Magdeburg#History

{{For timeline}}

File:Ankunft Ottos I. und Ediths in Magdeburg.jpg and his wife Edith arrive near Magdeburg (Hugo Vogel 1898, Ständehaus Merseburg).]]

Founded by Charlemagne in 805 as Magadoburg (probably from Old High German magado for big, mighty and burg for fortress{{cite web |url=http://www.onomastik.com/on_geschichte_magdeburg.php |title=Magdeburg: Jungfrau oder Groß? Der Ortsname erklärt |publisher=Onomastik.com |access-date=24 July 2010 |language=de}}), the town was fortified in 919 by King Henry the Fowler against the Magyars and Slavs. In 929 King Otto I granted the city to his English-born wife Edith as dower. Queen Edith loved the town and often resided there;{{Catholic |wstitle=Magdeburg |inline=1 |volume=9 |first=Klemens |last=Löffler}} at her death she was buried in the crypt of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Maurice, 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 tithes and to corvée labour from the surrounding countryside.

The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was founded in 968 at the synod of Ravenna; Adalbert of Magdeburg was consecrated as its first archbishop. The archbishopric under Adalbert included the bishoprics of Havelberg, Brandenburg, Merseburg, Meissen and Naumburg-Zeitz. The archbishops played a prominent role in the German colonisation of the Slavic lands east of the Elbe 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. 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 town had active maritime commerce on the west (towards Flanders), with the countries of the North Sea, and maintained traffic and communication with the interior (for example Braunschweig).

{{further|Sack of Magdeburg|Otto von Guericke|Magdeburg hemispheres}}

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 attended school in Magdeburg, where he was exposed to the teachings of the Brethren of the Common Life. In 1524, he was called to Magdeburg, where he preached and caused the city's defection from Roman Catholicism. The Protestant Reformation had quickly found adherents in the city, where Luther had been a schoolboy. Emperor Charles V repeatedly outlawed the unruly town, which had joined the League of Torgau and the Schmalkaldic League.

As it had not accepted the Augsburg Interim decree (1548), the city, by the emperor's commands, was besieged (1550–1551) by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, but it retained its independence. The rule of the archbishop was replaced by that of 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. In Magdeburg, Matthias Flacius and his companions wrote their anti-Catholic pamphlets and the Magdeburg Centuries, in which they argued that the Roman Catholic Church had become the kingdom of the Antichrist.

In 1629 the city withstood its first siege during the Thirty Years' War, by Albrecht von Wallenstein, 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.{{cite news |title=Religijski rat – "Ubili smo Boga u Magdeburgu!" |url=http://vojnapovijest.vecernji.hr/govorilo-se-ubili-smo-boga-u-magdeburgu-1055793 |publisher=Večernji list |date=28 January 2016|access-date=30 January 2016 |language=sh}}

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. This occurred in 1680.{{cite book |author=Heinrich Rathmann |title=Geschichte der Stadt Magdeburg von ihrer ersten Entstehung an bis auf gegenwärtige Zeiten |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TXkAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA238 |year=1806 |publisher=Bey dem Buchhändler Johann Adam Creutz}}{{cite book |author=Nathan Rein |title=The Chancery of God: Protestant Print, Polemic and Propaganda against the Empire, Magdeburg 1546–1551 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ReoDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |date=5 December 2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-351-89314-5 |pages=32–}}{{cite book |author1=Daniel Gehrt |author2=Johannes Hund |author3=Stefan Michel |title=Bekennen und Bekenntnis im Kontext der Wittenberger Reformation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtOFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 |date=28 January 2019 |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |isbn=978-3-647-57095-2 |pages=118–}}

File:Magdeburg.jpg's sketch of Otto von Guericke's Magdeburg hemispheres experiment]]

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 by which the existence of vacuum – hitherto hotly debated – was empirically proven, with enormous implications for the later developments of physics.{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Guericke, Otto von |volume= 12 | page= 670 |quote=...he attempted the creation of a vacuum...}}

In the 1680s, communes of French Huguenots and Walloons were founded in the city, which, as of 1700, constituted of 1,282 and 1,731 people, respectively.{{cite book|last=Muret|first=Eduard|title=Geschichte der Französischen Kolonie in Brandenburg-Preußen, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Berliner Gemeinde. Aus Veranlassung der Zweihundertjährigen Jubelfeier am 29. Oktober 1885|year=1885|location=Berlin|language=de|pages=237–245}}

