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Magdeburg is beautifully situated on the banks of the river Elbe and is a city with many sights, beautiful parks and a rich history that can be seen and experienced in several places in the center. The city is of course also known for the Magdeburg Rights, which was a collection of city laws with great influence on the government of many European cities.
The cathedral dominates Magdeburg’s skyline, and it is one of the city’s most famous buildings. The church was founded by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, who is today buried in the cathedral. He established Magdeburg as the first capital of the German territory, and it added status and development in Magdeburg through the centuries.
There are several old churches and monasteries in Magdeburg, which are also characterized by beautiful and interesting buildings from more recent times. You can see many examples from the Gründerzeit era and from the magnificent 1950s architecture of the GDR. It is also in Magdeburg that you can enjoy Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s last project, the Green Citadel.
Today, Magdeburg is the capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, and there is much to see in the vicinity of the city. It is not far to the large waterway junction where a canal crosses the Elbe. The Harz mountain range with its cozy towns is not far away either, just as you can easily reach the Bauhaus in Dessau, the town of Halle and Luther’s Wittenberg.
Magdeburger Dom is the city’s cathedral, and it is officially called Dom zu Magdeburg St. Mauritius and Katharina. The church stands as the dominant building in Magdeburg’s skyline with its twin towers, which can be seen from afar. The original church on the site was founded in 937 as an abbey with funding from King Otto, who later became Holy Roman Emperor. Otto’s church was built using, among other things, columns that the king had acquired from the Western Roman Empire.
Otto expanded the church in 955, and the church gained the status of a cathedral. In 968, Emperor Otto made the cathedral the seat of an archbishop, despite its location on the eastern border of the kingdom. This was due to the plans for the spread of both Christianity and the Teutonic Roman Empire to the east. The plans were not completed and Otto died in 973, after which he was buried in the cathedral next to his wife, who had died in 946.
The cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1207, and Archbishop Albrecht I von Käfernburg decided to demolish almost all the preserved parts in order to build a new cathedral instead. The fire in 1207 also destroyed the emperor’s palace, which was immediately north of the cathedral. There was also another church next to the cathedral, which burned down, and the ruins of it were used as materials for the new cathedral.
The archbishop had traveled and had found inspiration in France for the construction of the new cathedral, which became Germany’s first Gothic cathedral. Construction of the choir began in 1209, and here the Romanesque building style was still evident. After a few decades, the Gothic style became increasingly dominant in the large building, which was continuously expanded in relation to the original plans. Construction stopped several times, but it was finished in 1520, when the cross was placed on the northern tower.
Shortly after completion, the Reformation rolled around. Martin Luther preached in the cathedral in 1524, and after that several of the area’s small churches became Protestant. In the cathedral, the first Protestant service was held in 1567. During the following centuries, Magdeburg was, among other things, attacked during the Thirty Years’ War and given to Napoleon, whose French troops used the cathedral as a warehouse and stable building. During World War II, the cathedral was fortunately largely saved from the Allied bombing of the city.
Today you can visit the cathedral, which features two towers of approximately 100 meters in height and an impressive church room, the dimensions of which give 32 meters to the ceiling. You can see the Gothic room, but you can also notice the transition from Romanesque to Gothic architecture several times, where the craftsmen learned the Gothic during construction. You can also see a lot of art in the church, such as Ernst Barlach’s Magdeburger Ehrenmal and of course Emperor Otto’s tomb as a highlight.
Breiter Weg is Magdeburg’s main street, and the street was formerly built up with beautiful mansions and bourgeois houses in the Baroque style. The street was one of the most beautiful baroque streets in Germany until the destruction of the Second World War, which unfortunately took a toll on both the street and the center of Magdeburg. The street was re-established and it connects Universitätsplatz in the north with Hasselbachplatz in the south. Along the way, it passes the city center.
