Eutin

Eutin ( ) is the district capital of Eastern Holstein (German: Ostholstein) located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of 2005, it had some 17,000 inhabitants.

The name Eutin (originally Utin) is of Slavic origin. Its meaning is not quite clear; it is probably derived from the personal name "Uta". The Slavic Obotrites tribe settled eastern Holstein in the 7th/8th centuries A.D. and built a castle on Pheasant Island in the lake now called the Großer Eutiner See.

The originally Slavonic settlement of Utin was populated in the twelfth century by Dutch settlers. In 1156 Eutin became a market town. Town rights were granted in the year 1257. It later became the seat of the Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck, as Lübeck itself was an imperial free city. When the bishopric was secularized in 1803, Eutin became part of the Duchy of Oldenburg. As a result of the Greater Hamburg Act of 1937, Eutin passed from the Free State of Oldenburg to the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein. After World War II, it became part of the modern Bundesland of Schleswig-Holstein.

Eutin is the birthplace of composer Carl Maria von Weber. To honour him, an open air theater (Freilichtbühne) was built in the Eutin Castle's park in 1951 where several operas are performed during July and August during the Eutin Festival. The capacity of this open-air stage is about 2000 people. The Eutin Festival, known as the "Eutin Festspiele," takes place with music students in Eutin as well as students from the University of Kansas.

Eutin hosts an annual Blues Festival at the beginning of each summer. Local musicians, as well as up and coming blues artists from around the world, come to play in this three day long outdoor blues festival, which takes place in the "Marktplatz" or market place in the center of town.