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 in the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit. King Jérôme appointed Count Heinrich von Blumenthal as mayor. 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, and in 1908, the municipality Rothensee became part of Magdeburg.{{Cite web |title=City & History – Navigation md.de |url=https://www.magdeburg.de/Home/CitizenPortal/City-History/index.php?NavID=37.446&object=tx%7C115.14.2&La=2 |access-date=2021-01-20 |website=www.magdeburg.de}}

During World War I, Polish leader Józef Piłsudski and his close associate Kazimierz Sosnkowski were imprisoned in the city by Germany in 1917–1918.{{cite web|url=https://dzieje.pl/artykuly-historyczne/jozef-pilsudski-w-magdeburgu-czyli-wiezien-stanu-nr-1|title=Józef Piłsudski w Magdeburgu, czyli więzień stanu nr 1|website=Dzieje.pl|author=Waldemar Kowalski|access-date=7 November 2023|language=pl}}

During the Weimar Republic the {{langx|de|Magdeburger Tageszeitung|label=none}} was published as a local newspaper in Magdeburg.

During World War II, Magdeburg was the location of 30 forced labour detachments of the Stalag XI-A prisoner-of-war camp for some 4,500 Allied POWs,{{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Overmans|first2=Rüdiger|last3=Vogt|first3=Wolfgang|year=2022|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|page=464|isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}} a camp for Sinti and Romani people (see also Romani Holocaust),{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=2602|title=Lager für Sinti und Roma Magdeburg|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=7 November 2023|language=de}} and three subcamps of the Buchenwald concentration camp, in which mostly Jewish men and boys and Soviet, Polish and Jewish women were imprisoned.{{cite web|url=https://www.aussenlager-buchenwald.de/details.html?camp=55|title=Magdeburg (Polte, Frauen)|website=aussenlager-buchenwald.de|access-date=24 November 2023|language=de}}{{cite web|url=https://www.aussenlager-buchenwald.de/details.html?camp=57|title=Magdeburg (Polte, Männer)|website=aussenlager-buchenwald.de|access-date=24 November 2023|language=de}}{{cite web|url=https://www.aussenlager-buchenwald.de/details.html?camp=53|title=Magdeburg-Rothensee|website=aussenlager-buchenwald.de|access-date=24 November 2023|language=de}}{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=388–390|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}} In April 1945, dozens of prisoners were massacred by the Volkssturm and Hitler Youth, and surviving prisoners were sent on death marches towards the Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen concentration camps.

{{anchor|Allied air attacks}}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 centre. The death toll is estimated at 2,000–2,500. Near the end of World War II, the city of about 340,000 became capital of the Province of Magdeburg. Brabag's Magdeburg/Rothensee plant that produced synthetic oil from lignite coal was a target of the Oil Campaign of World War II. The {{lang|de|Gründerzeit}} suburbs north of the city, called the Nordfront, were destroyed as well as some of the city's main streets with its Baroque buildings.

It was occupied by 9th US Army troops on 18 April 1945 and was left to the Red Army 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.

File:Magdeburg Stadtplan 1900.jpg|Map of Magdeburg, 1900

File:Magdeburg Geschäftshaus der Magdeburger Feuerversicherungs-Gesellschaft in Magdeburg.jpg|"Breiter Weg", approx. 1900

File:Fountain and Breiter Weg, Magdeburg, Germany, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany-LCCN2002720637.jpg|"Hasselbachplatz", approx. 1900

File:Siegelmarke Kreis Versicherungskommissar - Magdeburger Land - Feuer - Societaet W0251229.jpg|Sealing stamp (1850–1923)

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-14898-0002, Magdeburg, Blick auf die zerstörte Altstadt.jpg|City center after World War II

File:MagdeburgStalinist.jpg|Magdeburg's centre has a number of Stalinist buildings from the 1950s.

In 1990 Magdeburg became the capital of the new state of Saxony-Anhalt 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.stadtentwicklung-sachsen-anhalt.de/inhalt/situation/ |title=Zur Situation der Städte |access-date=2 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102121020/http://www.stadtentwicklung-sachsen-anhalt.de/inhalt/situation/ |archive-date=2 November 2014 |url-status=dead}}

In 2005 Magdeburg celebrated its 1200th anniversary.

