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Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
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 th ...
. The city is situated at 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 Re ...
river.
Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...
, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg, was buried in the city's
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
after his death. Magdeburg's version of German town law, known as
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 ...
, spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe. In the
Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...
, Magdeburg was one of the largest and most prosperous German cities and a notable member of the Hanseatic League. One of the most notable people from the city is Otto von Guericke, famous for his experiments with the
Magdeburg hemispheres The Magdeburg hemispheres are a pair of large copper hemispheres, with mating rims. They were used to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure. When the rims were sealed with grease and the air was pumped out, the sphere contained a vacuum a ...
. Magdeburg has been destroyed twice in its history. The Catholic League sacked Magdeburg in 1631, resulting in the death of 25,000 non-combatants, the largest loss of the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
. During the
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 opposing ...
the Allies bombed the city in 1945 and destroying much of it. After World War II the city belonged to the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...
from 1949 to 1990. Since then many new construction projects were implemented and old buildings have been restored. In 2005 Magdeburg celebrated its 1.200th anniversary. Magdeburg is situated on Autobahn 2 and Autobahn 14, and hence is at the connection point of the
East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
(
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
and beyond) with the West of Europe, as well as the North and South of Germany. For the modern city, the most significant industries are: the
Machine industry The machine industry or machinery industry is a subsector of the industry, that produces and maintains machines for consumers, the industry, and most other companies in the economy. This machine industry traditionally belongs to the heavy indust ...
,
Healthcare industry The healthcare industry (also called the medical industry or health economy) is an aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, ...
,
Mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...
,
Environmental technology Environmental technology (envirotech) or green technology (greentech), also known as '' clean technology'' (''cleantech''), is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic devi ...
, Circular economy,
Logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...
,
Culture industry The term culture industry (german: Kulturindustrie) was coined by the critical theorists Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895–1973), and was presented as critical vocabulary in the chapter "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment ...
,
Wood industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry -- when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. furnit ...
and the
Information and communications technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications ( telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...
. The city is the location of two
universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
, the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and the
Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences The Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences is a public university of applied sciences with two locations. One location is situated in Magdeburg, the capital city of Saxony-Anhalt and the other one is located in Stendal. History Since t ...
.


History


Early years

Founded by
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
in 805 as Magadoburg (probably from
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
''magado'' for ''big'', ''mighty'' and ''burga'' for ''fortress''), the town was fortified in 919 by King Henry the Fowler against the Magyars and Slavs. In 929 King
Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...
granted the city to his English-born wife
Edith Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and var ...
as
dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law. ...
. Queen Edith loved the town and often resided there; at her death she was buried in the crypt of the
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
abbey of
Saint Maurice Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that martyred group. He is the ...
, later rebuilt as the cathedral. In 937, Magdeburg was the seat of a royal assembly. Otto I repeatedly visited Magdeburg, establishing a convent here about 937 and was later buried in the cathedral. He granted the abbey the right to income from various tithes and to
corvée Corvée () is a form of unpaid, forced labour, that is intermittent in nature lasting for limited periods of time: typically for only a certain number of days' work each year. Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state for the purposes of ...
labour from the surrounding countryside. The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was founded in 968 at the synod of
Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...
;
Adalbert of Magdeburg Adalbert of Magdeburg (c. 91020 June 981), sometimes incorrectly shortened to "Albert", known as the Apostle of the Slavs, was the first Archbishop of Magdeburg (from 968) and a successful missionary to the Polabian Slavs to the east of what is ...
was consecrated as its first archbishop. The archbishopric under Adalbert included the bishoprics of
Havelberg Havelberg () is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Havel, and part of the town is built on an island in the centre of the river. The two parts were incorporated as a town in 1875. It has a populati ...
,
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a 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 area of 29,480 sq ...
,
Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a dioces ...
, Meissen and Naumburg-Zeitz. The archbishops played a prominent role in the German colonisation of the Slavic lands east 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 Re ...
river. In 1035 Magdeburg received a patent giving the city the right to hold trade exhibitions and conventions. This formed the basis of German town law to become known as the
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 ...
. These laws were adopted and modified throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Visitors from many countries began to trade with Magdeburg. The town was burnt down in 1188. In the 13th century, Magdeburg became a member of the Hanseatic League. With more than 20,000 inhabitants Magdeburg was one of the largest cities in the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
. The town had active maritime commerce on the west (towards
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
), with the countries of the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
, and maintained traffic and communication with the interior (for example Brunswick).


