-stedt / -städt

The suffix -stedt or -städt as part of place names comes from home (inhabited place). These places were mostly old German foundations; Slavic foundations usually do not have this suffix. It occurs particularly frequently in the old Saxon settlement area from the North Sea in the north via Saxony-Anhalt to the Thuringian Basin in the south, with -stedt being more common north and east of Erfurt in the formerly Prussian areas, while in the formerly located south and west of the city Ernestine- Saxon areas -städt is more frequently represented. The places named in this way are mostly very old and originated in the first wave of settlement in Central Germany between the 8th and 11th centuries. The frequency and the identical pronunciation lead to confusion, for example between Döllstädt and Döllstedt , Dingelstädt and Dingelstedt , Reinstädt and Reinstedt , Egstedt and Eckstedt , Ristedt and Riestedt , Wolferstedt and Wulferstedt , Buttstädt and Büttstedt , Bechstedt , Bechstedt-Wagd and Bechstedtstraß or Wohlmirstedt and Wolmirstedt . However, the name also occurs in newly founded cities such as Norderstedt . The place name ending -stadt , which is widespread in Franconia, has a similar origin .