The

Hanseatic City The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German t ...

of Stendal () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the

Altmark :''See German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German.'' The (English: Old MarchHansard, ''The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ...'', Volume 32. ...

region.

Geography

Situated west of the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

valley, the Stendal town centre is located some west of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, around east of

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, and north of the state capital

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

. Stendal is the seat of a University of Applied Sciences (''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...

'') and preserves a picturesque

old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

including a historic market and several churches. The nearby village Uchtspringe is home to a psychiatric rehabilitation clinic.

Divisions

The town Stendal consists of Stendal proper and the following 18 ''Ortschaften'' or municipal divisions:Hauptsatzung der Hansestadt Stendal
November 2018. *Bindfelde *Borstel * Buchholz * Dahlen *

Groß Schwechten Groß Schwechten is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is th ...

Heeren Heeren is a village and a former municipality in the Stendal (district), district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Stendal,Insel *Jarchau *

Möringen Möringen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capit ...

Nahrstedt Nahrstedt () is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the ca ...

* Staats *Staffelde *

Uchtspringe Uchtspringe is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, Uchtspringe is part of the town Stendal.Uenglingen Uenglingen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capi ...

* Vinzelberg * Volgfelde *Wahrburg *

Wittenmoor Wittenmoor is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Stendal. Geography The village Wittenmoor is located in the south of the Altmark, on the northe ...

History

A settlement named ''Steinedal'' in the Eastphalian ''

Balsamgau The Balsamgau (or Belcsem, Balsami) was an early medieval Gau (shire) in the Eastphalia region of the Duchy of Saxony. It was centered on Stendal and located on the West bank of the River Elbe. Other towns in the Balsamgau include Arneburg, Döb ...

'' of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, then a possession of Saint Michael’s Abbey in

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the L ...

, was mentioned in a deed allegedly issued by Emperor Henry II in 1022. However, the entry has proven to be a 12th-century forgery, as the original document contained no such record. The fortified

near the Elbe crossing at

Tangermünde Tangermünde (; nds, Tangermünn) is a historic town on the Elbe River in the district of Stendal, in the northeastern part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Tangermünde is situated in the historic Altmark region of the North German Plain ...

was actually founded and granted

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...

by the first

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

margrave

Albert the Bear Albert the Bear (german: Albrecht der Bär; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142. Life Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ba ...

about 1160. The parish church of St Mary's was first mentioned in 1283. Stendal quickly prospered as a centre of commerce and trade; it received city walls about 1300, the citizens joined the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

in 1358 and purchased the privilege of minting from the Brandenburg margraves in 1369. A

Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...

is documented from 1338. In 1456 the Hohenzollern elector Frederick II Irontooth founded a convent of Augustinian nuns, which today is the site of a museum. In 1502 his descendant Elector

Joachim I Nestor Joachim I Nestor (21 February 1484 – 11 July 1535) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1499–1535), the fifth member of the House of Hohenzollern. His nickname was taken from King Nestor of Greek mythology. Biography Th ...

married Princess Elizabeth of Denmark at Stendal. Magnificent churches, the town hall and the two remaining city gates are still proof of Stendal's former wealth. The Stendal citizens turned

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

in 1539; with the reformator

Konrad Cordatus Konrad Cordatus or Conrad Cordatus (1480-1546) was a preacher and Protestant reformer in Niemegk who severely attacked Philipp Melanchthon, German reformer and collaborator with Martin Luther, during his sojourn in Tübingen in 1536. See also * ...

serving as

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

. For centuries part of the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out o ...

, Stendal with the Altmark region passed to the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Province of Saxony after the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. A

garrison town since the 17th century, it hosted the 10th (Magdeburg) Hussars regiment from 1884. Stendal was the site of a

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

airfield in World War II, which had been the site of the first German ''

Fallschirmjäger The ''Fallschirmjäger'' () were the paratrooper branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first German paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. Throughout World War II, the commander ...

'' training school from 1936; the famous boxer

Max Schmeling Maximilian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling (, ; 28 September 1905 – 2 February 2005) was a German boxing, boxer who was heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. His two fights with Joe Louis in 1936 and 1938 were worldwide cul ...

was trained as a paratrooper here in 1940/41. The town suffered from

strategic bombing Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematica ...