Despite the destruction during the war, there is much to see along the Breiter Weg. The houses numbered 178 and 179 are the only ones that have been preserved in Baroque style, and they stand as examples of the street’s past. In the GDR era, the street was built with many new features, and to the north you can see buildings and city plans from that time. This is also where Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s Grüne Zitadelle is located, and to the south there are many beautiful houses from the Gründerzeit period.
Grüne Zitadelle is a building that was completed in 2005 as the last of the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s many large and famous projects. The Nikolaikirche church stood on the site until 1959, when the church ruins were demolished. A house in plattenbau was built instead. The plan was for Hundertwasser to rebuild the plattenbau building, but instead it was chosen to construct his design as a beautiful new building.
Like other of the Austrian artist’s buildings, Grüne Zitadelle is a completely different building from all others. Spires and towers complement Magdeburg’s old skyline, and materials, shapes and play of colors are a feast for the eyes when you come to the work. One can walk through inner courtyards and see Grüne Zitadelle’s shining golden spheres, fragrant flower meadows and dancing windows.
The Magdeburger Reiter is an equestrian statue that dates from the middle of the 13th century. A masterpiece of European Gothic, it stands in a sort of lantern alongside two statues of maidens. Originally, the equestrian statue had different colors before it was gilded in the 17th century. The statue stands in the Alter Markt square and is a copy of the original, which can be seen in Magdeburg’s Museum of Cultural History.
The sculpture group with the Magdeburger Reiter was made in sandstone. The rider sits upright on his horse and parries it with his left hand while his right hand is extended. The fine clothes and the crown identify the rider as ruler. The two female figures show the maidens who were part of the ruler’s visibility to his people, and one of them carries a shield, while the other has carried a flag lance.
The presence of the Magdeburger Reiter is due to the fact that Magdeburg in those days was an important border region towards the more eastern Slavic settlement area. Since the time of Otto I, there had been a so-called Imperial Palatinate in the city by Magdeburg’s cathedral. It is not known who the Magdeburger Reiter personifies, but the connection with the imperial residence is obvious. The location on the city’s old market suggests that the rider is Emperor Otto I.
Ulrichplatz is one of Magdeburg’s beautiful squares, where you can see fine facilities and beautiful architecture from the early GDR era. After the Second World War bombings, ruins fell around the square, where the destroyed Ulrichskirche also stood. The church gave its name to the square, but it was demolished in 1956 as one of a total of eight damaged churches in the years following the end of World War II.
Instead of the destroyed buildings, the GDR government chose to build grand housing blocks. They were built in beautiful Stalinist architecture and inaugurated in 1951. During this time, the square was laid out as a grand parade ground, which you can clearly see from the imposing style. Since the GDR era, the square has become smaller with the construction of the Ulrichshaus, which was built in 1998.
The Altes Rathaus is Magdeburg’s old town hall, known from 1244, but which has been destroyed by fires and wars over the centuries. As a result, it is not the original 13th-century town hall that you can see today. However, the basement has been preserved as the restaurant Ratskeller, one of the city’s many cozy places to eat.
In 1293, the town hall burned, which was rebuilt the same year with arcades and a large meeting hall, emphasizing the bourgeois influence on the city. The town hall was again burned down during the 17th century’s Thirty Years’ War, and it was not rebuilt until 1713. Magdeburg grew, and so did the city’s administration. Therefore, the Neues Rathaus was built north of the Altes Rathaus in the years 1905-1907.
Both town hall buildings were destroyed during Allied air raids in 1944 and 1945, and therefore the Altes Rathaus had to be rebuilt again, and the new town hall building was also rebuilt. The Altes Rathaus was completed in 1979 in the same style and appearance as the building from 1713.
There are several things to see at and in front of the town hall. In addition to the beautiful facade of the Altes Rathaus, you can see sculptor Heinrich Apel’s bronze door, which shows scenes from Magdeburg’s history. In front of the town hall stands the gilded Magdeburger Reiter, and close to this you can see the Magdeburg Roland statue, erected in 2005. The statue symbolizes the city’s freedom and independence, and Magdeburg’s first Roland is known from 1419.
