Großhansdorf

Großhansdorf is a municipality in the district of Stormarn, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated approximately 3 km east of Ahrensburg, and 25 km northeast of Hamburg.

== History == Großhansdorf was first mentioned in 1274 in a deed of Hamburg's St. Catherine's Church congregation, to which Großhansdorf was affiliated at that time. In 1435 the city of Hamburg acquired Großhansdorf and administered it as part of its forest villages domain (Walddörfer), consisting of a series of Hamburgian exclaves surrounded by then else Holstein territories. In 1642 the erection of a water mill is recorded, which operated until the 19th century. Since 1701 Großhansdorf was the seat of a forest rider (), an official of Hamburg's police administration, which is recalled in today's coat-of-arms of Großhansdorf. Hamburg then formed a free imperial city within the Holy Roman Empire.