The city was hit by the 2013 European floods. 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 {{convert|5|m|spell=in}} above normal, about 23,000 residents had to leave their homes on 9 June.[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/10/germans-evacuated-river-elbe Thousands evacuated as Elbe bursts dam in German floods] 10 June 2013

On 20 December 2024, at least five people were killed and more than 200 injured at the Magdeburg Christmas market when a car was driven into the crowd.{{cite web|url=

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy09y32rlnxo|title=Magdeburg Christmas market attack: What we know|date=21 December 2024|work=BBC}} The suspect, who was arrested at the scene, was identified in German media as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a Saudi psychiatrist living in Germany since 2006.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy09y32rlnxo|title=Who is the suspect? What we know so far about Magdeburg market attack|date=21 December 2024|work=BBC}}

Intel will build its largest plant in Europe in the south of the city by 2027.{{cite web | url=https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-germany-magdeburg-gets-6-8bn-euros-funding | title=Intel Germany Mega Site Gets €6.8bn in European Chips Act Funding | date=7 June 2022 }}

File:Landtag-sachsen-anhalt-2012.jpg|Magdeburg is the capital and seat of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt.

File:UB Magdeburg.JPG|Library of the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg

File:Grüne Zitadelle von Magdeburg.jpg|The Green Citadel of Magdeburg, built in 2005

File:Stadion Magdeburg Luftbild 2.JPG|The MDCC-Arena - a Soccer stadium, built in 2006

File:Haus BreiterWeg Magdeburg.JPG|Restored building - Baroque architecture

Magdeburg is one of the major towns along the Elbe Cycle Route (Elberadweg). Its area is {{cvt|201.03|km2}}.{{cite web|url=https://statistik.sachsen-anhalt.de/themen/gebiet-und-wahlen/gebiet/tabellen-bodenflaeche|title=Tabellen Bodenfläche|publisher=Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt|access-date=20 November 2022}}

File:Magdeburg, administrative districts.svg

The city of Magdeburg is divided into 40 Stadtteile (districts).[https://www.magdeburg.de/PDF/Bev%C3%B6lkerung_Demografie_2021_Heft_110.PDF?ObjSvrID=37&ObjID=49447&ObjLa=1&Ext=PDF&WTR=1&_ts=1632221131 Bevölkerung & Demografie 2021], Magdeburger Statistik. Three of these, the former municipalities Beyendorf-Sohlen, Pechau and Randau-Calenberge, have a special status as Ortschaften.[https://www.magdeburg.de/PDF/Hauptsatzung_Lesefassung.PDF?ObjSvrID=37&ObjID=29045&ObjLa=1&Ext=PDF&WTR=1&_ts=1621502073 Lesefassung der Hauptsatzung der Landeshauptstadt Magdeburg] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004095435/https://www.magdeburg.de/PDF/Hauptsatzung_Lesefassung.PDF?ObjSvrID=37&ObjID=29045&ObjLa=1&Ext=PDF&WTR=1&_ts=1621502073 |date=4 October 2021 }}, 9 November 2017. The Stadtteile of Magdeburg are:

{{clear|left}}

Magdeburg has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb; Trewartha: Dobk) according to Köppen climate classification. The weather is damp and chilly in winters, with 71.7 days per year in which the minimum temperature is below the freezing point, and 15.6 days with maximum temperature below the {{Convert|0|C|F|abbr=on}} mark. Magdeburg is warm and relatively wet in summer and can sometimes become hot. Annually, 48.9 days have maximum temperature above {{Convert|25|C|F|abbr=on}}, of which 12 days have daily maximum above {{Convert|30|C|F|abbr=on}}.

On average, there are 20.9 days with thunder and 0.8 days with hail, annually. Thunder is more common in spring and summer than other times of the year, while hail exclusively occurs in spring and summer months.

The Magdeburg weather station has recorded the following extreme values:

• Its highest temperature was {{convert|38.2|C|F}} on 20 July 2022.
• Its lowest temperature was {{convert|-29.6|C|F}} on 27 January 1942.
• Its greatest annual precipitation was {{convert|831.5|mm|in|abbr=on}} in 1926.
• Its least annual precipitation was {{convert|299.8|mm|in|abbr=on}} in 1911.
• The longest annual sunshine was 2,168.1 hours in 2018.
• The shortest annual sunshine was 1,393.0 hours in 1984.

