Stade

This article is about the German city. For the unit of measure, seeStadion (unit).

For other uses, seeStade (disambiguation).

Stade Hansestadt Stade Hansestadt Stood
Town
View of the historic harbour in Stade
Coat of arms
Location of Stade within Stade district
Stade Stade
Coordinates:53°36′3″N9°28′35″E
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Stade
Government
•Mayor(2019–24)	Sönke Hartlef(CDU)
Area
• Total	110.03 km2(42.48 sq mi)
Elevation	9 m (30 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	48,353
• Density	440/km2(1,100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(CEST)
Postal codes	21680, 21682–21684
Dialling codes	04141, 04146
Vehicle registration	STD
Website	stade.de

Stade(German pronunciation:[ˈʃtaːdə]), officially theHanseatic City of Stade(German:Hansestadt Stade,Low German:Hansestadt Stood) is a city inLower Saxonyin northernGermany.First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of thedistrict(Landkreis) which bears its name. It is located roughly 45 km (28 mi) to the west ofHamburgand belongs to that city'swider metropolitan region.Within the area of the city are the urban districts of Bützfleth, Hagen, Haddorf and Wiepenkathen, each of which have a council (Ortsrat) of their own with some autonomous decision-making rights.

Stade is located in thelower regionsof the riverElbe.It is also on theGerman Timber-Frame Road.

History

The first human settlers came to the Stade area in 30,000 BC.

SwedishandDanishVikingsunderEric the Victoriousconquered Stade and looted the town during the 990s. Many prominentSaxonswere taken back as slaves by Swedish troops. A majority of Vikings withdrew after taking plenty of plunder. A minor part of the Swedish and Danish forces stayed but were later defeated by reinforcements sent by the emperor.

Since 1180 Stade belonged to thePrince-Archbishopric of Bremen.In early 1208 KingValdemar II of Denmarkand his troops conquered Stade. In August Valdemar II's cousin being in enmity with the king, the then Prince-ArchbishopValdemarreconquered the city only to lose it soon after again to Valdemar II.In 1209 EmperorOtto IVpersuaded his ally Valdemar II to withdraw into the north of the Elbe, and the deposed Prince-Archbishop Valdemar took Stade.

On 2 May 1209 Otto IV granted importanttown privileges(Stadtrecht) to Stade. Otto IV confirmed theburghersto be personally free and recognised them constituting a political entity of their own law, theburgenses and optimi civesof Stade.Property within the municipal boundaries could not be subjected to feudal overlordship and was to be freely inherited without feudal claims to reversion. Fair juridical procedures were constituted and maximal fines fixed. Otto IV obliged himself to prevent burghers from being taken as hostages and to liberate captured burghers.

After Otto IV had changed his mind and reinvested Prince-Archbishop Valdemar with theSeein 1211, Valdemar II recaptured Stade. In 1213 Otto's elder brother Count PalatineHenry Vof theRhine,reconquered Stade for the Prince-Archbishop. In 1215 Henry repelled another Danish attack on Stade. In the winter of 1216 Valdemar II and his Danish troops, unable to take the city of Stade, ravaged theCounty of Stade.From then on Stade remained a part of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen.

1572 drawing of Stade. "S. Cosmus" and "S. Wilhat" refer toSt. Cosmae et Damiani Churchand St. Wilhadi, respectively.

Stade in 1640 (drawing byMatthäus Merian)

New harbor during the 1894 flooding

In medieval times (from the 13th century to the late 17th century), Stade was a prominent member of theHanseatic League,but was later eclipsed byHamburg.In 1611 the city signed a contract withSephardicJews, allowing the foundation of a community. In 1613,Johann Friedrich,Administrator of the Prince-Archbishopric, followed by settlingAshkenazicJews in the city, but during the turmoil of Catholic conquest and Lutheran reconquest the last archival traces of Jews date from 1630. In 1648, by theTreaty of Westphalia,the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen underwent a constitutional transformation from aprince-bishopricinto a monarchy, theDuchy of Bremen.The duchy and the neighbouredPrincipality of Verden,colloquially referred to asBremen-Verden,were granted by theTreaty of Westphaliaas an appanage to the Swedish crown. Stade, already under Swedish occupation since 1645, was a part of theSwedishprovince of Bremen-Verden-Wildeshausen from 1645 to 1712, and some of the buildings built by the Swedes are still in use today.

