Salzwedel

Salzwedel developed beside a castle near a ford of the Jeetze, on a route between Magdeburg and the salt town of Lüneburg. Its name is recorded in 1112, when Emperor Henry V besieged the castle. The settlement was called a town by 1233, and in 1247 a planned new town was founded northeast of the old one. Each had its own administration and parish church. Salzwedel traded with Hamburg and Lübeck; tolls on their commerce were recorded in 1248. In 1263 Lübeck recognised Salzwedel's admission to the merchants' community at Visby, a sign of its Hanseatic connections. The old and new towns remained separate for centuries despite repeated efforts to unite them, until their ruler ordered their union in 1713.