Reformation

The citizens constantly struggled against the archbishop, becoming nearly independent from him by the end of the 15th century. Around Easter 1497, the then twelve-year-old
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
attended school in Magdeburg, where he was exposed to the teachings of the
Brethren of the Common Life The Brethren of the Common Life (Latin: Fratres Vitae Communis, FVC) was a Roman Catholic pietist religious community founded in the Netherlands in the 14th century by Gerard Groote, formerly a successful and worldly educator who had had a religio ...
. In 1524, he was called to Magdeburg, where he preached and caused the city's defection from Roman Catholicism. The
Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
had quickly found adherents in the city, where Luther had been a schoolboy. Emperor
Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...
repeatedly outlawed the unruly town, which had joined the League of Torgau and the
Schmalkaldic League The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century. Although created for religious motives soon after the start of the Reformation, its members later came to ...
. As it had not accepted the
Augsburg Interim The Augsburg Interim (full formal title: ''Declaration of His Roman Imperial Majesty on the Observance of Religion Within the Holy Empire Until the Decision of the General Council'') was an imperial decree ordered on 15 May 1548 at the 1548 Diet ...
decree (1548), the city, by the emperor's commands, was besieged (1550–1551) by
Maurice, Elector of Saxony Maurice (21 March 1521 – 9 July 1553) was Duke (1541–47) and later Elector (1547–53) of Saxony. His clever manipulation of alliances and disputes gained the Albertine branch of the Wettin dynasty extensive lands and the electoral dignity. ...
, but it retained its independence. The rule of the archbishop was replaced by that of various administrators belonging to Protestant dynasties. In the following years, Magdeburg gained a reputation as a stronghold of Protestantism and became the first major city to publish the writings of
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
. In Magdeburg,
Matthias Flacius Matthias Flacius Illyricus (Latin; hr, Matija Vlačić Ilirik) or Francovich ( hr, Franković) (3 March 1520 – 11 March 1575) was a Lutheran reformer from Istria, present-day Croatia. He was notable as a theologian, sometimes dissenting strong ...
and his companions wrote their anti-Catholic pamphlets and the ''
Magdeburg Centuries The ''Magdeburg Centuries'' is an ecclesiastical history, divided into thirteen ''centuries'', covering thirteen hundred years, ending in 1298; it was first published from 1559 to 1574. It was compiled by several Lutheran scholars in Magdeburg, kn ...
'', in which they argued that the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
had become the kingdom of the
Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form)1 John ; . 2 John . ...
. In 1629 the city withstood its first siege during the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, by
Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...
, a Protestant convert to Catholicism. However, in 1631, imperial troops under Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, stormed the city and massacred the inhabitants, killing about 20,000 and burning the city. After the war, a population of only 4,000 remained. Under the Peace of Westphalia (1648), Magdeburg was to be assigned to Brandenburg-Prussia after the death of the administrator August of Saxe-Weissenfels, as the semi-autonomous
Duchy of Magdeburg The Duchy of Magdeburg (german: Herzogtum Magdeburg) was a province of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1680 to 1701 and a province of the German Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1807. It replaced the Archbishopric of Magdeburg after its secula ...
. This occurred in 1680. The city made an astonishingly quick recovery, due especially to the energy and dedication of its mayor Otto von Guericke, who was also a noted scientist. Just six years after the end of the terribly destructive war, Magdeburg was the scene of the famous scientific experiment known as The ''
Magdeburg hemispheres The Magdeburg hemispheres are a pair of large copper hemispheres, with mating rims. They were used to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure. When the rims were sealed with grease and the air was pumped out, the sphere contained a vacuum a ...
'' by which the existence of
vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or " void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often di ...
- hitherto hotly debated - was empirically proven, with enormous implications for the later developments of physics.


19th century

In the course of 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 ...
, the fortress surrendered to French troops in 1806. The city was annexed to the French-controlled
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 ...
in the 1807
Treaty of Tilsit The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by French Emperor Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Napoleon and Russian Emperor Alexander, when ...
. King Jérôme appointed Count Heinrich
von Blumenthal The von Blumenthal family are Lutheran and Roman Catholic German nobility, originally from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other (unrelated) families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families (quite a few of them Je ...
as mayor. In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, Magdeburg was made the capital of the new
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. In 1912, the old fortress was dismantled, and in 1908, the municipality Rothensee became part of Magdeburg.


20th century

In 1912, the old fortress was dismantled, and in 1908, the municipality Rothensee became part of Magdeburg. Magdeburg was heavily bombed by British and American air forces during the Second World War. The RAF bombing raid on the night of 16 January 1945 destroyed much of the city. The death toll is estimated at 2,000–2,500. Near the end of
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 opposing ...
, the city of about 340,000 became capital of the
Province of Magdeburg The Province of Magdeburg (german: Provinz Magdeburg) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Free State of Prussia within Nazi Germany from 1944 to 1945. The provincial capital was Magdeburg. The province was created on 1 July 1944 out of ...
.
Brabag Brabag (Braunkohle Benzin AG) was a German firm, planned in 1933 and operating from 1934 until 1945, that distilled synthetic aviation fuel, diesel fuel, gasoline, lubricants, and paraffin wax from lignite. It was an industrial cartel firm closely ...
's Magdeburg/Rothensee plant that produced synthetic oil from lignite coal was a target of the Oil Campaign of World War II. The impressive ''
Gründerzeit (; "founders' period") was the economic phase in 19th-century Germany and Austria before the great stock market crash of 1873. In Central Europe, the age of industrialisation had been taking place since the 1840s. That period is not precisely ...
'' suburbs north of the city, called the Nordfront, were destroyed as well as the city's main street with its Baroque buildings. It was occupied by
9th US Army The Ninth Army is a field army of the United States Army, garrisoned at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy. It is the United States Army Service Component Command of United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM or AFRICOM). Activated just eight weeks bef ...
troops on 18 April 1945 and was left to the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
on 1 July 1945. Post-war the area was part of the Soviet Zone of Occupation and many of the remaining pre-World War II city buildings were destroyed, with only a few buildings near the cathedral and in the southern part of the old city being restored to their pre-war state. Before the reunification of Germany, many surviving ''Gründerzeit'' buildings were left uninhabited and, after years of degradation, waiting for demolition. From 1949 until German reunification on 3 October 1990, Magdeburg belonged to the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...
. Magdeburg Stadtplan 1900.jpg, Map of Magdeburg, 1900 Magdeburg Geschäftshaus der Magdeburger Feuerversicherungs-Gesellschaft in Magdeburg.jpg, "Breiter Weg", approx. 1900 Fountain and Breiter Weg, Magdeburg, Germany, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany-LCCN2002720637.jpg, "Hasselbachplatz", approx. 1900 Siegelmarke Kreis Versicherungskommissar - Magdeburger Land - Feuer - Societaet W0251229.jpg, Sealing stamp (1850–1923) Bundesarchiv Bild 183-14898-0002, Magdeburg, Blick auf die zerstörte Altstadt.jpg, Magdeburg after World War II Magdeburg, Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945 CL3459.jpg, Destroyed Magdeburg MagdeburgStalinist.jpg, Magdeburg's centre has a number of Stalinist buildings from the 1950s.


