North Sea tides reached as far as Hollingstedt, so larger vessels were able to navigate the river, until a dam at Koldenbüttel closed off the Treene in 1570.
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During Viking times, Hollingstedt served as a transhipment port for a ten mile portage to Hedeby on the Schlei inlet of the Baltic, cutting short a long and perilous circumnavigation of the Jutland Peninsula.
To the north, its border runs between Hollingstedt and Treia, to the east near Rendsburg, to the south the boggy depression reaches to the Hanerau and Haalerau beyond the Kiel Canal.