A castle named Horeburg, meaning swamp castle, was probably erected by the counts of Stade, to secure the eastern border of the county. The oldest records mentioning the castle date back to 1133 and 1137. Outside the castle a settlement developed. As to religion Harburg belonged to the Diocese of Verden (till 1648). In 1257 the area became part of the Duchy of Brunswick and Lunenburg. After its dynastic partition in 1267 Harburg was part of the Brunswick-Lunenburgian Principality of Lunenburg (Celle). In 1288 the settlement outside the castle was granted municipal rights and in 1297 town privileges. The town was then the centre of the Bailiwick of Harburg (Vogtei Harburg).
After Duke Otto (1495–1549), who co-ruled Lunenburg-Celle with his brother Duke Ernest I the Confessor, had married a woman unconformable to his rank, he was urged to retire from co-ruling the principality in 1527. Otto could reach an agreement, allowing him and his family to live in Harburg castle and to rule his own precinct, the Bailiwick of Harburg, however, as a subfief of Lunenburg-Celle. Thus Harburg became the capital of the Principality of Harburg, which continued to exist under Otto's son, Duke Otto II of Harburg (1528–1603) and grandson Duke William Augustus (1564–1642). With the latter's death the Brunswick-Lunenburgian branch of Harburg was extinct in the male line and the area reunited with Lunenburg-Celle proper.
During this period (in 1720–23) the town was the notional headquarters of the abortive Harburg Company which, with a charter from King George I of Great Britain and funded by a dubious lottery scheme, was supposed to deepen the river and improve the harbour. When the lottery was forbidden to operate in England as fraudulent and illegal, the scheme foundered. Its principal proponent, John Barrington, was expelled from the British Parliament.[2]
During the Great French War Harburg suffered changing conquests, liberations and occupations, until it was first annexed by Westphalia (1807), only to be annexed by France in 1810. Harburg then became the capital of the Canton d'Harbourg within the Arrondissement de Lunebourg of the Département des Bouches-de-l'Elbe. After the French defeat in 1813 Harburg returned to Hanover, which was upgraded to the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814. The Hanoveran-British personal union ended in 1837. Hanover, including Harburg, was defeated and annexed by Prussia in 1866, joining united Germany in 1871. Since the 19th century the town has been distinguished as Harburg upon Elbe (Harburg an der Elbe or Harburg/Elbe) from the homonymous town in Bavaria.
With the defeat of Germany and the abdication of the monarchs in Germany in 1918, Prussia adopted a democratic government as a German state and was formally named Free State of Prussia. In 1927 Harburg/Elbe merged with Wilhelmsburg into Harburg-Wilhelmsburg. On 1 April 1937 Harburg-Wilhelmsburg was disentangled from Prussia – according to the "Greater Hamburg Act" – and ceded to the state of Hamburg, which on 1 April 1938 incorporated the city into a unitary city state municipality (Einheitsgemeinde), thus abolishing Harburg(-Wilhelmsburg)'s municipal independence dating back to 1288.
Geography
In 2006 according to the statistical office of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, the quarter had an area of 3.9 km2 (1.5 sq mi). Harburg, situated in the southern side of Hamburg, borders with the quarters of Neuland, Gut Moor, Rönneburg, Wilstorf, Eißendorf, Heimfeld and Wilhelmsburg (in the district of Mitte). From this one it is physically separated by the river Elbe.
Demographics
The population of Harburg in 2006 was 21,193. The population density was 5,500/km2 (14,000/sq mi). 14.3% were children under the age of 18, and 14.1% were 65 years of age or older. 31.3% were immigrants. 1,619 people were registered as unemployed.[3] In 1999 there were 11,668 households, out of which 16% had children under the age of 18 living with them, and 55% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 1.76.[4]
The quarter has three elementary schools and four secondary schools in the Harburg quarter.[6]
In Harburg center there are the dormitories of the Studierendenwerk Hamburg, namely the dormitories of the Ebelingstraße 1 and 2, Schüttstraße 5 and Møørstraße 7 and 15. In the basement of Ebelingstraße 1 you can find the Ebelingsbar. Ebelingsbar is one of the most awarded bars in the region. There you can find bier and cocktails in really good prices. The bar also has one table of ping pong and 2 kickers.
In the party history of the bar there are some events worth mentioning. Two amazingly crowded Karaoke Events, one metal Monday and the after-party of the legendary Sommerfest of 2022.
Infrastructure
Health systems
In 2006, 154 physicians in private practice and 16 pharmacies were counted in the Harburg quarter.[6]
