Wenzendorf

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Wenzendorf
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Location of Wenzendorf within Harburg district
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Wenzendorf
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Wenzendorf
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Wenzendorf
Coordinates: 53°21′N09°46′E / 53.350°N 9.767°E / 53.350; 9.767 Coordinates: 53°21′N09°46′E / 53.350°N 9.767°E / 53.350; 9.767
Country Germany
State Lower Saxony
District Harburg
Municipal assoc. Hollenstedt
Subdivisions5
Government
 •  Mayor Manfred Cohrs
Area
[1]
 • Total21.64 km2 (8.36 sq mi)
Elevation
64 m (210 ft)
Population
(2017-12-31) [2]
 • Total1,434
 • Density66/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes
21279
Dialling codes 04165
Vehicle registration WL
Website

Wenzendorf is a municipality in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is also the name of the chief village of the municipality.

Lower Saxony State in Germany

Lower Saxony is a German state (Land) situated in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with 47,624 km2 (18,388 sq mi), and fourth-largest in population among the 16 Länder federated as the Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining.

Germany Federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps, Lake Constance and the High Rhine to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

Contents

The area is known mainly for the airfield near the village, where the Hamburger Flugzeugbau, the aircraft manufacturing arm of Blohm & Voss, built a factory during the Nazi era.

Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB) was an aircraft manufacturer, located primarily in the Finkenwerder quarter of Hamburg, Germany. Established in 1933 as an offshoot of Blohm & Voss shipbuilders, it later became an operating division within its parent company and was known as Abteilung Flugzeugbau der Schiffswerft Blohm & Voss from 1937 until it ceased operation at the end of World War II. In the postwar period it was revived as an independent company under its original name and subsequently joined several consortia before being merged to form MBB. It participates in the present day Airbus and European aerospace programs.

Municipality

Wenzendorf is a municipality in the Lower Saxony district of Harburg, Germany. Its five main villages are Wenzendorf, Wennerstorf, Klauenburg, Dierstorf and Dierstorf-Heide.

Harburg (district) District in Lower Saxony, Germany

Harburg is a district (Landkreis) in Lower Saxony, Germany. It takes its name from the town of Harburg upon Elbe, which used to be the capital of the district but is now part of Hamburg. It is bounded by the districts of Lüneburg, Heidekreis, Rotenburg and Stade, by the City of Hamburg and the State of Schleswig-Holstein.

Wenzendorf is the largest Christmas tree growing area in northern Germany. [3]

Christmas tree decorated tree used in the celebration of Christmas

A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas, originating in Northern Europe. The custom was developed in medieval Livonia, and in early modern Germany where Protestant Germans brought decorated trees into their homes. It acquired popularity beyond the Lutheran areas of Germany and the Baltic countries during the second half of the 19th century, at first among the upper classes.

Wenzendorf village

The village of Wenzendorf lies approximately 25 km southwest of Hamburg. It has a population of a little over 1,000.

Airfield

Wenzendorf airfield lies about 2 km to the southeast of the main village.

Village Small clustered human settlement smaller than a town

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town, with a population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Though villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighborhoods. Villages are normally permanent, with fixed dwellings; however, transient villages can occur. Further, the dwellings of a village are fairly close to one another, not scattered broadly over the landscape, as a dispersed settlement.

Aircraft factory

In 1934, Hamburger Flugzeugbau began construction of its first dedicated aircraft factory at Wenzendorf and laid out a large aerodrome for test flying. The factory began operation in 1935, license-building the Dornier Do 23, the first of which flew in December 1935. [4]

Not long afterwards the company adopted its parent company's name of Blohm and Voss, by which it is chiefly remembered.

A great many aircraft were assembled at Wenzendorf throughout the war period, mostly under sub-contract to other manufacturers. They included:

On 6 October 1944 the plant was severely damaged in a bombing raid by the US Air Force, and three months later was almost completely destroyed in a second attack. [5] [6]

Modern use

Today, the airfield is much reduced in size. It has a single grass runway of 750m length and is home to the Airbus HFB gliding club.

Some of the old factory buildings have been converted to a retirement home. [7]

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Blohm+Voss German shipbuilding and engineering works

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The German Air Ministry had a system for aircraft designation which was an attempt by the aviation authorities of the Third Reich to standardize and produce an identifier for each aircraft design's airframe type produced in Germany. It was in use from 1933 to 1945 though many pre-1933 aircraft were included and the system had changes over those years. As well as aircraft of the Luftwaffe, it covered civilian airliners and sport planes, due to the RLM handing all aviation-related matters in the Third Reich, both civilian and military in nature.

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Hamburger Flugzeugbau Ha 135

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References

  1. ↑ "Alle politisch selbständigen Gemeinden mit ausgewählten Merkmalen am 31.12.2018 (4. Quartal)". DESTATIS. Archived from the original on 10 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  2. ↑ Landesamt für Statistik Niedersachsen, Tabelle 12411: Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes, Stand 31. Dezember 2017
  3. ↑ Die Zeit: Der Baumbauer 19. Dezember 2007
  4. ↑ Hermann Pohlmann; Chronik Eines Flugzeugwerkes 1932-1945, Motorbuch, 2nd Impression, 1982. (In German).
  5. ↑ RonaldV; "Wenzendorf", Abandoned, Forgotten & Little-Known airfields in Europe. (Retrieved 25 June 2017)
  6. ↑ Flugzeugwerk und Flugplatz Wenzendorf (in German). (Retrieved 25 June 2017)
  7. ↑ Eighth Air Force Historical Society.
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