Since German reunification

In 1990 Magdeburg became the capital of the new state of
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 th ...
within reunified Germany. Huge parts of the city and its centre were also rebuilt in a modern style. Its economy is one of the fastest-growing in the former East German states. In 2005 Magdeburg celebrated its 1200th anniversary. The city was hit by
2013 European floods Extreme flooding in Central Europe began after several days of heavy rain in late May and early June 2013. Flooding and damages primarily affected south and east German states (Thuringia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony, Bavaria and Baden-W ...
. Authorities declared a state of emergency and said they expected the Elbe river to rise higher than in 2002. In Magdeburg, with water levels of above normal, about 23,000 residents had to leave their homes on 9 June.
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
will build its largest plant in Europe in the south of the city by 2027. Landtag-sachsen-anhalt-2012.jpg, Magdeburg is the capital and seat of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt UB Magdeburg.JPG, Library of the
Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg The Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg () (''OvGU'') was founded in 1993, making it one of the youngest universities in Germany. The university is located in Magdeburg, the Capital city of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 13.000 students in nine ...
Grüne Zitadelle von Magdeburg.jpg, The Green Citadel of Magdeburg, built in 2005 Stadion Magdeburg Luftbild 2.JPG, The MDCC-Arena - a Soccer stadium, built in 2006 Haus BreiterWeg Magdeburg.JPG, Restored building -
Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...
City-Carr%C3%A9.jpg, Shopping complex - City Carré Hegelstraße 41 (Magdeburg).jpg, Restored building -
Renaissance Revival architecture Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...


Geography

Magdeburg is one of the major towns along the Elbe Cycle Route (Elberadweg). Its area is .


Districts

The city of Magdeburg is divided into 40 ''
Stadtteil A quarter is a section of an urban settlement. A quarter can be administratively defined and its borders officially designated, and it may have its own administrative structure (subordinate to that of the city, town or other urban area). Such a ...
e'' (districts).Bevölkerung & Demografie 2021
Magdeburger Statistik.
Three of these, the former municipalities Beyendorf-Sohlen, Pechau and Randau-Calenberge, have a special status as ''Ortschaften''.Lesefassung der Hauptsatzung der Landeshauptstadt Magdeburg
9 November 2017.
The ''Stadtteile'' of Magdeburg are: * Alt Olvenstedt * Alte Neustadt * Altstadt * Barleber See * Berliner Chaussee * Beyendorfer Grund * Beyendorf-Sohlen * Brückfeld * Buckau * Cracau * Diesdorf * Fermersleben * Gewerbegebiet Nord * Großer Silberberg * Herrenkrug * Hopfengarten * Industriehafen * Kannenstieg * Kreuzhorst * Leipziger Straße * Lemsdorf * Neu Olvenstedt * Neue Neustadt * Neustädter Feld * Neustädter See * Nordwest * Ottersleben * Pechau * Prester * Randau-Calenberge * Reform * Rothensee * Salbke * Stadtfeld Ost * Stadtfeld West * Sudenburg * Sülzegrund * Werder * Westerhüsen * Zipkeleben


Climate

Magdeburg has a
Humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(Dfb) bordering on an oceanic climate (Cfb) according to
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
.


Demographics


Population development

Population development since 1400:


Politics


Mayor

The current mayor of Magdeburg is
independent politician An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...
Simone Borris since 2022. The most recent mayoral election was held on 24 April 2022, with a runoff held on 8 May, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Simone Borris , align=left,
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 ...
( FDP, future!,
MUT Mut, also known as Maut and Mout, was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush in present-day North Sudan. In Meroitic, her name was pronounced mata): 𐦨𐦴. Her name means ''mother'' in the ancient Egyptian l ...
) , 33,065 , 44.3 , 39,201 , 64.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Jens Rösler , align=left,
SPD 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 t ...
/ Greens , 20,080 , 26.3 , 21,298 , 35.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Tobias Krull , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 9,327 , 12.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Nicole Anger , align=left, The Left , 5,230 , 6.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Frank Pasemann , align=left, Alternative for Germany , 3,802 , 5.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Till Isenhuth , align=left,
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 ...
, 1,676 , 2.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Sarah Biedermann , align=left,
Free Voters Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...
, 1,289 , 1.7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Bettina Fassl , align=left, Animal Protection Alliance , 1,103 , 1.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, André Jordan , align=left,
Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazi ...
, 860 , 1.1 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 76,432 ! 99.6 ! 60,508 ! 99.4 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 302 ! 0.4 ! 340 ! 0.6 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 76,734 ! 100.0 ! 60,848 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 189,916 ! 40.4 ! 189,471 ! 32.1 , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Magdeburg