{{Weather box

|location = Magdeburg (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1881–present)

|metric first = Y

|single line = Y

|Jan record high C = 16.5

|Feb record high C = 19.9

|Mar record high C = 25.1

|Apr record high C = 31.9

|May record high C = 35.9

|Jun record high C = 37.5

|Jul record high C = 38.2

|Aug record high C = 37.9

|Sep record high C = 35.0

|Oct record high C = 28.3

|Nov record high C = 21.1

|Dec record high C = 18.1

|year record high C = 38.2

|Jan avg record high C = 11.5

|Feb avg record high C = 13.1

|Mar avg record high C = 18.1

|Apr avg record high C = 23.9

|May avg record high C = 28.1

|Jun avg record high C = 31.2

|Jul avg record high C = 32.8

|Aug avg record high C = 33.0

|Sep avg record high C = 27.4

|Oct avg record high C = 22.1

|Nov avg record high C = 15.6

|Dec avg record high C = 11.9

|year avg record high C = 34.8

|Jan high C = 4.0

|Feb high C = 5.4

|Mar high C = 9.6

|Apr high C = 15.4

|May high C = 19.6

|Jun high C = 22.7

|Jul high C = 25.0

|Aug high C = 24.9

|Sep high C = 20.2

|Oct high C = 14.4

|Nov high C = 8.3

|Dec high C = 4.8

| year high C = 14.5

|Jan mean C = 1.4

|Feb mean C = 2.1

|Mar mean C = 5.2

|Apr mean C = 9.9

|May mean C = 14.1

|Jun mean C = 17.2

|Jul mean C = 19.3

|Aug mean C = 19.0

|Sep mean C = 14.8

|Oct mean C = 10.0

|Nov mean C = 5.4

|Dec mean C = 2.3

|year mean C = 10.0

|Jan low C = -1.4

|Feb low C = -1.1

|Mar low C = 1.1

|Apr low C = 4.3

|May low C = 8.3

|Jun low C = 11.4

|Jul low C = 13.6

|Aug low C = 13.4

|Sep low C = 10.0

|Oct low C = 6.1

|Nov low C = 2.5

|Dec low C = -0.3

|year low C = 5.6

|Jan avg record low C = -10.8

|Feb avg record low C = -8.6

|Mar avg record low C = -4.7

|Apr avg record low C = -2.0

|May avg record low C = 2.2

|Jun avg record low C = 6.2

|Jul avg record low C = 9.0

|Aug avg record low C = 8.1

|Sep avg record low C = 4.4

|Oct avg record low C = -0.7

|Nov avg record low C = -3.6

|Dec avg record low C = -8.6

|year avg record low C = -13.0

|Jan record low C = -29.6

|Feb record low C = -25.7

|Mar record low C = -17.6

|Apr record low C = -6.9

|May record low C = -3.2

|Jun record low C = 0.5

|Jul record low C = 5.2

|Aug record low C = 3.8

|Sep record low C = -0.5

|Oct record low C = -8.3

|Nov record low C = -21.9

|Dec record low C = -22.6

|year record low C = -25.4

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 38.3

|Feb precipitation mm = 26.1

|Mar precipitation mm = 34.9

|Apr precipitation mm = 27.8

|May precipitation mm = 56.1

|Jun precipitation mm = 51.8

|Jul precipitation mm = 60.9

|Aug precipitation mm = 59.4

|Sep precipitation mm = 43.3

|Oct precipitation mm = 40.0

|Nov precipitation mm = 36.8

|Dec precipitation mm = 39.5

|year precipitation mm = 515.8

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 15.9

|Feb precipitation days = 13.9

|Mar precipitation days = 14.7

|Apr precipitation days = 11.4

|May precipitation days = 13.0

|Jun precipitation days = 12.6

|Jul precipitation days = 13.8

|Aug precipitation days = 13.0

|Sep precipitation days = 11.9

|Oct precipitation days = 14.2

|Nov precipitation days = 15.3

|Dec precipitation days = 16.7

|year precipitation days = 165.4

|Jan snow depth cm = 6.2

|Feb snow depth cm = 4.4

|Mar snow depth cm = 2.6

|Apr snow depth cm = 0.3

|May snow depth cm = 0

|Jun snow depth cm = 0

|Jul snow depth cm = 0

|Aug snow depth cm = 0

|Sep snow depth cm = 0

|Oct snow depth cm = 0

|Nov snow depth cm = 0.9

|Dec snow depth cm = 5.1

|year snow depth cm = 9.7

|unit snow days = 1.0 cm

|Jan snow days = 8.4

|Feb snow days = 6.3

|Mar snow days = 2.1

|Apr snow days = 0.2

|May snow days = 0

|Jun snow days = 0

|Jul snow days = 0

|Aug snow days = 0

|Sep snow days = 0

|Oct snow days = 0

|Nov snow days = 1.0

|Dec snow days = 5.0

|year snow days =

|Jan sun = 59.7

|Feb sun = 80.8

|Mar sun = 126.9

|Apr sun = 189.5

|May sun = 228.8

|Jun sun = 235.4

|Jul sun = 230.6

|Aug sun = 215.7

|Sep sun = 162.7

|Oct sun = 116.0

|Nov sun = 59.7

|Dec sun = 49.1

|year sun = 1754.8

|humidity colour = green

|Jan humidity = 84.7

|Feb humidity = 80.6

|Mar humidity = 75.9

|Apr humidity = 68.1

|May humidity = 68.3

|Jun humidity = 69.1

|Jul humidity = 68.3

