Understand
Magdeburg used to be one of the most important medieval cities of Europe.
During the Cold War era Magdeburg's population increased rapidly and the city became
a socially and economically important center of the GDR.
After the German reunification, however, most of the city's economy was shut down.
Although Magdeburg is in a continous modernization process and its cityscape changed rapidly,
it has to face the same problems like almost all cities of the same size in Eastern Germany:
a decline of population due to more attractive jobs in western Germany.
The division of Germany is still visible in some ways.
Nonetheless Magdeburg has become a modern city with numerous interesting sights of high importance and uniqueness, as well as many parks, which make Magdeburg the third greenest city in Germany.
New shopping malls and other attractions have changed the cityscape enormously. Today Magdeburg has the largest retail area in relation to its overall area of whole Germany.
Magdeburg is home of two of Germany's top ranking universities, which make it attractive
to college students from all over Europe. Other scientific insitutions, like the Max-Planck-Insitut, and one of the largest sites of the Fraunhofer Institut, make Magdeburg an important city for international research.
Today's industry includes traditional and also new branches.
The company "Röstfein" is one of the best coffee brands in eastern Germany, and the company
"Abtshof" is known for its traditional and unique vodka production. The world's first artificial
sweetener was produced in Magdeburg and is still in production. The production of wind energy is one of the newer industry branches.
Get in
Magdeburg is situated in central Germany. It is best accessible by car or train.
The east-west freeway (motorway) A2 crosses Magdeburg in the north, the A14
crosses Magdeburg on the west side and has several exits for parts of the city.
The main station in Magdeburg is called "Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof (short: Hbf.)".
This station has seven platforms. Trains arrive every minute.
The German bullet train ICE (InterCity Express) also stops at Magdeburg.
If you need to arrive by plane, you will most likely land in Berlin or Hannover
and then use the motorway A2, or you will land in Leipzig and then use the
motorway A14 or the train to get to Magdeburg, which is very convenient.
If you hitchhike or use mitfahrzentrale along the A2, ask to be dropped off or picked up at Pfahlberg (Media Markt).
Get around
Streetcars, busses and ferries use the same tickets!
Tickets for streetcars, busses and ferries are sold by the operator of the streetcar and bus services MVB (Magdeburger Verkehrsbetriebe). You can purchase tickets at box offices throughout the city (mostly in the city center), at vending machines or directly from the driver. However, tickets from the driver will be more expensive. Most box offices are closed on weekends, so keep coins for vending machines in your wallet. All tickets are valid for busses, streetcars, and ferry services, although the ferries are offered by a different operator.
Here are the MVB tickets that are relevant for most tourists:
There is also a day ticket that is valid from 9:00am for one person, which is 3.50€ (9-Uhr-Tageskarte). All day tickets are vaild until 2:00am from the time of purchase.
There is also an allround ticket for streetcar, busses, ferries, and S-Bahn that is valid
in Magdeburg and the surrounding area. This ticket called MUM-Ticket is available as a daily, weekly, and monthly pass. Tickets are available at the MVB box offices in the city center and at the Deutsche Bahn box offices in all S-Bahn/train stations! Notice that the price of this ticket is dependent on the area that you are using. Therefore you have to tell the person at the box office where you are staying and what your farthest destination from there will be. For example, if you want to use all the area from the North to the South of Magdeburg and surroundings it will be more expensive than if you choose only to use the area North from Magdeburg.
Night schedules for streetcars and busses apply from 9:00pm and go until 4:45am Monday-Friday, 6:30am on Saturdays, and 12:00 noon on Sundays. Only 3 streetcar lines and 3 bus lines are in service during this time. The streetcar night lines have the numbers 92,94, and 95. The night bus lines are 91, 93, and 96. If you need to get out of the city center at night, you might get a streetcar or bus line every three to 50 minutes (depending on the stop you are at). If you plan to go downtown at night, you may check schedules before you go, since not all outer parts are served at night. The best choice to get around in the city at night is using the taxi, rather than waiting for the next streetcar or bus.
S-Bahn service at night is limited. Trains are usually running every hour.
