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Schleswig-Holstein: District Segeberg

Area: 1344.32 km²
Population: 215,200
District town: Bad Segeberg

The shield of this district is made by four red brick church towers. The towers display a cross and the "Nesselblatt" (nettle leaf) of the dukes of Schauenburg.

The cross is a reference to the early middle ages, when Bishop Vicelin started christianising the slaves in Wagrien (area of the today's Plön- and Ostholstein district).

(A castle was built near Lake Segeberg, on top of a calcium carbonat mountain in the early middle age by the dukes of Schauenburg. The area of Holstein entered her "Lehen" (feudal system) in 1111. Today one can see this castle as the last remains the castle well, which where built by prisoners. Large parts of the mountain were mined in the past for calcium carbonate.

The mining was ceased approximately 100 years ago, when some schoolboys found a big cave system among the remaining calcium carbonate deposits. At first the children protected the mountains secret. But after one of them broke his leg in the cave by falling of the rope, they used to climb into the system, the boys had to reveal her secret.

A small town grow up around the former castle and the monastery at the base of the mountain. The present Bad Segeberg gave this district his name. The former minig pit is used today as an open air stage.)

But back to the time of Bishop Vicelin:

Even today this Christian movement remains as a legacy of the Segeberg district. The startingpoint and base of the missionary work of the Wenden (slavic tribes, which lived in the landscape Wagrien) was the former monastery at the base of the calcium carbonate mountain.

Every year the mountain caves and the open air stage are home to the mishief of the gangster and villains of the saxon writer Karl May. Through the "Segeberger Karl May Festspiele" the town gained international attention and recognition.

The Segeberg district lies in the heart of Holstein. In 1932 a part of the former Bordesholm district was added in the north to it's district area. In 1970 the district's size increased to it's present area, after the parishes near the border to the harbour town Hamburg famed a town, which was named Norderstedt and was added in the south to the Segeberg district. The town Norderstedt is a typical "sleeping town" for all the people, who work in Hamburg. The economic activity of this big harbour town is the reason for the restless expansion of this young town. In the meantime (since 1970) Norderstedt has grown to 67,000 inhabitants. This is five times more than the capital Bad Segeberg! -

The district is divided: 74% is used by agriculture and 14% by forestry. In Kaltenkirchen and Bad Segeberg centres of timber processing are popping up every where. The products of this industry allows everyone's wishes to come true - as his financial resources allow it!! -

One of the few schools for beekeepers is found in the capital and health resort town Bad Segeberg.

A second expanding center similar the town Norderstedt, is located in the area of the parish Hennstedt-Ulzburg (20,000 inhabitiants).

With the zoo - like animal enclosure in Trappenkamp (but only local animals) people can enjoy a well attended area of recuperation and relaxation.

Finally I must tell something about Trappenkamp.

This town was built by refugees from the former eastern parts of Germany directly after WWII. The origin was a hug ammunitions dump of the former German Navy. During the war the allied forces did not locate this ammunions dump because it was camowflaged very well as a forest. When the British ocupation forces found the camp some days after the end of WWII in May 1945, thousends of refugees from the east had already found a provisional home among torpedos and bombs in the bunkers. The british force gave orders to leave the ammunion dump. It should be distroyed by bursting.

But the refugees after loosing their homes in the east had nothing else to loose and refused to obey this order. Finally the Britisch Army cleared the bunkers with trucks so that the refugees could use the empty bunkers as their provisional homes. That was certainly a clever new use of war built bunkers!

After that, the refugees started building today's town of Trappenkamp upon the former Navy ammunion dump.

Sharon D. Hagler