Heide

Heide
Heide
Town
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Heide within Dithmarschen district
	Heide Heide
	Coordinates: 54°11′46″N 9°5′36″E / 54.19611°N 9.09333°E
Country	Germany
State	Schleswig-Holstein
District	Dithmarschen
Government
• Mayor	Oliver Schmidt-Gutzat (SPD)
Area
• Total	31.8938 km2 (12.3143 sq mi)
Elevation	11 m (36 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	22,114
• Density	690/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	25746
Dialling codes	0481
Vehicle registration	HEI
Website	www.heide.de

Heide (German pronunciation: [ˈhaɪdə] ^ⓘ; Holsatian: Heid) is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the Kreis (district) Dithmarschen. Population: 22,000.

The German word Heide means "heath". In the 15th century four adjoining villages decided to build a church in the "middle of the heath". This remained the town's name to date. The exact foundation date is now unknown, but by 1447 Heide was already the main village of Dithmarschen. At this time Dithmarschen was an independent peasant republic. Heide became a town in the 19th century.

Heide has the largest un-built-upon market square in Germany, with 4.7 hectares. It is used primarily as a parking lot and has approximately 500 parking spaces. In 2016, the city staged 3 car-free Sundays on the market square for the first time.

Sport

The association soccer club Heider SV plays in the Oberliga Schleswig-Holstein (V).

Notable landmarks

St. Jürgen church (1560)
Water tower (1903)
Museum of Dithmarschen History
Brahmshaus, dwelling house of the ancestors of the composer Johannes Brahms, now a museum

Notable people

Klaus Groth (1819–1899), a Low German poet
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), composer; his father came from Heide
Paul Christoph Hennings (1841–1908), mycologist and herbarium curator.
Alfred Dührssen (1862–1933), gynecologist and obstetrician
Rudolph Dirks (1877–1968), comic-strip artist
Carl-Heinz Rodenberg (1904–1995), neurologist and psychiatrist, proficient in the murder of mental patients by the Nazis
Hauke Harder (born 1963), composer and experimental physicist.
Klaus Florian Vogt (born 1970), operatic tenor; sings roles written by Richard Wagner.