Buxtehude (German pronunciation: [bʊkstəˈhuːdə]), officially the Hanseatic City of Buxtehude (German: Hansestadt Buxtehude, Low German: Hansestadt Buxthu (German pronunciation: [bʊkstˈhu])), is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany, belonging to the district of Stade in Lower Saxony. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and attached to the city's S-Bahn rapid transit network. Buxtehude is a medium-sized town and the second largest municipality in the Stade district (Landkreis).^{[citation needed]} It lies on the southern border of the Altes Land in close proximity to the city-state of Hamburg. To the west lie the towns of Horneburg and Stade and to the south there are a number of incorporated villages featuring mostly upscale housing; e.g., Ottensen and Apensen.

Quick Facts Hanseatic City of Buxtehude Hansestadt BuxtehudeHansestadt Buxthu, Country ...

Hanseatic City of Buxtehude Hansestadt Buxtehude Hansestadt Buxthu
Town
Coat of arms
Location of Hanseatic City of Buxtehude within Stade district
Hanseatic City of Buxtehude Show map of Germany Hanseatic City of Buxtehude Show map of Lower Saxony
Coordinates: 53°28′37″N 9°42′4″E
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Stade
Subdivisions	15 districts
Government
• Mayor (2021–26)	Katja Oldenburg-Schmidt[1] (Ind.)
Area
• Total	76.49 km2 (29.53 sq mi)
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	40,919
• Density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	21614
Dialling codes	04161, 04163, 04168
Vehicle registration	STD
Website	www.buxtehude.de

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Early signs of settlements are the Daensen folding chair from a Bronze Age tumulus near Daensen and the Ovelgönne bread roll from the Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe, which was found in a loam mine in Ovelgönne.

A settlement by the Este river is first recorded in 959. The manor of "Buochstadon" was given to the Abbey of Magdeburg. Soon a wharf, "Hude", is established. In 1135 the settlement is mentioned as "Buchstadihude" in a reference to the success of trade from the quay. In 1180 the Duchy of Saxony, to which "Buchstadihude" belonged, was conquered and dissolved. Buxtehude became part of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, newly upgraded to imperial immediacy it became one of the many successor states of the Duchy of Saxony. Nevertheless, ecclesiastically Buxtehude remained part of the Diocese of Verden until Catholicism was overthrown in the Reformation with that diocese remaining vacant since 1644. In 1197 two royal settlers founded a Benedictine monastery near the village. Owing to the fertile soil and a partial participation in the saline of Lüneburg wealth and population increased. In 1280 the prince-archbishop Giselbert of Bremen ordered the settlement to be protected by defensive walls and fortifications including 5 zwingers, 7 peels and 3 town gates. In 1328 the town hall is mentioned for the first time and the settlement is granted full town privileges, based on the law of Hamburg. By now "Buxtehude" was self-governing and rapidly growing into a centre of trade. In 1485 the immensely wealthy "Master Halepaghen", cousin and tutor of the burgomaster of Hamburg, died and donated his assets to the town for scholarships and charitable purposes. In 1542 the town council of Buxtehude adopted Lutheranism within its domain.

In the 1600s Hanseatic trade declined with the most important area of trade being in cattle. Apart from Stade, Buxtehude was the only crossing point on the Elbe river. In 1645 Buxtehude surrendered to the Swedish army and lost its independence. Trade and population decrease dramatically. In 1648 the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen was converted to the Duchy of Bremen, which was first ruled in personal union by the Swedes and from 1715 on by the Hanoverian Crown. In 1769 the monastery was demolished due to secularization.

In 1823 the Duchy was abolished and its territory became part of the Stade Region. In 1837 the link road through the town reanimates business and trade. 1845 is dominated by industrial boom with a paper factory being installed on the former cloister ground.

In 1945 the population grew to 14,000. Much living space in Hamburg was in ruins and people fled to the suburbs and surrounding towns and villages such as Buxtehude. In 1958 Buxtehude became part of the plan for the reconstruction of Hamburg after the war and thus was heavily funded by the government. Lower Saxony incorporates 9 neighbouring villages into the town in 1972 changing the structure of Buxtehude and creating a cluster of more than 30,000 inhabitants. In 1983 the old part of town was pedestrianized. In 1985 town twinning with Blagnac (France) is undertaken. In 1990 Ribnitz-Damgarten in the former German Democratic Republic became the second twin town.

Since 1881 Buxtehude has had its own railroad station on the R50 line between Hamburg and Cuxhaven. In late 2007 this line was added to the rapid transit system of the Hamburg S-Bahn by the HVV.

Since 1928 there has also been a second railroad line crossing Buxtehude, the EVB (Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser, Zeven) between Hamburg's outermost district and Bremerhaven on the coast of the North Sea. The Este river connects the town to the important Elbe river 9.7 kilometres (6 mi) north. Earlier in history this connection was used to ship goods into the small harbour, which still exists but has become less accessible due to town developments and aggradation.

A major highway, scheduled for completion in 2012, is to connect the town to Hamburg.^{[needs update]}

In April 2019 the unemployment rate in Buxtehude was 3.8%.^[3]

Buxtehude is sometimes called the "Fairytale Capital of the World," an epithet that it shares with Kassel. The tale of "The Hare and the Hedgehog" by the Brothers Grimm is set in this town. Furthermore, the name is used in numerous German tales. And thus some people claim that the town of Buxtehude does not actually exist. The German saying "nach Buxtehude jagen" (literally, "to chase somebody off to Buxtehude") means to exile someone to a far-away place.

• Hochschule 21 [de], a private college with a renowned architecture program.
• Halepaghen Grammar School, local highschool. Holder of the title "School without racism, School with courage", former member in the "Quality Network for Schools" in Lower Saxony, Humanitarian School and rating highest in the county.
• Gymnasium Süd [de] local highschool
• Volkshochschule Buxtehude, community college.
• Malerschule, private art school.
• Berufsbildende Schulen Buxtehude, public secondary schools for the sectors of economics, informatics and electrotechnics.^[5]

Buxtehude is served by the Hamburg S-Bahn with the stations Buxtehude and Neukloster;^[6] and by the Bundesstraße 3 and Bundesstraße 73, two federal highways. It is planned to connect Buxtehude to the Autobahn 26 once construction continues.^[when?]

Buxtehude is twinned with:^[7]

• Blagnac, France (1985)
• Ribnitz-Damgarten, Germany (1990)

• Hermann Blumenthal, (DE Wiki) (1903–1941), Germanist and librarian