Editing District of Duchy of Lauenburg (section)

==Geography==
The district's territory comprises most of the former Duchy's territory north of the river [[Elbe]], except of the [[Amt Neuhaus]]. All the former Saxe-Lauenburgian areas beyond the Elbe belong today to the [[Lower Saxony|Lower Saxon]] districts of [[Cuxhaven (district)|Cuxhaven]] ([[Land of Hadeln]]), [[Harburg (district)|Harburg]] and [[Lüneburg (district)|Lüneburg]].

The district's area contains a number of historically important towns, e.g. [[Lauenburg/Elbe]], [[Mölln (Schleswig-Holstein)|Mölln]] and [[Ratzeburg]]. This importance was due to the [[Old Salt Route]] (''Alte Salzstraße''), one of the major medieval trade routes. Salt from the salt-works south of the Elbe river was transported northward to [[Lübeck]]. The transport of salt was also the motive for constructing the oldest artificial waterway of Europe, the [[Stecknitz Canal]] (1398). It was replaced in 1900 by the [[Elbe-Lübeck Canal]].

The landscape is characterised by numerous lakes, forming the [[Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park]]. The largest lake is the [[Ratzeburger See]] with an area of 16&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.