RENDSBURG a town of Prussia, in the province of Schleswig-Holstein, is situated on the Eider, in a flat and sandy district, 20 miles to the west of Kiel. It consists of three parts :—the crowded Altstadt, on an island in the Eider; the Neuwerk, on the south bank of the river; and the Kronwerk, on the north bank. Rendsburg is the chief jilace in the basin of the Eider, and when in the possession of Denmark was maintained as a strong fortress, guarding the approach to the Cimbric peninsula. Its present importance, however, rests on the commercial facilities afforded by its connexion with the North Sea and the Baltic through the Eider and the Eider Canal, by which a brisk transit trade is carried on in grain, timber, Swedish iron, and coals. The principal industries are cotton-weaving, tanning, and the manufacture of artificial manures; and there is a large iron foundry in the immediate neighbourhood. The population in 1880 was 12,776, including a strong garrison....
The town of Rendsburg came into existence under the shelter of a castle founded by the Danes about the year 1100 on an island of the Eider, and was at first an object of dispute between the Danish kings and the counts of Holstein. In 1252 it was finally adjudged to the latter, and it has since shared their fortunes. The town was surrounded with ramparts in 1539, but the important fortifications of the Kronwerk were not constructed till the end of the 17th century. During the Thirty Years’ War Rendsburg was taken both by the Imperialists and the Swedes, but in 1645 it successfully resisted a second siege by the latter. The war of 1848-50 began with the capture of Rendsburg by the Holsteiners by a coup de main, and it formed the centre of the German operations. On the departure of the German troops in 1852 the Danes at once set to work to demolish the fortifications.
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