City council

The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 55,969 , 18.6 , 6.6 , 10 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...
(SPD) , 50,794 , 16.9 , 8.5 , 9 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , 46,127 , 15.4 , 4.8 , 9 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 45,922 , 15.3 , 6.9 , 9 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , 43,200 , 14.4 , 9.6 , 8 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 16,157 , 5.4 , 2.1 , 3 , 1 , - , , align=left, Magdeburg Garden Party (Gartenpartei) , 12,709 , 4.2 , 2.3 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Human Environment Animal Protection The Human Environment Animal Protection Party (german: Partei Mensch Umwelt Tierschutz, short form: Animal Protection Party, german: Tierschutzpartei, links=no) is a political party in Germany, founded in 1993. In 2014 one candidate was elected ...
(Tierschutzpartei) , 9,871 , 3.3 , 1.2 , 2 , 1 , - , , align=left, future! , 8,651 , 2.9 , 0.9 , 2 , 1 , - , , align=left, Alliance for Magdeburg (BfM) , 4,384 , 1.5 , 0.1 , 1 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance for Human Rights, Animal and Nature Protection (Tierschutzallianz) , 4,061 , 1.4 , 1.0 , 1 , 1 , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazi ...
, 2,548 , 0.8 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 300,393 ! 100.0 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 101,994 ! 98.5 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 1,547 ! 1.5 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 103,541 ! 100.0 ! ! 56 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 193,826 ! 53.4 ! 15.1 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Magdeburg


Education

The
Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg The Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg () (''OvGU'') was founded in 1993, making it one of the youngest universities in Germany. The university is located in Magdeburg, the Capital city of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 13.000 students in nine ...
(German: Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg) was founded in 1993 and is one of the newest universities in Germany. The university in Magdeburg has about 13,000 students in nine faculties. There are 11,700 papers published in international journals from this institute. The
Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences The Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences is a public university of applied sciences with two locations. One location is situated in Magdeburg, the capital city of Saxony-Anhalt and the other one is located in Stendal. History Since t ...
was founded in 1991. There are 30 direct study programs in five departments in Magdeburg and two departments in Stendal. The university has more than 130 professors and approximately 4,500 students at Magdeburg and 1,900 at Stendal. Blick auf die Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg.JPG, Aerial view of the University area Campus Tower und Fakultät für Elektro- und Informationstechnik.jpg, Campus tower of the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg UB MD innen.JPG, Magdeburg library Hochschule Magdeburg.jpg, Aerial view of the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal (FH).jpg, Building No.1 of the University of Applied Sciences in Magdeburg


Culture and architecture


Entertainment

Magdeburg has a municipal theatre,
Theater Magdeburg Theater Magdeburg is the principal theatre organization in Magdeburg, Germany, the capital of the state Saxony-Anhalt. It was formed in 2004 with the merger of two theatres, the Theater der Landeshauptstadt (Theatre of the state capital) and the ' ...
. Magdeburg is well known for its
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 ...
, which is an attraction for 1.5 million visitors every year. Other events are the ''Stadtfest'', '' Christopher Street Day'', ''Elbe in Flames'', and the ''Europafest Magdeburg''. The autumn fair (formerly men's fair) of Magdeburg goes back to Germany's oldest folk festival. The tradition dates back to September 1010, when the holy feast of the Theban Legion was celebrated in Magdeburg (then called Magathaburg).


Event venues

* Altes Theater am Jerichower Platz – Former theater, used for parties and large conferences * AMO – Culture and congress building * Buttergasse - Night club near the city centre at "Alter Markt" – house-, electro, pop and black music *
Cathedral of Magdeburg Magdeburg Cathedral (german: Magdeburger Dom), officially called the Cathedral of Saints Maurice and Catherine (german: Dom zu Magdeburg St. Mauritius und Katharina), is a Protestant cathedral in Germany and the oldest Gothic cathedral in the cou ...
* Concert hall Georg Philipp Telemann at "Kloster unser lieben Frauen" * Factory – Former factory building, German and international pop, rock, metal, and indie music artists are featured * Festung Mark – Part of the former city fortification, now reconstructed for parties and conventions * Feuerwache – Former fire station, repurposed for events *
GETEC Arena The GETEC Arena (until 2011: ''"Bördelandhalle"'') is an indoor sporting arena located in Magdeburg, Germany. The maximum capacity of the arena is 8,071 people for handball games and 8,820 for boxing matches. It is the current home to SC Magde ...
– Biggest multi-purpose hall in Saxony-Anhalt, home of handball team
SC Magdeburg SC Magdeburg is a handball club from Magdeburg, Germany, and is competing in the Handball-Bundesliga. History During the time in the GDR, the club won 10 national championships (1970, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991) an ...
* halber85 - Conventions, partys, conferences * Kunstkantine – Factory cafeteria, monthly electro-music parties * MDCC-Arena – Home of 1. FC Magdeburg * Messe Magdeburg - Official trade fair site * Paulus Church * Prinzzclub – Night club at Halberstädter Straße – house-, electro, and black music * Seebühne at Elbauenpark * Stadthalle – Concert hall * Studentenclub Baracke - Night club especially for students - house-, electro, rock, pop, indie and black music * St. Johannis Church * St. Petri Church, with stained glass by Charles Crodel * Tessenow Loft - Conventions, partys, conferences


