Unseburg is a village and a former municipality in the district

Salzlandkreis Salzland is a district in the middle of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is . It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts Harz, Börde, Magdeburg, Jerichower Land, Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Mansfeld-Südharz and Saalekreis. History Th ...

, in

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 ...

. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality

Bördeaue Bördeaue is a municipality in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2010 by the merger of the former municipalities Unseburg and Tarthun.Bode River The Bode is a river in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, a left tributary of the Saale. It rises in the Harz mountains and drains them in a northerly direction. After it discharges into the Saale at Nienburg. The river is named after a legend ...

passes through Unseburg but most of the town is located on its western banks with a small

trucking Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...

business and residential area located on the eastern side. The town is also located at the northern foot of the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

Mountain Range, known for its history throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

such as the witch burnings and architecture of the area. The largest city near Unseburg is

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 ...

, which lies about 25 km northwest of the town. It sits in an ancient

riverbed A stream bed or streambed is the bottom of a stream or river (bathymetry) or the physical confine of the normal water flow ( channel). The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream banks or river banks, during all but flood ...

and is one of the oldest civilizations in all of Germany, with multiple archaeological expeditions being conducted there by scientists from around the world. On January 1, 2010, the formerly independent communities of Tarthun and Unseburg united to form the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Bördeaue Bördeaue is a municipality in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2010 by the merger of the former municipalities Unseburg and Tarthun.

History

The first historical documentation of the town of Unseburg occurs in the church records for the foundation of towns of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg on 7 June 939 with the founding of the Unseburg

Fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. The town remained one of the few surviving in the area after the destruction of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

of 1618-1648. The name ''Unseburg'' means "our castle" in Middle German - the town was once a large fortress and vital trading port due to the enormous amount of salt and

brown coal Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

in the area (the region has been known as the "Salt Land" ( de , Salzland) since Viking times). Remnants of the fortress still exist, such as the bell tower of the Lutheran church that is the last surviving watchtower belonging to the fortress. The fortress-town was destroyed in the late

after the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg ordered a raid on the town after it was taken over by

Black knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted with t ...

s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, ammunition, rockets and experimental

jet engines A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term typicall ...

were manufactured and stored outside of the town -

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...

lived there at one point. American

bombers A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an aircraf ...

tried to bomb the factories multiple times during the war but, being located underground, the targets could not be found. Nevertheless, one damaged American

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

that had not reached its targets in

Bernburg Bernburg (Saale) is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkreis district. The former residence of the Anhalt-Bernburg princes is known for its Renaissance architecture, Renaissance castle. Geography The town centre is situated ...

was forced to drop its payload on the town, damaging multiple residential houses through

firebombing Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs. In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary ...

as well as breaking several very old stained-glass windows located in the Lutheran Church. The cemetery in town contains the graves of several American and British pilots who died in combat over the skies of

Egelner Mulde Egelner Mulde is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Before 1 January 2010, it was a ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft''. The seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' is in Egeln. The ''Verba ...

(this region of Germany saw some of the heaviest

air-to-air combat Air combat manoeuvring (also known as ACM or dogfighting) is the tactical art of moving, turning and/or situating one's fighter aircraft in order to attain a position from which an attack can be made on another aircraft. Air combat manoeuvres ...

in the whole war). Towards the end of the war, Americans of the

83rd Infantry Division (United States) The 83rd Infantry Division ("Thunderbolt") was a formation of the United States Army in World War I and World War II. World War I The division was activated in September 1917 at Camp Sherman, Ohio. It was initially made up of enlisted draftees ...

occupied Unseburg. Some of the Hitler Youth of the town desired to resist but were stopped at the last minute by a senior SA Party Member who lived in the town, knowing that resistance would be futile. Fighting in the town would have assured its destruction. Because the town escaped damage, the Americans used the town as a place of respite as well as a field hospital during the battles of

and Barby in April 1945. Soon thereafter, Unseburg became part of the

British Occupation Zone The British occupation zone in Germany (German: ''Britische Besatzungszone Deutschlands'') was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. The United Kingdom along with her Commonwealth were one of the three major Allied pow ...

and finally it was given to the Russians along with the surrounding areas in exchange for the Russian-occupied half of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. All of the occupation forces ransacked the manufacturing facilities outside of the town to give them an edge in the upcoming

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

.Laudan, Dieter, and Heimatstube Club Unseburg e.V. Personal interview. 7 August 2006.

Attractions

Sights to see in the town include the

Bode River The Bode is a river in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, a left tributary of the Saale. It rises in the Harz mountains and drains them in a northerly direction. After it discharges into the Saale at Nienburg. The river is named after a legend ...

, local Park, Kamplake Lake, Frula Juice Factory, Town Museum located in the old elementary school, numerous biking trails in the area, the American

Line dance A line dance is a choreographed dance in which a group of people dance along to a repeating sequence of steps while arranged in one or more lines or rows. These lines usually face all in the same direction, or less commonly face each other.Knight, ...

Club, yearly

Christmas market A Christmas market, also known as ''Christkindlmarkt'' (literally: ''Christ Child Market'', but the term "Christkind" usually refers to an angel-like "spirit of Christmas" rather than literally the Christ Child), ''Christkindlesmarkt'', ''Chris ...

, Karnival-

Fasching A variety of customs and traditions are associated with Carnival celebrations in the German-speaking countries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. They can vary considerably from country to country, but also from one small region to another. Th ...

celebrations, and the local Lutheran Church

St. Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

(Stephan) with its 12th century Tower and Building built in 1839.

Monuments

On an open area at the crossing of Ernst-Thälmann-Straße, August-Bebel-Straße and Bäckergasse, there is a memorial to the Brown Coal mine "Johanne-Henriette" that was in operation from 1849-1963. Located in the cemetery is a monument to the dozens of soldiers from the town that were killed in World War II. There is currently a motion to restore it as well as build a new monument for the allied pilots that were buried in the area and later taken back to their home countries after the war.

Commerce

The town is home to the industrial concrete magnet-manufacturing firm FTW, a local shipping truck firm and the fruit juice factory "Frula".

Clubs

The Sport Fishing Club „Am Bodestrand“ 1922 Unseburg e.V. located in unseburg is a member of the State Association of Sport Fishermen. The club has about 100 members from the local area and even from the distant Harz Mountain region. Club-available waters include the 13 hectare Kamplake, the 8 hectare Westerwiese, the 2.5 hectare Holl´sche Brook, and the Bode River area between the Wolmirsleben Stappen-bridge and the Rothenförde retaining dam. Active in the local town history is the Heimatstube Club Unseburg e.V. with its headquarters on "Schulstrasse". The Heimatstube Club runs the town museum as well in the recently closed elementary school.

Coat of arms

The

Coat of Arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of Unseburg to the right is defined as the following: "Emblazoned in red with a silver

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

with

tinned Tinning is the process of thinly coating sheets of wrought iron or steel with tin, and the resulting product is known as tinplate. The term is also widely used for the different process of coating a metal with solder before soldering. It is most ...

walls and two tinned towers. The fortress is to have a black gate and two black windows. At the foot of the shield is the blue Bode river and black wave-lines." It was redesigned by Jörg Mantzsch, a well known student of

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...

living in Magdeburg. Unseburg's flag is three-striped with the colors blue-silver/white-red and has the Coat of Arms emblazoned upon it. {{Authority control Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Salzlandkreis