(This article is about the district in northern Germany. There was also E. Y. ("Yip") Harburg, a song lyricist and a villiage in Bavaria Harburg-Bayern.)
Harburg is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the districts of Lüneburg, Soltau-Fallingbostel, Rotenburg and Stade, by the city of Hamburg and the state of Schleswig-Holstein (district of Lauenburg).
In 1885 the Prussian government established three districts in this region: the district of Harburg, the district of Winsen and the district-free city of Harburg. In 1932 the districts of Winsen and Harburg were merged; the city of Harburg-Wilhelmsburg (which had been renamed in 1927) became the capital of the district, although it remained district-free and hence was not a part of the district.
In 1937 the city of Harburg-Wilhelmsburg was incorporated into the city of Hamburg. Harburg and Wilhelmsburg became two boroughs of Hamburg. The district of Harburg retained its autonomy. Winsen became the new capital of the district in 1944.
Geography
The district is located south of Hamburg and includes several suburbs of the Hamburg metropolitan area. In the south of the district there is the northwestern part of the Lüneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide).
Coat of arms
The lion was the heraldic animal of the Welfen family and the duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The key is from the arms of Bremen, since in early medieval times the region was property of the archbishops of Bremen.
Ira Gershwin was Harburg's classmate at Townsend Harris Hall, the prep school for City College.
Harburg noted that he was influenced by his teachers at City College and by authors George Bernard Shaw, Sir William Schwenk Gilbert, Jonathan Swift, Sean O'Casey, Oscar Wilde, and Mark Twain, all of whom were noted satirists.
Harburg believed that musicals "have become a lost art for the newer generation that is undisciplined, without roots in poetry or literature." He called "The Wiz," a modern version of THE WIZARD OF OZ, "a theatrical disgrace in keeping with the ugliness of today's culture."
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