By streetcar (tram)
Using the streetcar is probably the easiest way for tourists to get around, since most stops are located near busy places or main attractions. Magdeburg has 10 streetcar lines plus the additional
line number 15, which is used in times of heavy traffic, or for special events.
The time you have to wait for the next streetcar to come are very different and dependent on location and day. Within the city center you barely have to wait more than five minutes for the next streetcar even on Sundays, however, at stops that serve only one or two lines you may have to wait up to ten minutes, or even twenty minutes on Saturdays and Sundays. You will find timetables at every stop. Within the city center electronic timetables are used. Night schedules are different.
By bus
Busses serve all areas of the city. Busses usually run every 20 Minutes.
The 11 bus line numbers are 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 69, 71, and 73. The bus line numbers 41-44 only operate in times of heavy traffic or for special events. You will find timetables are every stop. Night schedules are different.
By ferry
There are two ferry services that cross the river Elbe. One is the Fähre Westerhüsen and the other one is the Fähre Buckau. Ferry services are offered from March to October, Tuesdays-Sundays 10:00am to 6:00pm. Other river services are listed in the freetime section.
By taxi
Most taxis are operated by the Taxi-Genossenschaft Magdeburg eG.
When you are in town call 737373 to request a taxi at any time.
By S-Bahn
There is one S-Bahn line that crosses Magdeburg. The S-Bahn is part of the Deutsche Bahn Network and is therefore operated by the Deutsche Bahn (DB). S-Bahn train stations are shown as a white S on a green filled circle. Trains are running every 30 Minutes. Night schedules are different.
The S-Bahn is a good choice if you want to get into the city from the suburbs and if you need to get out of the city. S-Bahn stations are often connected to DB train stations.
The Magdeburger Ring (road B71) crosses Magdeburg and is the most important road.
It is like an "innercity highway". In order to get into another part of the town quickly you may use the B71 and get off at the exit you want. Using the B71 might be better if you want to avoid traffic lights and long ways through the city.
S-Bahn tickets are available at any S-Bahn station, most likely at the Magdeburg main station (Hauptbahnhof). S-Bahn tickets are sold by the Deutsche Bahn and not by the MVB!
See
The Gothic cathedral of St. Maurice and St Catherine, known as the Magdeburger Dom, is possibly the most well-known sight in the city. It was built on the remains of a roman cathedral from 1209 to 1520.
The romanesque Abbey Kloster unser lieben Frauen (Cloister Our Dear Woman), founded in the 11th century, is one of the most important romanesque buildings in Germany. Today it is, amongst other things, home to an art gallery.
Also worth seeing is St. John's Church (Johanniskirche), recently rebuilt as a multipurpose space after being severely damaged in WWII.
Do
Bike
Magdeburg is one of the greenest cities in Europe and the second greenest city in Germany.
Riding your bike in Magdeburg is a perfect freetime activity. Since most of the streets have cycle tracks on the sides you will not have any problems with taking your bike into the city. Streetcars, busses, ferries, and S-Bahn trains allow you to take your bike with you, however, you may have to purchase an extra ticket for your bike.
A very nice way to explore the idyllic nature in and around Magdeburg is using the Elberadweg.
This cycle path leads you all the way along the river Elbe and invites you to explore the unique biosphere reserve around Magdeburg. The cycle path's symbol is a white e on a blue ground. Signs guide you along the path and show you directions and distances to other towns, villages, and attractions.
Many restaurants and beer gardens are right next to the river, as well as some nice hotels, playgrounds and parks. The web site for the Elberadweg is www.elberadweg.de (partly in English).
River cruises
There are several different river cruises offered by the Magdeburger Weiße Flotte GmbH.
Here are some of the offers:
Times and current special prices can be found directly at the moorings or in the tourist information center (Ernst-Reuter Allee 12, phone: 0391/19433). Tickets can be purchased on board. Reservations are not necessary most of the time if you come early enough. If you want to reserve tickets, contact the tourist information center in the city center (address and phone above)!
Also contact the tourist information center for day-trip offers!