Museums

* Magdeburg Museum of Cultural History * Otto-von-Guericke-Museum Lukasklause *
Jahrtausendturm Jahrtausendturm (german: millennium tower) is, at , one of the highest wooden towers in the world. It was established on the occasion of the Bundesgartenschau 1999 in the Magdeburger Elbauenpark in Magdeburg, Germany. The tower houses an exhib ...
* Magdeburg Museum of Nature * Magdeburg Museum of Technology * Art Museum in the Monastery of Our Lady * Magdeburg Circus Museum * Magdeburg Hairdressing Museum * Steamboat Württemberg - a museum ship


Architecture


Cathedral

One of Magdeburg's most impressive buildings is the
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
Cathedral of Saints
Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...
and
Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
with a height of , making it the tallest church building of eastern Germany. It is notable for its beautiful and unique sculptures, especially the "Twelve Virgins" at the Northern Gate, the depictions of
Otto I the Great Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of Hen ...
and his wife Editha as well as the statues of St Maurice and St Catherine. The predecessor of the cathedral was a church built in 937 within an abbey, called St. Maurice. Emperor Otto I the Great was buried here beside his wife in 973. St. Maurice burnt to ashes in 1207. The exact location of that church remained unknown for a long time. The foundations were rediscovered in May 2003, revealing a building long and wide. The construction of the new church lasted 300 years. The cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice was the first
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
church building in Germany. The building of the steeples was completed as late as 1520. While the cathedral was virtually the only building to survive the massacres of the Thirty Years' War, it suffered damage in World War II. It was soon rebuilt and completed in 1955. The square in front of the cathedral (also called the ''Neuer Markt'', or "new marketplace") was occupied by an imperial palace (''Kaiserpfalz''), which was destroyed in the fire of 1207. The stones from the ruin were used for the building of the cathedral. The presumed remains of the palace were excavated in the 1960s.


Other sights

* ''Unser Lieben Frauen ''Monastery (Our Lady), 11th century, containing the church of St. Mary. Today a museum for Modern Art. Home of the National Collection of Small Art Statues of the GDR (Nationale Sammlung Kleinkunstplastiken der DDR). * The ''Magdeburger Reiter'' ("Magdeburg Rider", 1240), the first free-standing equestrian sculpture north of the Alps. It probably depicts the Emperor
Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...
. * City hall (1698). This building had stood on the market place since the 13th century, but it was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War; the new city hall was built in a
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
style influenced by Dutch architecture. It was renovated and re-opened in Oct 2005. *
Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...
; the seat of the government of Saxony-Anhalt with its Baroque façade built-in 1724. * Monuments depicting Otto von Guericke (1907), Eike von Repkow and
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben (born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also referred to as Baron von Steuben (), was a Prussian military officer who ...
. * Ruins of the greatest fortress of the former
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
. * Rotehorn-Park * Elbauenpark containing the highest wooden structure in Germany. *St. Sebastian's Cathedral, the seat of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Magdeburg The Diocese of Magdeburg is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, located in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Its seat is Magdeburg; it is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Paderborn. The Diocese was erected out of Paderborn terr ...
. * St. John Church (Johanniskirche) * The Gruson-Gewächshäuser, a
botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
within a greenhouse complex * The
Magdeburg Water Bridge The Magdeburg Water Bridge (german: Kanalbrücke Magdeburg) is a large navigable aqueduct in central Germany, located near Magdeburg. The largest canal underbridge in Europe, it spans the river Elbe and directly connects the Mittelland Canal, Mitt ...
, Europe's longest water bridge * "Die Grüne Zitadelle" or The Green Citadel of Magdeburg, a large, pink building of a modern architectural style designed by
Friedensreich Hundertwasser Friedrich Stowasser (15 December 1928 – 19 February 2000), better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser (), was an Austrian visual artist and architect who also worked in the field of environmental protection ...
and completed in 2005. * Jerusalem Bridge * Zoo Magdeburg


Sports

Magdeburg has a proud history of sports teams, with
Association Football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
proving the most popular. 1. FC Magdeburg currently plays in the
2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...
, the second division of German football. They are the only East German football club to have won the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...
. The now-defunct clubs SV Victoria 96 Magdeburg and Cricket Viktoria Magdeburg were among the first football clubs in Germany. There is also the very successful handball team,
SC Magdeburg SC Magdeburg is a handball club from Magdeburg, Germany, and is competing in the Handball-Bundesliga. History During the time in the GDR, the club won 10 national championships (1970, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991) an ...
. They won multiple times the Handball-Bundesliga (HBL),
DHB-Pokal The DHB-Pokal (English: German Handball Federation Cup) is an elimination handball tournament held annually in Germany. It is the second most important handball national title in the country after the Handball-Bundesliga The Handball-Bund ...
,
DHB-Supercup The DHB-Supercup (English: German Handball Supercup) is an handball tournament held annually between the Handball-Bundesliga The Handball-Bundesliga (HBL) is the top German professional handball league. From 2007 onwards, the league was spon ...
,
EHF European League The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previ ...
,
EHF Champions League The Men's EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men ...
,
EHF Men's Champions Trophy The EHF Champions Trophy (named IHF Supercup between 1979 and 1983, named EHF Supercup between 1996 and 2007) was an official annual club competition of the European Handball Federation, that was contested until 2008. History Regarded as one of t ...
and the
IHF Men's Super Globe The Men's Super Globe is a handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands ...
. The discus was re-discovered in Magdeburg in the 1870s by Christian Georg Kohlrausch, a gymnastics teacher.


