• home

Seester: Quiet – but nevertheless centrally

In a unique way Seester manages a balance which only a few places succeed in. On the one hand smoothly located in the scenic attractive region of the marshland, on the other hand with its vicinity to the 30 km away metropolis of Hamburg and the direct neighborhood to the medium-sized towns Elmshorn and Uetersen in the middle of life – that is Seester.

 

The place with its nowadays about 1,000 inhabitants is named after the Seesterau, nowadays called Krückau. It is first mentioned in a charter from the year 1141, when the archbishop Adalbero von Hamburg-Bremen gave the right to take the tithes in this region to the brothers of the Augustiner-Chorherren-Stift in nowadays Neumünster.

 

The former Saxon settlement was essentially influenced by called settlers from Frisia and the Netherlands who made the land save from the high tides of the Elbe and thus creating fertile meadowland by building dikes, drainage systems and floodgates. Thus up to today many family names can be attributed to Dutch origins. Up to present days the protection of the inhabitants from the forces of nature plays a central role.

 

Until 1992 Seester was however just a district and parish, the township itself was since the foundation of the Prussian rural parishes in 1892 called Kurzenmoor and was only renamed 100 years later, after a local initiative initiated a referendum which turned out in favor of the renaming into township of Seester.

 

Since the year one the district of Seester with its St. Johannes-Church (built in 1428) and its free standing, wooden belfry was and is the geographical and cultural centre of the township. In direct vicinity there are the elementary school, the kindergarten, gym and sports ground, the historical hall building, which is together with the church, the parsonage, the kindergartenbuilding and the neighboring detached houses, the surrounding lime trees and the cemetery under the preservation and protection of building groups, as well as other public buildings and institutions. Just a few meters away the developing area “Zur Rönnwettern” was formed during the last years, which offers especially young families quiet, but centrally located building areas in direct vicinity to school and kindergarten.

 

Seester is parish location to which belongs as well the township Seestermühe (after the in a storm tide during the 14th century destroyed church wasn’t rebuilt) as also the district Schlickburg of the township Neuendeich.  

  

In former times the inhabitants lived from agriculture, horse breeding and fishery. The boats of the fishermen lay at that point in the harbor at the Seesteraudeich, which is today home to the sport boats of hobby sailors. Symbolically these professional groups can be found in the crest of Seester: A fish (coley) jumping out of the water and a Holstein horse – separated by a dike shown in profile.

 

Seester has an active society-life, in parts in cooperation with the neighboring township Seestermühe. The sports club TSV Seestermüher Marsch e.V. for example counts over 700 members who can choose among a wide variety of sports. Many other societies and associations of different kinds complete the picture of leisure facilities in Seester.

 

Especially during the summer months Seester is a favored destination for day-trippers for the people from the surrounding cities and townships who want to experience the beauty of the marsh by car or even more by bike, by in-line skaters or by foot. With the “Ochsenweg”, the “North Sea Cycle Route” and the “Elbe Radwanderweg” a whole of three trans-regional bike hike tracks go through the village.

 

Numerous information-signs and trail signs make orientation easier. With the help of the “Fähre Kronsnest”, the smallest ferry in Germany, the Krückau is crossable towards Neuendorf and across the nearby barrages of Krückau and Pinnau cyclists and pedestrians can reach the Kollmaraner and Haseldorfer marshlands.

 

The St. Johannes church impresses inside with unique art treasures like the oldest surviving pulpit and the oldest baroque altar in the Pinneberg district from 1631 or the offering box with Lazarus figure from 1613. At the L109 in the urban district Kurzenmoor the Elmshorn model making club runs a model airport, authorized by the ministry in Kiel. In the future Seester wants to be and stay a like- and livable, but in no ways sleepy, township in the densely settled Hamburg surrounding region.