Uelzen (German pronunciation: [ˈʏlt͡sn̩]; officially the Hanseatic Town of Uelzen, German: Hansestadt Uelzen, German pronunciation: [ˈʔʏltsn̩], Low German Ülz’n) is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a Hanseatic town and an independent municipality. The Polabian name for Uelzen is Wilcaus (spelled Wiltzaus in older German reference material), possibly derived from wilca or wilsa (< Slavic *olăša) 'alder'.