival from Itzehoe using the 'Metal Shuttle Bus’, which leaves from near Itzehoe station. During this time the town can become very overcrowded and inundated with traffic.