Flensburg is an independent town in the north of the German state Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region Southern Schleswig. After Kiel and Lübeck it is the third largest town in Schleswig-Holstein. The nearest larger towns are Kiel (86 km south) and Odense in Denmark (92 km northeast). Flensburg’s city centre lies about 7 km from the Danish border.
In Germany, Flensburg is known for
the nationwide database of traffic violators
its beer Flensburger Pilsener, also called “Flens“
the centre of the Danish national minority in Germany
the greeting Moin
the large erotic mail-order companies Beate Uhse and Orion
its handball team SG Flensburg-Handewitt and
the Naval Academy Mürwik with its training ship Gorch Fock
The town of Flensburg profited from the planned location of military installations. Since German Reunification, the number of soldiers has dropped to about 8,000. Since Denmark’s entry into the European Economic Community (now the European Union), border trade has played an important role in Flensburg’s economic life. Some Danish businesses, such as Danfoss, have set up shops just south of the border for tax reasons.
The Danish minority in Flensburg and the surrounding towns run their own schools, libraries and Lutheran churches from which the German majority is not excluded. The co-existence of these two groups is considered a sound and healthy symbiosis.
In Denmark, Flensburg seems to be mainly associated with its duty-free shops where, amongst other things, spirits, beer and candy can be purchased at cheaper prices than in Denmark. Currently the duty free shops are able to sell canned beer to Scandinavians without paying deposits as long as the beverage is not consumed in Germany. However, owing to the vagaries of the money markets, the bargains are not as great as they once were.
Flensburg has a well preserved Old Town with many things to see from centuries gone by. Characteristic is the row along the waterfront. Three of the four old town cores are found along this north-south axis. The building boom in Imperial times led to a partial rebuilding of the Old Town, but without destroying its structure, and rather leading to notable expansion of the town.