|Aug humidity = 68.5

|Sep humidity = 75.1

|Oct humidity = 81.8

|Nov humidity = 86.4

|Dec humidity = 85.9

|source 1 = NCEI{{cite web

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231012163020/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Germany/CSV/Magdeburg_10361.csv

|archive-date = 12 October 2023

|url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Germany/CSV/Magdeburg_10361.csv

|title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020

|work = World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020)

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|access-date = 12 October 2023}}

|source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst / SKlima.de{{cite web

|url = http://sklima.de/datenbank_auswertung.php?tab=2

|title = Monatsauswertung

|website = sklima.de

|publisher = SKlima

|language = de

|access-date = 14 October 2024}}

}}

{{historical populations|1400|30000|1620|25000|1825|36647|1855|61500|1871|84401|1885|114291|1890|202234|1900|229667|1910|279629|1919|285856|1925|293959|1933|306894|1939|336838|1940|346600|1945|225030|1950|260305|1956|259320|1961|262437|1966|267817|1971|271906|1976|279430|1981|287362|1986|288975|1990|280536|2001|229755|2011|228144|2022|241517|footnote=Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions.

Source:Link{{Circular reference|date=August 2019}}{{cite web |title=Germany: States and Major Cities|url=https://citypopulation.de/en/germany/cities/}}}}

{{clear|left}}

As of 2021, Magdeburg has a population of about 237,000. Its population grew rapidly after the end of 19th century due to industrialization. In 1885, the population was 100,000, and doubled after only five years. Magdeburg reached its greatest population in 1940, at approximately 346,000. At that time the city was poised to become a giant metropolis, but the events of WWII changed its future. After the war, in the East Germany era, Magdeburg recovered its industrial base to a degree, particularly the Machine industry, and became one of the important cities of East Germany. In 1991, when Magdeburg became the capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, its population was about 275,000. After the German Reunification, the population of Magdeburg declined due to some loss of industries, when many residents moved to former West Germany. Since 2011, the population has stabilized at around 240,000.

The mayor of Magdeburg is independent politician 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:

{{election table}}

! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate

! rowspan=2| Party

! colspan=2| First round

! colspan=2| Second round

|-

! Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Independent politician}}|

| align=left| Simone Borris

| align=left| Independent (FDP, future!, MUT)

| 33,065

| 44.3

| 39,201

| 64.8

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}|

| align=left| Jens Rösler

| align=left| SPD/Greens

| 20,080

| 26.3

| 21,298

| 35.2

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|

| align=left| Tobias Krull

| align=left| Christian Democratic Union

| 9,327

| 12.2

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|The Left (Germany)}}|

| align=left| Nicole Anger

| align=left| The Left

| 5,230

| 6.8

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Alternative for Germany}}|

| align=left| Frank Pasemann

| align=left| Alternative for Germany

| 3,802

| 5.0

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Independent politician}}|

| align=left| Till Isenhuth

| align=left| Independent

| 1,676

| 2.2

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Free Voters}}|

| align=left| Sarah Biedermann

| align=left| Free Voters

| 1,289

| 1.7

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Alliance for Human Rights, Animal and Nature Protection}}|

| align=left| Bettina Fassl

| align=left| Animal Protection Alliance

| 1,103

| 1.4

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Die PARTEI}}|

| align=left| André Jordan

| align=left| Die PARTEI

| 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: [https://wahlergebnisse.magdeburg.de/OB2022/ City of Magdeburg]

|}

The most recent city council election was held on 9 June 2024, and the results were as follows:

