Altona (German pronunciation: [ˈaltona]) is the westernmost urban borough (Bezirk) of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937. In 2006 the population was 243,972.
It was founded in 1535 as a village of fishermen. In 1664 it received city rights from Danish King Frederik III. Until 1864 Altona was o...
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Altona (German pronunciation: [ˈaltona]) is the westernmost urban borough (Bezirk) of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937. In 2006 the population was 243,972.
It was founded in 1535 as a village of fishermen. In 1664 it received city rights from Danish King Frederik III. Until 1864 Altona was one of the Danish monarchy's most important harbour towns. The railroad from Altona to Kiel, the Christian VIII Baltic Sea Rail Line (Christian VIII Østersø Jernbane), was opened in 1844.
Because of the severe restrictions on the number of Jews allowed to live in Hamburg (with the exception of the period of 1811-15,) until 1864, a major Jewish community developed in Altona. Members did business both in Hamburg and in Altona itself. All that remains is the Jewish cemetery, but in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries it was a...
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