Twin towns – sister cities

Magdeburg is twinned with: *
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1977) *
Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...
, Germany (1987) * Nashville, United States (2003) *
Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a populat ...
, Ukraine (2008) *
Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975 ...
, Poland (2008) * Harbin, China (2008) *
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
, France (2011)


People


A–K

* Max Albert (1905–1976), writer *
Ernst Anders Ernst Anders (26 March 1845, Magdeburg – 1911, Mölln) was a German painter. He began his artistic education as a private student of Andreas Müller then, in 1863, enrolled at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he studied with Rudolf Wie ...
(1845–1911), portrait and genre painter * Richard Assmann (1845–1918), meteorologist * Theodor Avé-Lallemant (1806–1890), music critic and writer on music * Alfons Bach, (1904–1999), industrial designer *
Kurt Behrens Kurt Behrens (November 26, 1884 – February 5, 1928) was a German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German ...
(1884–1928), springboard diver *
Arno Bieberstein Arno Bieberstein (October 24, 1884 in Magdeburg – July 7, 1918 in Magdeburg) was a German backstroke swimmer who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London ...
(1884–1918), swimmer * Jessica Böhrs (born 1980), actress and singer *
Henry Busse Henry Busse Sr. (May 19, 1894 – April 23, 1955) was a German-born jazz trumpeter. A 1948 review in ''Billboard'' magazine said that Busse had "a keen sense of musical commercialism". Early life Born May 19, 1894, in Magdeburg, Germany, t ...
(1894–1955), trumpeter and bandleader, emigrated to the US at 18 * Adelbert Delbrück (1822–1890), banker and lawyer * Friedrich Ernst Fesca (1789–1826), violinist and composer * Hans Gericke (1912–2014), architect *
Frank Giering Frank Giering (23 November 1971 – 23 June 2010) was a German actor. Biography Giering studied at the HFF Potsdam. He starred in a production of '' The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole'' and was cast by Austrian filmmaker, Michael Haneke for the ...
(1971–2010), actor * Harry Giese (1903–1991), actor and spokesman in Nazi newsreels * Georg Gradnauer (1866–1946), newspaper editor and politician * Alfred Grünberg (1901–1942), worker, KPD member and resistance fighter against Nazism * Otto von Guericke (1602–1686), mayor and inventor of the
Magdeburg hemispheres The Magdeburg hemispheres are a pair of large copper hemispheres, with mating rims. They were used to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure. When the rims were sealed with grease and the air was pumped out, the sphere contained a vacuum a ...
. The Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg is named after him * Carl Gustav Friedrich Hasselbach (1809–1882), mayor and member of the Prussian House of Lords; a square in the centre of Magdeburg is named after him * Ulrike Helzel, soprano * Gottlieb von Haeseler (1701–1752), entrepreneur in the Duchy of Magdeburg *
Ingolf Huhn Ingolf Huhn (born in 1955) is a German opera manager and theatre director. Life Born in Magdeburg, after the Abitur Huhn studied opera direction in Berlin, musicology in Leipzig and theology. Afterwards he was a master student at the Academy ...
(born 1955), theatre and opera manager * Hartmann Wilhem Otto (1876–1960), immigrated to the US, where he changed his name to William Hartman and served as a Rough Rider in the Spanish–American War together with Theodore Roosevelt * Christian Georg Kohlrausch (1851–1934), gymnastics teacher and re-discoverer of
discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...
ing * Carl Hindenburg (1820–1899), cycling official and first president of the German Cyclist Federation (DRB) *
Heinrich Jost Heinrich Jost (13 October 1889 – 27 September 1948) was a German typographer and graphic designer. He was the art director of the Bauer Type Foundry from 1923 until 1948. Biography Jost was born in 1889 to a bookbinder father in Magdeburg, wher ...
(1889–1948), typeface designer * Eberhard Jüngel (1934–2021), German Lutheran theologian *
Georg Kaiser Friedrich Carl Georg Kaiser, called Georg Kaiser, (25 November 1878 – 4 June 1945) was a German dramatist. Biography Kaiser was born in Magdeburg. He was highly prolific and wrote in a number of different styles. An Expressionist dramatist, ...
(1878–1945), writer * Nadine Kleinert (born 1975), retired shot putter, Olympic and World Championship silver medallist *
Wilhelm Kobelt Wilhelm Kobelt (20 February 1840 – 26 March 1916) was a German zoologist born in Alsfeld, Grand Duchy of Hesse. He specialized in the field of malacology. Kobelt is remembered for his work as curator of the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt am ...
(1865–1927), member of the Reichstag and local politician in Magdeburg * Rolf Kohnert (born 1938), engineer, 3 times Australian masters cycling champion * Stefan Kretzschmar (born 1973), handball player and Olympic medallist * Hans Kühne (1880–1969), chemist on the board of I.G. Farben and defendant during the Nuremberg trials