{{election table}}

! colspan=2| Party

! Votes

! %

! +/-

! Seats

! +/-

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|

| align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU)

| 75,972

| 23.8

| {{increase}} 5.2

| 13

| {{increase}} 3

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Alternative for Germany}}|

| align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD)

| 72,626

| 22.8

| {{increase}} 8.4

| 13

| {{increase}} 5

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}|

| align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD)

| 47,852

| 15.0

| {{decrease}} 1.9

| 8

| {{decrease}} 1

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|The Left (Germany)}}|

| align=left| The Left (Die Linke)

| 32,549

| 10.2

| {{decrease}} 5.1

| 6

| {{decrease}} 3

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Alliance 90/The Greens}}|

| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)

| 30,119

| 9.4

| {{decrease}} 5.9

| 5

| {{decrease}} 4

|-

|

| align=left| Magdeburg Garden Party (Gartenpartei)

| 14,711

| 4.6

| {{increase}} 0.4

| 3

| {{increase}} 1

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Human Environment Animal Protection Party}}|

| align=left| Animal Protection Party (Tierschutzpartei)

| 14,328

| 4.5

| {{increase}} 1.2

| 3

| {{increase}} 1

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|

| align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP)

| 13,141

| 4.1

| {{decrease}} 1.3

| 2

| {{decrease}} 1

|-

|

| align=left| future!

| 6,984

| 2.2

| {{decrease}} 0.7

| 1

| {{decrease}} 1

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Alliance for Human Rights, Animal and Nature Protection}}|

| align=left| Animal Protection Alliance (Tierschutzallianz)

| 5,495

| 1.7

| {{increase}} 0.4

| 1

| {{steady}} 0

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Volt Germany}}|

| align=left| Volt Germany (Volt)

| 3,343

| 1.0

| New

| 1

| New

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Independent politician}}|

| align=left| Pößel (Independent)

| 809

| 0.3

| New

| 0

| New

|-

! colspan=2| Valid votes

! 319,022

! 100.0

!

!

!

|-

! colspan=2| Invalid balots

! 1,620

! 1.5

!

!

!

|-

! colspan=2| Total ballots

! 109,729

! 100.0

!

! 56

! ±0

|-

! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout

! 187,588

! 58.5

! {{increase}} 5.1

!

!

|-

| colspan=7| Source: [https://wahlergebnisse.magdeburg.de/ City of Magdeburg]

|}

{{Main|Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg}}

The Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (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 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.

File:Blick auf die Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg.JPG|Aerial view of the University area

File:Campus Tower und Fakultät für Elektro- und Informationstechnik.jpg|Campus Tower of the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg

File:UB MD innen.JPG|Magdeburg library

File:Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal (FH).jpg|Building No.1 of the University of Applied Sciences in Magdeburg

File:Konservatorium.jpg|Conservatory – "Georg-Philipp-Telemann"

File:Weihnachtsmarkt Magdeburg.jpg

Magdeburg has a municipal theatre, Theater Magdeburg.

Magdeburg is well known for the Magdeburg Christmas market, 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.{{Cite web |title=Magdeburg-Tourist – PFD |url=https://www.magdeburg-tourist.de/media/custom/557_6496_1.PDF?1572334142 |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=www.magdeburg-tourist.de}}{{Cite web |title=Christopher Street Day – Magdeburg |url=https://csdmagdeburg.de/ |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=csdmagdeburg.de}} 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).{{cite web |title=The oldest folk festival in Germany |url=https://ottopix.de/messeplatz-max-wille/ |access-date=3 October 2018 |last=Ottopix |date=2 October 2018}}

File:GETEC Arena Magdeburg.jpg]]

File:Magdeburg, Blick vom Jahrtausendturm zur Seebühne.jpg

File:Magdeburg asv2022-08 img27 Hubbrücke.jpg

• 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
• 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 – Biggest multi-purpose hall in Saxony-Anhalt, home of handball team SC Magdeburg
• halber85 – Conventions, partys, conferences
• Kunstkantine – Factory cafeteria, monthly electro-music parties
• MDCC-Arena – Home of 1. FC Magdeburg
• Messe Magdeburg – Official trade fair site
• 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
• Tessenow Loft – Conventions, partys, conferences

• Magdeburg Museum of Cultural History
• Otto-von-Guericke-Museum Lukasklause
• Jahrtausendturm
• 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

File:02 Magdeburg 004.jpg

File:Magdeburg St Petri 02.jpg

File:Eingang Zoo Magdeburg.jpg

{{Main|Cathedral of Magdeburg}}

One of Magdeburg's most impressive buildings is the Lutheran Cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice with a height of {{cvt|104|m|2}}, 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 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 {{cvt|80|m|2}} long and {{cvt|41|m|2}} wide.

The construction of the new church lasted 300 years. The cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice was the first Gothic 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.