. Stendal was hit by 10 air raids, and more than 300 civilians died when Röxe, a residential area in the southern part of the town, was devastated by bombs. The Cathedral and various historical buildings were heavily damaged by bombs. In April 1945, the aerodrome served as starting place of the '' Sonderkommando Elbe'' unit, only a few days before the local authorities surrendered to the US Army. On May 4, the commander of the Wehrmacht 12th Army, General

Maximilian von Edelsheim __NOTOC__ Maximilian von Edelsheim (6 July 1897 – 26 April 1994) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leave ...

, signed the capitulation document at the Stendal town hall. From 1949 until

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

in 1990, the town belonged to

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, part of

Bezirk Magdeburg The Bezirk Magdeburg was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Magdeburg. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 Octo ...

from 1952. Until 1994, the Stendal barracks served as home base for a riflemen division of the Soviet 2nd Guards Tank Army. In 1974 the construction of the Stendal Nuclear Power Plant was begun north of the town, but abandoned after reunification. In 2009 the Stendal citizens voted for the prefix ''Hansestadt'' ("Hanseatic City"). On 1 January 2010, the town Stendal absorbed the former municipalities Buchholz,

Heeren Heeren is a village and a former municipality in the Stendal (district), district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Stendal,Möringen Möringen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capit ...

, Staats,

, Volgfelde, and

. On 29 April 2010, it absorbed Vinzelberg, and on 1 September 2010 Dahlen and Insel.

Education

The Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1991 and has around 50 study programmes taught at three departments in Magdeburg and two departments in Stendal. There are approximately 130 professors with around 3,700 students in Magdeburg and 1,800 in Stendal.

Main sights

There are various well-preserved historical buildings in Stendal, e.g. the ''Tangemünde Gate'', a medieval city gate dating from 1220 and ''Uenglinger Gate'' built in the 15th century. The Powder Tower (''Pulverturm'') which was built around 1450 is a former defence tower of the medieval city wall. St. Nicholas Church was built 1423-1467 and heavily damaged by bombs in 1945. Reconstruction was started in 1946, interrupted several times and completed in 2013. The City Hall in the Market Place where a statue of Roland can be seen was built in the 14th century. ''St. Mary's Church'' with its two towers measuring 84 metres in height was inaugurated in 1447, and its altar dates from 1471. ''St. Jakobi Church'' in the northern part of the historical centre was built 1311-1477. ''St. Petri Church'' built at the end of the 13th century is the oldest church in Stendal. ''Breite Straße'' with many well-preserved medieval houses is the main street of the old city centre.

Theatre of the Altmark

The area has a theatre name
Theater der Altmark, Stendal
It was founded in 1946 and has always had a particular involvement in youth and children's theatre. Theatrical performances and dance events are staged, as well as concerts, conferences and meetings.

Winckelmann Museum

The Winckelmann Museum is named after

Johann Joachim Winckelmann Johann Joachim Winckelmann (; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. "The prophet and foundin ...

, the founder of classical

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

. Its holdings include biographical documents, works, designs and diagrams as well as

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

sculptures or casts, along with other small artworks from antiquity. Since summer 2003 the museum has been the owner of the world's biggest Trojan horse. With its size of 15.60 m high, 13 m long, 9.50 m wide and its weight of 45 tons it offers a beautiful view over Stendal. Exhibitions are held relating to archaeology and the history of art from the 18th and 19th centuries; there is also a modern art museum. The museum is the seat of the Winckelmann-Gesellschaft (the Winckelmann Society). In addition, the museum has exhibits relating to the history and cultural history of the city of Stendal and of the Altmark dating from the prehistoric period through the area's early history right up to the present. There are exhibits pertaining to the Hanseatic League,

Romanesque art Romanesque art is the art of Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic Art, Gothic style in the 12th century, or later depending on region. The preceding period is known as the Pre-Romanesque period. The term was invented by 1 ...

and local archaeological material.

Fire Brigade Museum

The town also has the '' Landesfeuerwehrmuseum'' (''Fire Brigade Museum''), showing the development of fire fighting and protection from the leather bucket to modern fire engines.

Other

Stendal is also part of the Altmark cycle path. Information and maps about this cycle path can be had for free from the tourist information office.

Traffic Connections

Stendal station is the most important interchange and rail hub in the north of Saxony-Anhalt. Located on the Berlin–Lehrte railway and the parallel Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway line, it is regularly served by

Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

and

Intercity-Express The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerl ...