Swedish fortress

Stade's heyday lasted until theThirty Years' War.In 1628Tillyconquered the town; shortly thereafter,Swedentook possession of it until 1636. After a period of Danish occupation, Sweden finally recaptured it in 1643 and was also officially granted possession of it, together with theArchbishopric of Bremen,in thePeace of Westphalia.Two-thirds of the town were razed in the great town fire on 26 May 1659. The town was rebuilt again to the same plan.

From 1675 to 1676, in theSwedish-Brandenburg War,Swedish Stade was conquered during acampaignbyDenmark-Norwayand several states of theHoly Roman Empireand remained in allied hands until the end of that war in 1679. Stade, as the headquarters of the Swedish Stadhalter, was besieged from early April 1676 to 13 Aug 1676. In the wake of theTreaty of Saint Germainin 1679, Stade was once again awarded to Sweden.

The Elbe customs station near Stade, in Brunshausen at the mouth of the Schwinge, played special role in trading on the River Elbe from the period of the archbishopric. In 1663, the Swedes stationed an Elbe customs frigate as a permanent patrol ship. This arrangement continued to exist under various rulers until 1850 and the customs station on the Schwinge fieldworks itself existed until 1865.

Swedish sovereignty ended in 1712. Danish troops besieged the town in theGreat Northern Warand shelled it from 29 August to 7 September 1712 that destroyed 152 houses, a quarter of the built-up area.

During the Swedish times Stade was the capital of the province.

Danish rule

In 1712 Denmark-Norway conquered Stade and the whole of Bremen-Verden. Stade remained Bremen-Verden's capital also after the Danes ceded it to theElectorate of Hanoverin 1715. When in 1823 Bremen-Verden was replaced by new administrative forms, Stade continued to be the capital of theStade region.

In 1355 and in 1712, Stade suffered from theplagueepidemic, which killed at least 30–40% of the city's population.

On 26 May 1659 a huge fire destroyed 60% of the city.

Early modern and modern period

In 1757 following theFrench Invasion of Hanover,theArmy of ObservationunderPrince William, Duke of Cumberland,and thePrivy Council of Hanover(government) took shelter in Stade. Cumberland prepared to defend the town before agreeing theConvention of Klosterzevenwhich brought about a temporaryarmistice.

By the end of the 17th century Ashkenazi Jews reappeared in Stade. In 1842 theKingdom of Hanovergranted equal rights to Jews and promoted to build up Jewish congregations and a regional superstructure (rabbinate) within a nationwide scope. The Jews in Stade regarded this a progress and a burden alike, because prior they had not employed any rabbi and religion teacher due to the implied financial burden. In 1845 – according to the new law – a land-rabbinate, underLand-RabbiJoseph Heilbut,was established in the city, serving 16 Jewish congregations, which were founded over the years in the whole Stade Region, with altogether 1,250 Jews in 1864 (highest number ever reached). The local authorities now requested, that the Jewish congregations establish synagogues and Jewish education for the pupils.

Former synagogue of Stade, 2016

In 1849 Stade's synagogue opened, but had to close due to financial restrictions in 1908. And a teacher forJewish religionand Hebrew was employed (after 1890 Stade's community couldn't afford a teacher any more). From 1903 on the Jewish community of Stade was granted public subsidies to continue functioning. The Stade Region stayed a Jewish diaspora, and from 1860 on Stade's land-rabbinate was never staffed again, but served alternately by one of the other three Hanoverian land-rabbinates. Labour migration and emigrationto urban centres outside the Stade Region and Jewish demography rather lead to a reduction of the number of Jews in theStade Region(786 in 1913, 716 in 1928).However, most of the remaining Jews were deported during the Nazi reign. During World War II, Stade remained completely untouched by allied bombings.

