Bleckede

Bleckede is a town in the district of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated mostly on the left bank of the Elbe, approx. 20 km east of Lüneburg.
In the course of the eastern colonisation the area of today's Bleckede became a part of the Duchy of Saxony. The current name derives from an older variant Bleketsa, a Slavic term. After the Welf Saxon, Duke Henry the Lion, had been overthrown and deposed in 1180, the Welfs lost most of Saxony, including the ducal title which was granted to the House of Ascania. The Ascanians also claimed Bleckede. However, Henry's son William of Winchester disputed that claim and made Bleckede the Welf outpost upon Elbe in 1209, in order to have a step towards the trans-Elbian areas which were in the process of colonisation by settlers from the west. William also levied a toll from ships passing Bleckede and renamed the city in honour of his father Lowenstat . A castle was erected to protect the Elbe crossing and the toll station. The castle was first mentioned in 1270 and today's castle uses the foundations of the old one.

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