Elmshorn (; ) is a town in the district of Pinneberg in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. It is 30 km north of Hamburg on the small river Krückau, a tributary of the Elbe, and with about 50,000 inhabitants is the sixth-largest town in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the birthplace of writer and editor Hermann Schlüter (1851–1919), the mathematician Hermann Weyl (1885–1955) and the medievalist Heinz Woehlk (1944- ). Economy and industry Historically Elmshorn had many companies in the food industry. Including meat processing and sausage production, margarine production and cereal processing. Major surviving companies include Dölling-Hareico (meat processing/sausage production) and Kölln (cereal processing, mainly oats and muesli). Twin towns – sister cities Elmshorn is twinned with: Tarascon, France (1987) Wittenberge, Germany (1990) Stargard, Poland (1993) Raisio, Finland (2000) Notable people The following people were born in Elmshorn (in order of year of birth): Johann Christoph Biernatzki (1795–1840), writer Johannes Rehmke (1848–1930), philosopher Fritz Höger (1877–1949), (born in Bekenreihe near Elmshorn), architect Hermann Weyl (1885–1955), mathematician Wilhelm Mohr (1885–1969), politician, member of the CDU Carl August Rathjens (1887–1966), geographer Wilhelm Peetz (1892–1935), communist and resistance fighter against national socialism Harald Paulsen (1895–1954), actor and director Karsten Voigt (born 1941), politician and member of the SPD (born 1959), Cultural Prize 2002, graphic artist and object artist (born 1962), singer and one-hit wonder Michael Stich (born 1968), tennis player (grew up in Elmshorn) Tim Mälzer (born 1971), cook and author of cookery books Chiara Schoras (born 1975), actress Hanno Behrens (born 1990), soccer player See also Kooperative Gesamtschule Elmshorn References External links Elmshorner Nachrichten (Local Newspaper) Pinneberg (district)