• 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.
• 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 style influenced by Dutch architecture. It was renovated and re-opened in Oct 2005.
• Landtag; 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.
• Ruins of the greatest fortress of the former Kingdom of Prussia.
• Rotehorn-Park
• Elbauenpark containing the highest wooden structure in Germany.
• St. Sebastian's Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Magdeburg.
• St. John Church (Johanniskirche)
• The Gruson-Gewächshäuser, a botanical garden within a greenhouse complex
• The Magdeburg Water Bridge, 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 and completed in 2005.
• Jerusalem Bridge
• Zoo Magdeburg
• St. Johannis Church
• St. Petri Church, with stained glass by Charles Crodel

{{wide image|Blick von der Johanniskirche 11.jpg|1150px|align-cap=center|View to a part of the city centre, seen from the tower of the St.-Johannis Church}}

{{image frame|content={{Photomontage

| photo1a = FC Magdeburg 1.jpg

| alt1a =

| photo1b = SC Magdeburg Handball Pano 3.jpg

| alt1b =

| size = 300

| spacing =

| color = #f8f9fa

| border =

| color_border = #f8f9fa

| text =

| text_background =

| foot_montage =

}}}}

Magdeburg has a proud history of sports teams. 1. FC Magdeburg plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second division of German football. They are the only East German football club to have won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. 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. They won multiple times the Handball-Bundesliga (HBL), DHB-Pokal, DHB-Supercup, EHF European League, EHF Champions League, EHF Men's Champions Trophy and the IHF Men's Super Globe.

The discus was re-discovered in Magdeburg in the 1870s by Christian Georg Kohlrausch, a gymnastics teacher.

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}

Magdeburg is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Partnerstädte |url=https://www.magdeburg.de/Start/B%C3%BCrger-Stadt/Stadt/St%C3%A4dtepartnerschaften |website=magdeburg.de |publisher=Magdeburg |language=de |access-date=22 February 2021}}

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

• {{flagicon|BIH}} Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1977)
• {{flagicon|GER}} Braunschweig, Germany (1987)
• {{flagicon|USA}} Nashville, United States (2003)
• {{flagicon|UKR}} Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine (2008)
• {{flagicon|POL}} Radom, Poland (2008)
• {{flagicon|CHN}} Harbin, China (2008)
• {{flagicon|FRA}} Le Havre, France (2011)
• {{flagicon|ISR}} Kiryat Motzkin, Israel (2024)

{{div col end}}

File:Otto-von-Guericke-TS.jpg]]

File:Telemann.jpg]]

• Ernst Anders (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{{cite news |last=Pace |first=Eric |title=Alfons Bach, 95, Designer of Tubular Furniture |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/23/arts/alfons-bach-95-designer-of-tubular-furniture.html |work=Arts |date=23 August 1999 |access-date=1 October 2012}}
• Kurt Behrens (1884–1928), springboard diver
• Arno Bieberstein (1884–1918), swimmer
• Jessica Böhrs (born 1980), actress and singer
• Henry Busse (1894–1955), trumpeter and bandleader, emigrated to the US at 18
• Adelbert Delbrück (1822–1890), banker and lawyer
• Margarethe Düren (1904–1988), German operatic soprano
• Friedrich Ernst Fesca (1789–1826), violinist and composer
• Hans Gericke (1912–2014), architect
• Frank Giering (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 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 (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 throwing
• Anna-Maria Henckel von Donnersmarck (born 1940), political activist
• Carl Hindenburg (1820–1899), cycling official and first president of the German Cyclist Federation (DRB)
• Heinrich Jost (1889–1948), typeface designer
• Eberhard Jüngel (1934–2021), German Lutheran theologian
• Georg Kaiser (1878–1945), writer
• Nadine Kleinert (born 1975), retired shot putter, Olympic and World Championship silver medallist
• Wilhelm Kobelt (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

File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F002352-0002, Bonn, Bundestag, Pariser Verträge, Ollenhauer.jpg, Bundestag 1954]]

File:Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben.jpg 1782]]

