Elmshorn (German pronunciation: [ɛlmsˈhɔʁn] ; Low German: Elmshoorn) is a town in the district of Pinneberg in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. It is 30 km north of Hamburg on the small river Krückau, a tributary of the Elbe, and with about 50,000 inhabitants is the sixth-largest town in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the birthplace of writer and editor Hermann Schlüter (1851–1919), the mathematician Hermann Weyl (1885–1955) and the medievalist Heinz Woehlk (1944- ).
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Economy and industry
Historically, Elmshorn was home to many companies in the food industry, including those engaged in meat processing and sausage production, margarine production and cereal processing. Major surviving companies include Dölling-Hareico (meat processing/sausage production) and Kölln (cereal processing, mainly oats and muesli).
Twin towns – sister cities
Elmshorn is twinned with:
Tarascon, France (1987)
Wittenberge, Germany (1990)
Stargard, Poland (1993)
Raisio, Finland (2000)
Education
The private university Nordakademie Hochschule der Wirtschaft is situated in Elmshorn.
Notable people
The following people were born in Elmshorn (in order of year of birth):
Johann Christoph Biernatzki (1795–1840), writer.
Johannes Rehmke (1848 in Hainholz – 1930), philosopher
Fritz Höger (1877–1949), (born in Bekenreihe near Elmshorn), architect
Hermann Weyl (1885–1955), mathematician, theoretical physicist, logician and philosopher.
Carl August Rathjens (1887–1966), geographer
Harald Paulsen (1895–1954), actor and director
Walter Ohmsen (1911–1988), highly decorated Kriegsmarine Officer in WWII, in the 1950s-60s, a West German Navy Officer and organized the sailing at the Summer Olympics in the 1960s-70s.
Karsten Voigt (born 1941), politician and member of the SPD
Anders Petersen (born 1959), Cultural Prize 2002, graphic artist and object artist
Gaby Tiedemann (Ixi) (born 1962), singer and one-hit wonder
Anka Feldhusen (born 1966), diplomat; German ambassador in Kyiv, Ukraine since 2019
Sören Sieg (born 1966), tenor, songwriter, composer, arranger, satirist, columnist and writer.
Michael Stich (born 1968), tennis player (grew up in Elmshorn); 1992 Summer Olympics men's doubles winner