Dannenberg

Dannenberg grew beside a castle guarding the country between the Elbe and the Jeetzel. In the twelfth century it became the centre of a county on the border of Saxon and Wendish lands. King Valdemar II of Denmark was held at the castle after his capture in 1223; its great tower bears his name. The last count transferred his rights to Duke Otto of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1303. Dannenberg later served as a residence of a Welf branch from 1569 to 1671, though fire destroyed many houses in 1608.