HARBURG, a seaport town of Hanover, Prussia, at the head of a circle in the district of Lüneburg, is situated on the left bank of the southern branch of the Elbe opposite Hamburg, which stands on the right bank of the northern branch of that river. The distance between the two towns is about 4⅜ miles, and there is railway communication between them by means of a bridge over both rivers, completed in 1871. The town is also connected with Hanover by railway. It is the seat of a local court, a superintendentgeneral, a head custom house, and a chamber of commerce; and it possesses an old castle, which from 1524-1642 was the residence of the Hamburg line of the house of Lüneburg, a real-school of the first order, a commercial school, and a trade school. The industries include shipbuilding and the manufacture of india rubber and gutta percha wares, oil, soda, starch, alum, cigars, yarn, cast-iron, machines, and leather. There are also horse and cattle markets, and some shipping trade, which, however, has considerably declined since better communication was opened up with Hamburg. In 1878 there entered 469 sea-going vessels with a burthen of 38,110 tons, and 7677 iron vessels with a burthen of 175,643; while the corresponding averages during the previous twelve years (1866-1877) were 633 sea-going vessels and 7669 of iron craft, with burthens respectively of 43,036 and 168,082 tons. Harburg belonged originally to the bishopric of Bremen, and received town rights in 1297. In 1376 it was united to the principality of Lüneburg, along with which it fell in 1705 to Hanover, and in 1806 to Prussia. In 1813 and 1814 it suffered considerably from the French, who then held Hamburg, and who built a bridge between the two towns, which remained standing till 1816. The population in ...