Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein

For the Belgian town formerly known as Wacken, see Wakken.

Wacken (German pronunciation: [ˈvakn̩] ^ⓘ) is a municipality near the town of Itzehoe in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Wacken was first mentioned in 1148, but there were probably some settlements before, which is proven by the trove of Germanic artefacts.

Wacken
Municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Wacken within Steinburg district
Wacken Show map of Germany Wacken Show map of Schleswig-Holstein
Coordinates: 54°1′12″N 9°22′39″E
Country	Germany
State	Schleswig-Holstein
District	Steinburg
Municipal assoc.	Schenefeld
Government
• Mayor	Axel Kunkel
Area
• Total	7.1 km2 (2.7 sq mi)
Elevation	26 m (85 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)[1]
• Total	2,040
• Density	290/km2 (740/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	25596
Dialling codes	04827
Vehicle registration	IZ
Website	wacken.de

Today, Wacken is famous for annually staging one of the world's biggest open air heavy metal festival, "Wacken Open Air", which has hosted popular metal acts such as Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Saxon, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Mötley Crüe, Slayer, Rammstein, Motörhead, Slipknot and Judas Priest, as well as local and perennial regulars, including Subway to Sally and Wacken's Firefighters' band. Every citizen gets free entry to the festival.