L–Z

*Ernst Lehmann (1908–1945), SPD politician, active in the resistance against Nazism *Otto Lehmann (1900–1936), resistance fighter against Nazism *
Werner Marcks Werner Marcks (17 July 1896 – 28 July 1967) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several armoured divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Awards and decorations ...
(1896–1967), lieutenant general in World War II *
Olaf Malolepski Die Flippers (The Flippers) were a German Schlager group formed in 1964. They were one of the most successful Schlager groups of all time, and have been constantly recording and releasing new music since their self-titled debut album was relea ...
(born 1946), singer-songwriter * Johann Carl Simon Morgenstern (1770–1852), philologist who coined the term
Bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is import ...
*
Felix von Niemeyer Felix von Niemeyer (31 December 1820 – 14 March 1871) was a German internist born in Magdeburg. He was the grandson of theologian August Hermann Niemeyer (1754–1828). Biography He studied medicine at the University of Halle and in 1844 st ...
(1820–1871), physician, royal Württemberg personal physician * Leo Nowak (born 1929), Roman Catholic bishop of Magdeburg (1990–2004) *
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Christiane (Janni) Nüsslein-Volhard (; born 20 October 1942) is a German developmental biologist and a 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate. She is the only woman from Germany to have received a Nobel Prize in the sciences. N ...
(born 1942), biologist, the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1991 and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995 * Richard Ölze (1900–1980), painter *
Erich Ollenhauer Erich Ollenhauer (27 March 1901 – 14 December 1963) was the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1952 until 1963. He was a key leader of the opposition to Konrad Adenauer in the Bundestag. In exile under the Nazis, he re ...
(1901–1963), leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1952–1963 *
Menahem Pressler Menahem Pressler ( he, מנחם פרסלר; born 16 December 1923) is a German-born Israeli-American pianist. Pressler is Jewish. Following Kristallnacht, he and his immediate family fled Nazi Germany in 1939,
(born 1923), pianist * Ernst Reuter (1889–1953), Mayor of Magdeburg 1931–1933, then Mayor of West Berlin in 1948–1953 *
Willy Rosen Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...
(1894–1944) composer and songwriter *
Arthur Ruppin Arthur Ruppin (1 March 1876 – 1 January 1943) was a German Zionist proponent of pseudoscientific race theory and one of the founders of the city of Tel Aviv.Todd Samuel Presner, ’German Jewish Studies in the Digital Age:Remarks on Discipline ...
(1876–1943), Zionist thinker and leader *
Ekkehard Schall Ekkehard Schall (29 May 1930 in Magdeburg – 3 September 2005 in Berlin) was a German stage and screen actor/director. He was one of the best-known interpreters of Brecht's works and together with Helene Weigel a member of the Berliner ...
(1930–2005), actor and theatre director *
Marcel Schmelzer Marcel Schmelzer (; born 22 January 1988) is a German former professional footballer who last played as a left-back for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, serving as captain from 2016 to 2018. He was capped by Germany at international level. A ...
(born 1988), footballer *Karl Schmidt (1902–1945), resistance fighter against Nazism *
Petra Schmidt-Schaller Petra Schmidt-Schaller (born 28 August 1980) is a German actress. She is noted for the roles of ''Helene'' in '' Runaway Horse'' alongside Ulrich Noethen, Ulrich Tukur and Katja Riemann, and ''Maud Brewster'' in '' The Sea Wolf'' (2008 ProSieb ...
(born 1980), actress *
Manfred Schoof Manfred Schoof (born 6 April 1936) is a German jazz trumpeter. Career Schoof was born in Magdeburg, Germany, and studied music in Kassel and Cologne, where one of his teachers of the big band leader Kurt Edelhagen. Schoof performed on Edelhagen ...
(born 1936), jazz trumpeter *
Wolfgang Schreyer Wolfgang Schreyer (20 November 1927 – 14 November 2017) was a German writer of fiction, historic adventures mixed with documentary, science fiction for TV shows and movies and is best known as the author of over 20 adventure stories. Life ...
(1927–2017), writer *
Margarete Schön Margarete Schön (born Margarethe Schippang; 7 April 1895 – 26 December 1985) was a German stage and film actress whose career spanned nearly fifty years. She is internationally recognized for her role as Kriemhild in director Fritz Lang's '' Di ...
(1895–1985), stage and film actress * Ivan Shyshkin (born 1983), Ukrainian footballer * Kurt Singer (1886–1962), philosopher *
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben (born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also referred to as Baron von Steuben (), was a Prussian military officer who ...
(1730–1794), American patriot *
Christoph Christian Sturm Christoph Christian Sturm (1740–1786) was a German preacher and author, best known for his ''Reflections on the Works of God in Nature''. The son of Johann Jakob Sturm, a lawyer, at Augsburg, was born at Augsburg, January 25, 1740. He studied a ...
(1740–1786), preacher and author, wrote the majority of his devotional works here *
Bruno Taut Bruno Julius Florian Taut (4 May 1880 – 24 December 1938) was a renowned German architect, urban planner and author of Prussian Lithuanian heritage ("taut" means "nation" in Lithuanian). He was active during the Weimar period and is know ...
(1880–1938), city architect 1921–1923, completed two housing projects in Magdeburg *
Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hild ...
(1681–1767), composer * Klaus Thunemann (born 1937), bassoon professor *
Henning von Tresckow Henning Hermann Karl Robert von Tresckow (; 10 January 1901 – 21 July 1944) was a German military officer with the rank of major general in the German Army who helped organize German resistance against Adolf Hitler. He attempted to assassina ...
(1901–1944), major general in the ''Wehrmacht'', active in the military resistance *
Lothar von Trotha General Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha (3 July 1848 – 31 March 1920) was a German military commander during the European new colonial era. As a brigade commander of the East Asian Expedition Corps, he was involved in suppressing the Boxe ...
(1848–1920), military commander notorious for presiding over the near-extermination of the Herero in
German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...
*
Karl Wallenda Karl Wallenda (; January 21, 1905 – March 22, 1978) was a German-American high wire artist and founder of The Flying Wallendas, a daredevil circus act which performed dangerous stunts, often without a safety net. Personal life Wallenda was bor ...
(1905–1978), highwire acrobat * Camillo Walzel (1829–1895),
librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
and theatre director *
Wilhelm Weitling Wilhelm Christian Weitling (October 5, 1808 – January 25, 1871) was a German tailor, inventor, radical political activist and one of the first theorists of communism. Weitling gained fame in Europe as a social theorist before he emigrated t ...
(1808–1871), utopian Communist * Dieter Zahn (born 1940), double-bassist * Dejan Zavec (born 1976), Slovenian welterweight boxer, IBF Welterweight Champion *
Heinrich Zschokke Johann Heinrich Daniel Zschokke (22 March 177127 June 1848) was a German, later Swiss, author and reformer. Most of his life was spent, and most of his reputation earned, in Switzerland. He had an extensive civil service career, and wrote hist ...
(1771–1848), author and reformer * George William Ziemann (1809–1881), Christian missionary who served in Magdeburg in the infantry