Sleep
For anybody coming and going, the "Zimmervermittlung" of the TouristInformationMagdeburg (TIM) should be the first adress. Their Telephone number is 0391/5404904 and their email info@magdeburg-tourist.de.
There is an International Youth Hostel at Leiterstr, directly behind the Maritim hotel.
Maritim Hotel
Otto-von-Guericke-Str. 87
39104 Magdeburg
Tel. +49 (0) 391 5949-0
Fax +49 (0) 391 5949-990
info.mag@maritim.de
http://www.maritim.de/typo3/index.php?id=696
Magdeburg, the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, lies on the Elbe river and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe. Emperor Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor lived during most of his reign in the town and was buried in the cathedral after his death.
History
Although settlement on the site had existed for centuries, the city is first mentioned in the Diedenhof Capitulary as Magadoburg, dating to 805 AD, by which the emperor Charlemagne he secured the small fishing and trading town. In 919 King Henry I the Fowler fortified it against the Magyars and Slavs. In 929 the city went to Edward the Elder's daughter Edith (Editha, Eadgyth) through her marriage with Henry's son Otto I, as a Morgengabe - a Germanic customary gift received by the new bride from the groom and his family after the wedding night. Editha had a particular love for the town and often lived there, and was buried in the abbey church crypt at her death. In 937 it was the seat of a royal assembly; the emperor also continually returned to it: he granted to the Benedictine abbey of Saint Maurice (later the cathedral) the secular tithes payable by Slavs taking refuge in three other fortresses and transferred to this his favourite foundation the bannus and the castlework services owed by the inhabitants of the surrounding countryside, which were his by imperial right. Later he was also buried in the cathedral.
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was founded in 968 at the synod of Ravenna, Adalbert of Magdeburg receiving consecration as its first archbishop. It included the bishoprics of Havelberg, Brandenburg, Merseburg, Meissen, and Zeitz-Naumburg. The archbishops played a preeminent role in the task of German colonization of the Slavic lands east of the Elbe river.
In 1035 Magdeburg received a patent giving the city the right to hold trade exhibits and conventions, the basis of the later family of city laws known as Magdeburg rights. Many visitors from many countries begin to trade in Magdeburg. In 1118 a fire almost destroyed it.
In the 13th century Magdeburg became a member of the Hanseatic League. Together with Brussels, Antwerp, Cologne, Nuremberg, Lübeck, Padua, Mantua, Cremona, Verona, Piacenza, Milan, Genoa, Florence, Metz and Strasbourg, Magdeburg was one of the cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants in the Holy Roman Empire. The town had an active maritime commerce on the west (towards Flanders), with the countries of the Baltic Sea, and maintained traffic and communication with the interior (for example Brunswick). The city had an autonomous administration form, known as Magdeburger Recht (Magdeburg Right), that later was adopted by many cities of Eastern Europe. The citizens are constantly in struggle against the archbishop, becoming nearly independent from him by the end of the 15th century.
In 1524 Martin Luther was called to Magdeburg, where he preached and caused the city's defection from Catholicism. The Reformation had found speedy adherents in the city, where Luther had been a schoolboy. Emperor Charles V repeatedly outlawed the unruly town, which had joined the Alliance of Torgau and the Schmalkaldic League. Because it had not accepted the "Interim" (1548), the city, by the emperor's commands, was besieged (1550-1551) by the Elector Maurice of Saxony, but retained its independence. The rule of the Archbishop was replaced by that of various administrators, taken from Protestant dynasties. In the following years Magdeburg gained a reputation as a stronghold of Protestantism and becomes the first major city to publish the writings of Martin Luther. Matthias Flacius and his companions write their anti-Catholic pamphlets and the Magdeburg Centuries, in which they argued that the Roman Catholic Church had become the kingdom of Anti-Christ.
In 1631, during the Thirty Years' War, imperial troops stormed the city and commit a massacre, killing about 20,000 inhabitants and burning the town in the sack of Magdeburg. The city had withstood a first siege in 1629 by Albrecht von Wallenstein. After the war only a population of 400 remained (see Sack of Magdeburg). According to the Peace of Westphalia (1648), Madgeburg was assigned to Brandenburg-Prussia after the death of the current administrator (a Saxon prince), as a semi-autonomous Duchy of Magdeburg. This occurred in 1680.