(ICE) trains. Many ICE trains stop in Stendal. Berlin can be reached within 40 minutes and

within 50 minutes. A direct connection to the German

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

network is planned with the extension of the BAB 14 from Magdeburg to

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...

. The nearest inland harbour (River Elbe) is in

about 15 kms from Stendal.

Politics

Mayor

The Lord Mayor of Stendal is Klaus Schmotz (born 1952). He was elected in 2001 with 74.9% of the votes. He was re-elected in 2008 and 2015.

Local council

Seats in the town's assembly (''Stadtrat'') as of 2015

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

: * Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU): 14 * The Left: 11 *

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD): 8 * Free Democratic Party (FDP): 1 * Alliance '90/The Greens: 1 * Alternative for Germany (AfD): 1 *

Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informa ...

: 1 *

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

: 3 After allegations of falsification were raised, the 2014 elections had to be held again.

Twin towns – sister cities

Stendal is twinned with: *

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, France *

Lemgo Lemgo (; nds, Lemge, Lemje) is a small university town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser Uplands, 25 km east of Bielefeld and 70 km west of Hannover. T ...

, Germany *

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was estimated at 47,417 ...

, Poland * Svitavy, Czech Republic *

Yartsevo Yartsevo (russian: Ярцево) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Yartsevo, Smolensk Oblast, a town in Yartsevsky District of Smolensk Oblast; administratively incorporated as Yartsevskoye Urban Settlement ...

, Russia

Notable people

(1717–1768), archaeologist and art historian *

Johann Christian Dieterich Johann Christian Dieterich (1722The '' Allgemeinen Deutschen Biographie'' gives 1712, but this contradicts church records.–1800) was the founder of the Dieterich'schen Verlagsbuchhandlung publishing house and a close friend of Georg Christoph ...

(1722–1800), publisher * Rudolf Dulon (1807–1870), theologian and revolutionary *

Leo August Pochhammer Leo August Pochhammer (25 August 1841, Stendal – 24 March 1920, Kiel) was a Prussian mathematician who was educated in Berlin, obtaining his Ph.D. in 1863 under Ernst Kummer. He became a lecturer in 1874, then professor of mathematics at the ...

(1841–1920), mathematician * Otto Schoetensack (1850–1912), paleoanthropologist * Richard Zeckwer (1850–1922), composer * Max Ebert (1879–1929), prehistorian and professor *

Irina Korschunow Irina Korschunow (31 December 1925 – 31 December 2013) was a German writer. Her oeuvre comprises short stories, novels theatrical works and film scripts. Born in Stendal, she started her career as a journalist and writer for children's books an ...

(1925–2013), writer * Kurt Liebrecht (born 1936), footballer * Wilfried Klingbiel (born 1939), footballer * Gerd Gies (born 1943), politician, prime minister of Saxony-Anhalt *

Heinz-Ulrich Walther Heinz-Ulrich Walther (born 11 March 1943) is a German former pair skater who represented East Germany and the United Team of Germany in competition. With Heidemarie Steiner, he is the 1970 World bronze medalist and a three-time European bronz ...

(born 1943), figure skater * Carola Hornig (born 1962), rower

Associated with the town

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, ; ), was a 19th-century French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' (''The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de P ...

(1783–1842), French writer; lived near Stendal in 1807–08 as an official of the Napoleonic

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the ...

. According to general belief, he used the alias ''Stendhal'' from 1817 in homage to Johann Joachim Winckelmann

Honorary citizens

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

(1815–1898), chancellor, since 1872 *Friedrich Hermann Haacke (1824–1899), physician who dedicated his life to fighting against the

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemics which affected Stendal in the 19th century. The Haacke-Brunnen, a well in the Sperlingsberg quarter, honours him *

Gustav Nachtigal Gustav Nachtigal (; born 23 February 1834 – 20 April 1885) was a German military surgeon and explorer of Central and West Africa. He is further known as the German Empire's consul-general for Tunisia and Commissioner for West Africa. His missio ...

(1834–1885), doctor and explorer in Africa. He is honored with bust at the Gustav Nachtigal Square

References

External links

*
{{Authority control Towns in Saxony-Anhalt Military facilities of the Soviet Union in Germany Stendal (district) Members of the Hanseatic League