The Schwentine (German pronunciation: [ʃvɛnˈtiːnə]) is a river in the North German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is approximately 62 kilometres (39 mi) long and rises on the hill of Bungsberg, the highest point in the state, near the village of Kasseedorf in Ostholstein. It then runs from its source to Kiel where it flows into the Kiel Fjord, a bay of the Baltic Sea. It passes through several lakes, including the Großer Plöner See, the largest lake in Schleswig-Holstein, as well as the towns Eutin, Malente, Plön, Preetz and Kiel.
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👉 Schwentine in the context of Kiel
Kiel (/kiːl/ KEEL; German: [kiːl] ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Bay of Kiel and lies in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula, on the mouth of the Schwentine River, approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) northeast of Hamburg. The world's busiest artificial waterway, the Kiel Canal, has a terminus in Kiel's Holtenau district. This canal connects the Baltic to the North Sea, with its other end in Brunsbüttel. Most of Kiel is part of Holstein. The boroughs north of the Schwentine also belong to Wagria, while those north of the Kiel Canal are historically part of Southern Schleswig.
Originally a small settlement, Kiel was granted city rights in 1242. Over the centuries, it developed as an important port and trading hub, particularly due to its strategic location on the Kieler Förde inlet. Kiel became part of the Duchy of Holstein, the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1773 to 1864, it was ruled in personal union by the king of Denmark. In 1864, after the Second Schleswig War, the city was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia. During the 20th century, Kiel played a significant role in both World War I and World War II, with its naval significance and shipbuilding industry. Following World War II, it became part of West Germany and later the unified Germany.
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Schwentine in the context of Limes Saxoniae
The Limes Saxoniae (Latin for "Limit of Saxony"), also known as the Limes Saxonicus or Sachsenwall ("Saxon Dyke"), was an unfortified limes or border between the Saxons and the Slavic Obotrites, established about 810 in present-day Schleswig-Holstein.
After Charlemagne had removed Saxons from some of their lands and given it to the Obotrites (who were allies of Charlemagne), he finally managed to conquer the Saxons in the Saxon Wars. In 811 he signed the Treaty of Heiligen with the neighbouring Danes and may at the same time have reached a border agreement with the Polabian Slavs in the east. This border should not be thought of as a fortified line, however, but rather a defined line running through the middle of the border zone, an area of bog and thick forest that was difficult to pass through. According to Adam of Bremen's description in the Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum about 1075, it ran from the Elbe river near Boizenburg northwards along the Bille river to the mouth of the Schwentine at the Kiel Fjord and the Baltic Sea.
Schwentine in the context of Kieler Förde
The Kieler Förde, also known in English as the Kiel Fjord, is an inlet of the Baltic Sea on the eastern side of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Beginning at the Bay of Kiel, it extends inland for about 17 kilometres (11 mi), dividing the Dänischer Wohld from Wagrien. It terminates at the Hörn, a sheet of water in the centre of Kiel.
The Kiel Canal, which allows ships to pass between the North and Baltic seas without rounding Jutland, has its eastern terminus on the Kiel Fjord. At its narrowest point, the Friedrichsorter Enge, the fjord is only one kilometre wide. The river Schwentine enters the ford near Kiel-Dietrichsdorf.
Schwentine in the context of Battle of Bornhöved (798)
In the Battle of Bornhöved (German: Schlacht auf dem Sventanafeld) or, possibly *Vir·Gento·Vedo, on the field of Sventanafeld (Sventanapolje or "Schwentine field") near the village of Bornhöved near Neumünster in 798 the Obodrites, led by Drożko, allied with the Franks, defeated the Nordalbingian Saxons.