Lauenburg

Lauenburg stands on the northern bank of the Elbe, where the old salt route crossed the river on its way towards Lübeck. Duke Bernard of Saxony founded the town in 1182 beside his new castle, Lowenborch. Its name is thought to derive from the Polabian name for the Elbe. After the division of Saxony in 1296, Lauenburg became the seat of a duchy bearing its name.

The castle burned in 1616, and three years later the dukes moved their residence to Ratzeburg. The duchy entered a personal union with Lüneburg-Celle in 1689 and later with Hanover, whose rulers also held the British and Irish crowns from 1714. Following the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia acquired Lauenburg from Hanover and then ceded it to Denmark in exchange for territory in Pomerania.