In the course of the Napoleonic Wars, the fortress surrendered to French troops in 1806. The city was annexed to the French-controlled Kingdom of Westphalia. King Jérôme appointed Count Heinrich von Blumenthal Mayor (his statue still to be seen in the Nordpark).
In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, Magdeburg was made the capital of the new Prussian Province of Saxony. In 1912 the old fortress was dismantled.
Before the World War II Magdeburg was the seat of the German section of the Watchtower Society. During the war Magdeburg (then a city of about 340,000 inhabitants) suffered near total destruction from Allied firebombing. The very impressive Gründerzeit suburbs north of the city, called the Nordfront, were destroyed as well as the city's main street with its Baroque buildings. It was the second most devastated city in Germany; only Dresden suffered more. American and Soviet troops occupied the city; however, the Americans soon left, leaving the city under Soviet stewardship.
In the postwar years, many of the remaining pre-World War II city buildings were destroyed, with only a few buildings near the Cathedral restored to their pre-war state. Prior to Reunification, many surviving Gründerzeit buildings were left uninhabited and, after years of degradation, waiting for demolition. From 1949 on until German reunification on 3 October 1990 Magdeburg belonged to the German Democratic Republic.
In 1990 Magdeburg became the capital of the new state of Saxony-Anhalt within reunified Germany. The city center was rebuilt almost exclusively in a modern style.
Main sights and Culture
Cathedral
Magdeburg's most impressive building, the Cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice, has a height of 104 m: the highest 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 and his wife Editha as well as the statues of St Maurice and St Catherine. The statue of St Maurice (ca. 1250) is one of the few where Maurice is displayed as a black man with African features holding a sword and wearing chainmail. This is surprising, in light of the fact that Maurice was an Egyptian. It is in fact the oldest depiction of a black person in Europe. St Catherine is dressed like a young teenage girl from the time of the statue's creation would have been - the equivalent to a girl in jeans and T-Shirt today. (Quite a scandal then.)
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 80 m long and 41 m wide.
The construction of the new church lasted 300 years. The cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice was the first Gothic church building of Germany. The completion of the steeples took place only in 1520.
While the cathedral was virtually the only building to survive the massacres of the Thirty Years' War, it nevertheless suffered damage in World War II. But it was soon rebuilt and completed in 1955.
The place in front of the cathedral (sometimes called "new marketplace", Neuer Markt) was occupied by an imperial palace (Kaiserpfalz), which was destroyed in the fire of 1207. The stones of the ruin served for building the cathedral. The presumptive remains of the palace were excavated in the 1960s.
Sports
Magdeburg has a proud history of sports team, with football proving the most popular. 1. FC Magdeburg currently play in the Regionalliga Nord. 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 Gladiators who were the first German team to win the EHF Champions League.
Other sights
Magdeburg is one of the major towns along the Elbe Cycle Route (Elberadweg).
In Fiction
In the best selling alternate history 1632 series by authors David Weber, Eric Flint and many others, over the first two novels, Magdeburg becomes the capital of the Confederated Principalities of Europe and later it's successor federation and republic, the United States of Europe. It's ascension begun was begun initially as a symbolic and morale building gesture by Gustavus Adolphus II angry and outraged at the Sack of Magdeburg by the putative Catholic army lead by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly and his cavalry leader, General Pappenheim.
Thereafter, Magdeburg plays more and more of a central role being both centrally located, and in a much better locale as the impact of American thoughts and ideas begin to rip through the social fabric of The Germanies. Beginning centered in the small town of Grantville, WV which becomes displaced in time into May of 1631 into southern Thuringia, the series books and action drift northward over time into Magdeburg as the collaborative writings in long and short fiction explore the cultural, sociological, religious, and developmental impact that might occur if a town of no-nonsense coal miner tough Hillbillies found themselves with the limited material resources of a small town, but modern arms and an alarmed energized populous armed with modern political, social and religious developments in the heart of the war torn Germanies in the middle of the Thirty years' war.
People
Twin towns
Trivia
External links