Stade nuclear power plant (offline) in 2006

In past decades, Stade has economically benefited significantly from the presence of chemical and aerospace industry at theElberiver, most notablyDow ChemicalandAirbus.Also by the Elbe at Stade is the decommissionedStade Nuclear Power Plant,which was connected to the power grid from 1972 to 2003. By the time the plant was brought offline, it was Germany's second oldest reactor. Following Germany's 2002 decision to phase out nuclear power generation, Stade was the first German plant to be affected; it was closed down permanently on 14 November 2003. Close to the former nuclear plant there is an inactive oil-fired power station, theSchilling Power Station.

Sights

The Old Town of Stade is home to a variety of notable historic buildings; among the most notable are theSt. Cosmae et Damiani Lutheran Church,the Wilhadi Lutheran Church, the city hall, theSchwedenspeicherand theZeughaus.

Located near to Stade are the gigantic pylons ofElbe Crossing 1andElbe Crossing 2;the Elbe Crossing 2 pylons are the tallest in Europe and the sixth-tallest in the world.

Transport

In late 2007, line S3 of theS-Bahn Hamburgwas extended to Stade. Trains departStade stationevery 20 minutes (at peak times), arriving atHamburg central stationin roughly one hour.

Local industry

Firms with notable locations in the area include:

• Dow Chemical,chemicals
• Airbus Deutschland GmbH,aerospace
• E.ON,power plant
• Air Liquide,industrial gases
• Air Products & Chemicals,industrial gases
• Aluminium Oxid Stade GmbH,aluminium oxiderefinery
• Stähler Agrochemie,fertilizerandbiocides
• PROKON Nord Energiesysteme GmbH,wind turbinesandbiofuel
• Lindemann (Bauunternehmen), construction

Twin towns – sister cities

See also:List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Stade is twinned with:

• Giv'at Shmuel,Israel
• Gołdap,Poland
• Karlshamn,Sweden

Notable people

Stefan Aust,2014

Maria Aurora von Königsmarck,pre-1728

• Peter von Sivers(1674–1740), Russian naval officer
• August Karl von Goeben(1816–1880), Prussian general.
• Max von Bahrfeldt(1856–1936), Prussian general of the infantry, stationed at Stade.
• Ernst Hans Ludwig Krause(1859–1942), physician,botanistandmycologist
• Jost Fitschen(1869–1947), botanist known for his work in the field ofdendrology
• Ernst-Eberhard Hell(1887–1973), general inWehrmachtduring World War II
• Eberhard von Koerber(1938–2017), manager and on the Board ofBMW
• Stefan Aust(born 1946), journalist, chief editor ofDer Spiegelin 1994–2008
• Carsten Eggers(born 1957), sculptor and painter
• Angela Denoke(born 1961), opera singer
• Juliette Schoppmann(born 1980), singer

Aristocracy

• Henrik Horn(1618–1693), a Swedish nobleman (freiherr), admiral and member of thePrivy Council of Sweden
• Maria Aurora von Königsmarck(1662–1728), countess, mistress ofAugustus the Strong.
• Amalia von Königsmarck(1663–1740), Swedish noble,dilettantepainter, actor and poet
• Philip Christoph von Königsmarck(1665–1694), a Swedish count and soldier.
• Ulrich de Maizière(1912–2006), general, created the"Innere Führung"in the Bundeswehr

Sport

• Dirk Dammann(born 1967), footballer, played 260 games
• Andrasch Starke(born 1974), jockey, 9 xGerman flat racing Champion Jockeychampion
• Tabea Kemme(born 1991), footballer who has played 154 and 47 games forGermany women
• Marnon Busch(born 1994), footballer, played over 260 games

Gallery

• 
  Schnitgerorgan at St. Cosmae
• 
  St. Wilhadi
• 
  Old town hall
• 
  Schwedenspeicher(Swedish warehouse)
• 
  Zeughaus(Swedish armoury)
• 
  Old Hanse harbor
• 
  Stade airfield (EDHS)
• 
  19th-centuryGrauerort fortress
• 
  House atInselmuseum
• 
  GymnasiumAthenaeum Stade

See also

• Horstsee

External links

• Official website(in German)
• Official tourism organisationGe/En/Swe
• "Stade".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 25 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 750.
• Culture and convention center in Stade(in German)
• Virtual visit at the Fischmarkt (Fish Market)(in German)