Hemmingstedt: Battle History, Windmill and St. Mary's Church

Hemmingstedt’s local history comes into focus through three specific themes: the battle of 17 February 1500, the protected Margaretha windmill and the medieval St. Mary’s Church. If you are looking for a hotel in Hemmingstedt, this historical focus provides a point of reference when choosing your destination. The battle and the buildings shed light on different aspects of the past.

History and Buildings in Hemmingstedt

Hemmingstedt is associated with the battle of 17 February 1500. Dithmarschen forces defeated the numerically superior troops of the Danish king and his brother. The victory preserved the de facto independence of the peasant republic for a further 59 years. The event links the town to the history of the peasant republic and provides a distinctive point of reference for Hemmingstedt’s historical character.

The protected Margaretha windmill is fully operational and owned by the municipality. The history of the mill site began with a post mill built in 1852, which was replaced by a Dutch-style windmill in 1858. The windmill has been protected since 1981. The dates mark two separate stages in the mill’s history: the construction of the post mill and its subsequent replacement.

St. Mary’s Church is medieval. Its Renaissance pulpit, dating from 1560, is considered the oldest surviving Protestant pulpit in Dithmarschen. The church’s altar is described as unique of its kind in Schleswig-Holstein. Hemmingstedt therefore brings together examples of different architectural and ecclesiastical histories: the development of the mill site and the medieval church with its Renaissance pulpit.

More things to explore in the wider destination of Dithmarschen

In the wider destination of Dithmarschen, the Dithmarschen State Museum in Meldorf covers 1,200 years of history, from the wealth of the peasant republic to rural everyday life in the 1960s. The historical sweep described there thus extends beyond the individual battle. The Dithmarschen museum network also brings together 19 museums run by professional staff and volunteers across eleven locations.

The Dithmarschen Stone Age Park offers hands-on activities such as flint knapping, archery, making Stone Age jewellery, fire-making and bread-baking. The activities available may vary depending on the programme; check dates in advance if a particular activity is important to you. In addition to the Stone Age Park, the Stone Age Forest comprises around 40 hectares of natural outdoor grounds that are permanently and freely accessible. If you are planning to visit on a specific day, check access in advance. In Albersdorf, the Stone Age Forest contains nine original archaeological monuments.

The hiking routes also differ in their details. The “Mötjensee and White-tailed Eagle” route near Lunden is an easy, 12.79-kilometre circular trail for lowland hiking. This is separate from the North Sea–Baltic Sea Hiking Trail: its first stage runs through Dithmarschen and is just under 40 kilometres long; the entire long-distance trail comprises five stages and runs from Meldorf to Kiel. The details therefore refer to a circular trail on the one hand and a stage of a longer-distance trail on the other.

In Friedrichskoog, the National Park Station is an information centre with a national park exhibition on the south side of the harbour. On guided mudflat walks along the Dithmarschen coast, local guides with expert knowledge of the area and its natural environment accompany the group and reveal the diverse life of the Wadden Sea at low tide. Tides and guided tour dates vary; check specific dates in advance.

Discover more destinations: Burg, Heide, Wesselburener Deichhausen, Norddeich, Krumstedt, Süderdorf, Warwerort, Busenwurth.

Back to the wider travel overview: Dithmarschen.