• Ernst Lehmann (1908–1945), SPD politician, active in the resistance against Nazism
• Otto Lehmann (1900–1936), resistance fighter against Nazism
• Werner Marcks (1896–1967), lieutenant general in World War II
• Olaf Malolepski (born 1946), singer-songwriter
• Cläre Mjøen (1874–1963), German and Norwegian translator and women's rights activist
• Johann Carl Simon Morgenstern (1770–1852), philologist who coined the term Bildungsroman
• Felix von Niemeyer (1820–1871), physician, royal Württemberg personal physician
• Leo Nowak (born 1929), Roman Catholic bishop of Magdeburg (1990–2004)
• Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (born 1942), biologist, the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1991 and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995
• Oleh Kuznetsov (born 1963), Ukrainian football coach and former professional player
• Richard Ölze (1900–1980), painter
• Erich Ollenhauer (1901–1963), leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1952–1963
• Menahem Pressler (1923–2023), pianist
• Ernst Reuter (1889–1953), Mayor of Magdeburg 1931–1933, then Mayor of West Berlin in 1948–1953
• Willy Rosen (1894–1944) composer and songwriter
• Arthur Ruppin (1876–1943), Zionist thinker and leader
• Gustav Schäfer (1988–), drummer and musician for Tokio Hotel
• Ekkehard Schall (1930–2005), actor and theatre director
• Marcel Schmelzer (born 1988), footballer
• Karl Schmidt (1902–1945), resistance fighter against Nazism
• Petra Schmidt-Schaller (born 1980), actress
• Manfred Schoof (born 1936), jazz trumpeter
• Wolfgang Schreyer (1927–2017), writer
• Margarete Schön (1895–1985), stage and film actress
• Ivan Shyshkin (born 1983), Ukrainian footballer
• Kurt Singer (1886–1962), philosopher
• Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (1730–1794), American patriot
• Christoph Christian Sturm (1740–1786), preacher and author, wrote the majority of his devotional works here
• Bruno Taut (1880–1938), city architect 1921–1923, completed two housing projects in Magdeburg
• Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), composer
• Klaus Thunemann (born 1937), bassoon professor
• Henning von Tresckow (1901–1944), major general in the Wehrmacht, active in the military resistance
• Lothar von Trotha (1848–1920), military commander notorious for presiding over the near-extermination of the Herero in German South-West Africa
• Karl Wallenda (1905–1978), highwire acrobat
• Camillo Walzel (1829–1895), librettist and theatre director
• Wilhelm Weitling (1808–1871), utopian Communist
• Dieter Zahn (born 1940), double-bassist
• Dejan Zavec (born 1976), Slovenian welterweight boxer, IBF Welterweight Champion
• Heinrich Zschokke (1771–1848), author and reformer
• George William Ziemann (1809–1881), Christian missionary who served in Magdeburg in the infantry

File:Blick über Magdeburg.JPG|View over a part of Magdeburg in 2012

File:Magdeburger Dom Cathedral (40705658233).jpg|Cathedral of Magdeburg

File:Haus 60a - Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg.jpg|Main building of the university hospital

File:St. Johannis (Magdeburg-Altstadt).ajb.jpg|St.-Johannis Church

File:Hauptbahnhof MD.jpg|Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof (Central Station)

File:Opernhaus magdeburg 11.JPG|Magdeburg Opera

File:.00 1533 Magdeburg - Gebäude Justizzentrum.jpg|Judiciary center

File:Elbauenpark.jpg|View over Elbauenpark with Jahrtausendturm

File:Elbufer Magdeburg mit Dom.jpg|Elbe river in Magdeburg

File:Magdeburg Nordbrueckenzug.jpg|Jerusalem Bridges

File:Magdeburg Kanalbrücke aerial view 13.jpg|Magdeburg Water Bridge

File:Magdeburg Hasselbachplatz 2006-11-18.jpg|The Hasselbachplatz, an important transport hub

File:Allee-Center Magdeburg Innen.jpg|The "Allee-Center" shopping complex is one of seven shopping centres.

File:Magdeburg Sternbrucke 2.jpg|Embankment of the city park

File:Kulturhistorisches-Museum-Magdeburg.JPG|Museum of culture and history

File:2019-09-27 17-45 G90T3345 AL Commons Landtag.jpg|The parliament of Saxony-Anhalt

{{Portal|Germany|Europe|Geography}}

• The Magdeburg hemispheres, an experimental apparatus used to demonstrate the force of atmospheric pressure in 1656 by scientist Otto von Guericke
• Timeline of Magdeburg

{{reflist}}

{{Commons}}

{{Wikivoyage|Magdeburg}}

• [https://www.magdeburg.de/ Official website]
• [https://www.magdeburg-tourist.de/ Website for tourists]
• [https://magdeburg360.de/ Virtual city tour Magdeburg]
• [https://ottopix.de/ The city of Otto]

{{Capitals of the states of the Federal Republic of Germany}}

{{List of European capitals by region}}

{{Germany districts saxony-anhalt}}

{{Cities in Germany}}

{{Bezirke DDR Seats}}

{{Hanseatic League}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:German state capitals

Category:Martin Luther

Category:Members of the Hanseatic League

Category:Populated riverside places in Germany

Category:Populated places on the Elbe

Category:Urban districts of Saxony-Anhalt