Gallery

Blick über Magdeburg.JPG, View over a part of Magdeburg in 2012 Magdeburger Dom Cathedral (40705658233).jpg,
Cathedral of Magdeburg Magdeburg Cathedral (german: Magdeburger Dom), officially called the Cathedral of Saints Maurice and Catherine (german: Dom zu Magdeburg St. Mauritius und Katharina), is a Protestant cathedral in Germany and the oldest Gothic cathedral in the cou ...
Haus 60a - Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg.jpg, Main building of the university hospital St. Johannis (Magdeburg-Altstadt).ajb.jpg, St.-Johannis Church Kirchentrio Magdeburg.jpg, The three churches on the banks of the Elbe river Hauptbahnhof MD.jpg,
Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof (German for Magdeburg main station, sometimes translated as Magdeburg Central Station) is the main railway station in the city of Magdeburg in the northern part of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Importance The station ...
(Central Station) Opernhaus magdeburg 11.JPG, Magdeburg Opera Magdeburg Hundertwasserhaus.jpg, The Grüne Zitadelle (Green Citadel) .00 1533 Magdeburg - Gebäude Justizzentrum.jpg, Judiciary center Elbauenpark.jpg, View over Elbauenpark with
Jahrtausendturm Jahrtausendturm (german: millennium tower) is, at , one of the highest wooden towers in the world. It was established on the occasion of the Bundesgartenschau 1999 in the Magdeburger Elbauenpark in Magdeburg, Germany. The tower houses an exhib ...
Elbufer Magdeburg mit Dom.jpg,
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 Re ...
river in Magdeburg Magdeburg Alter Markt mit Rathaus.jpg, City Hall with Sankt-Johannis-Church Magdeburg Nordbrueckenzug.jpg, Jerusalem Bridges Saxonia bei Dämmerung in Magdeburg.jpg, The Elbe in Magdeburg Magdeburg Kanalbrücke aerial view 13.jpg,
Magdeburg Water Bridge The Magdeburg Water Bridge (german: Kanalbrücke Magdeburg) is a large navigable aqueduct in central Germany, located near Magdeburg. The largest canal underbridge in Europe, it spans the river Elbe and directly connects the Mittelland Canal, Mitt ...
Magdeburg Hasselbachplatz 2006-11-18.jpg, The Hasselbachplatz, an important transport hub Gruson-Gewächshäuser Außen.JPG, Gruson-Gewächshäuser Magdeburger Reiter Gruppe im Museum.jpg, The Magdeburger Reiter (Magdeburg equestrian) Allee-Center Magdeburg Innen.jpg, The "Allee-Center" Shopping complex is one of seven shopping centres Magdeburg Sternbrucke 2.jpg, Embankment of the city park Kulturhistorisches-Museum-Magdeburg.JPG, Museum of culture and history 2019-09-27 17-45 G90T3345 AL Commons Landtag.jpg, The parliament of Saxony-Anhalt


See also

* The
Magdeburg hemispheres The Magdeburg hemispheres are a pair of large copper hemispheres, with mating rims. They were used to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure. When the rims were sealed with grease and the air was pumped out, the sphere contained a vacuum a ...
, an experimental apparatus used to demonstrate the force of
atmospheric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, ...
in 1656 by scientist Otto von Guericke * Timeline of Magdeburg


References


External links


Official website

Official website for tourists

Virtual city tour Magdeburg

The city of Otto
{{Authority control German state capitals Martin Luther Members of the Hanseatic League Populated riverside places in Germany Populated places on the Elbe