Border Land History

You travel along history. From the 10th century, the borders of the political territories, the later Prussia and the Kingdom of Hanover, emerged. Today the Altmark belongs to Saxony-Anhalt and the Wendland to Lower Saxony.

The "border march" was a region conquered by Saxon dukes between the Duchy of Saxony and the Wendland. Margrave Albrecht the Bear began the great east Elbe colonization in the area of the later Altmark. In the 13th century, towns gained more independence. They established town rights based on the models of Magdeburg and Lübeck law. Altmark towns became members of the Hanseatic League. Additionally, the brick buildings of the Middle Ages arose and urban life flourished. Around the year 800, the Wends, a Slavic people, settled in the area of today's district of Lüchow-Dannenberg, giving the region its name. From the early Middle Ages, the Wendland was under the rule of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In this largely agricultural region, flax cultivation and linen production held high importance. However, they disappeared with the industrialization of the 19th century. This was followed by intensive cultivation of sugar beets and potatoes. Today, the Wendland is also the largest area for organic farming in Germany.

Until the founding of both German states, Salzwedel remained the regional center. Here, for example, people attended higher schools, did shopping, and traveled by train to the metropolises. Subsequently, the increasingly insurmountable border determined all areas of life. From the 1980s, artists and intellectuals found their living space in the quiet outskirts of the Wendland. The annual “Cultural Country Tour” between Ascension Day and Pentecost attracts tens of thousands of visitors, making accommodations and parking spaces highly sought after during this time.

www.region-wendland.de/grenzlandgeschichte

www.salzwedel.de

All hotels and guesthouses mentioned in the leaflet (download at www.region-wendland.de/grenzlandgeschichte) accommodate guests for one night