The Dommuseum Ottonianum is Magdeburg’s cathedral museum, which was opened in 2018. Before 2018, Magdeburg did not have a cathedral museum like many other cities, but with the extensive excavations in the years 2001-2010, the idea of a museum emerged where the results of the excavations could be exhibited. The establishment was decided, and the city’s old national bank building from 1921-1923 was chosen as the seat of the museum.
At the museum, you can experience exciting parts of Magdeburg’s history with a focus on three exhibitions about Emperor Otto I and Queen Editha, the archbishopric seat of Magdeburg and about archaeological finds in and around the beautiful cathedral, which is located immediately next to the museum.
Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen is an exciting museum for both medieval and contemporary art, which is housed in the old Vor Frau Kloster. The monastery was founded in the years 1015-1018, and it is Magdeburg’s oldest preserved building. The monastery also stands as one of the most beautiful examples of Romanesque architecture in Germany, just as it was for a time the country’s most important monastery for the Premonstratensian order.
In the beautiful setting there are many things to see; both building-wise and in the museum’s changing exhibitions. The focus of the collection is art from 1945 to the present day, and there are works in particular in the genres of sculptures, media art and photographs. There is also a historical collection that includes sculptural works from Antiquity through the Middle Ages to the Baroque. You can also see the area around the monastery complex, which since 1989 has been designed as a sculpture park, which extends into Magdeburg’s old town.
The Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg is a museum that was founded in 1906 as the art-historical Kaiser-Friedrich Museum. The museum building was then also built 1901-1906 to house this museum and its collections of arts and crafts. It was the Viennese architects Friedrich Ohmann and August Kirstein who designed the centrally located building.
The cultural history museum’s focus is the dissemination of various parts of Magdeburg’s history and culture. There are many exciting themes in the exhibitions, which include archaeological collections, paintings, handicrafts, coins, medals and much else that can contribute to the description of the city’s history.
You can, for example, visit the exhibition Magdeburg – Die Geschichte einer Stadt, which is an interesting journey through the history of Magdeburg. It is also here that you can see the original statue of the Magdeburger Reiter, which dates from the 13th century and is a masterpiece of European Gothic. The statue stands in the beautiful Kaiser-Otto-Saal. The Magdeburger Reiter is an ensemble consisting of three statues. They stood for centuries on the Alter Markt, where you can see replicas of the old statues set up today.
The Landtag von Sachsen-Anhalt is the seat of the Landtag, which makes up the parliaments of the German federal states. When Saxony-Anhalt became a new federal state in reunified Germany, Magdeburg was chosen as the state capital ahead of Halle. With Magdeburg’s status as the capital, there is therefore also a country day in the city. The building complex with the Landtag consists of four connected houses with baroque facades facing the Domplatz, and the Landtag’s meeting hall is located as a new building against the complex’s courtyard environment.
The beautiful building with baroque facades was mainly built in the 1720s, and then it consisted of separate residence buildings. The residential building with the address Domplatz 7 belonged to the wine merchant Johann Christian Winneberg, while Domplatz 8 consisted of apartments. Domplatz 9 was home to the Prussian architect Cornelius von Walrave. During the Second World War, the three houses were damaged, and they were rebuilt 1953-1958 together with Domplatz 6, which was built with a similar baroque facade as the other houses. The houses were converted into country houses in the 1990s.
Hasselbachplatz is a beautiful square located at the southern end of the main street Breiter Weg. The square was laid out after the demolition of Magdeburg’s fortifications in the 19th century, and on the square and in the streets around it you can see fine buildings in the so-called Gründerzeit style, which was characterized by rich decorations, where both classical elements and national romanticism were used.
When Magdeburg’s fortifications were breached, new suburbs were developed south of the center, which were connected to the city center by the Breiter Weg, which was extended here. This created the square, which was named after Carl Gustav Friedrich Hasselbach, who was mayor of Magdeburg for many years. From 1890 to 1927, the Hasselbachbrunnen fountain stood on the square, but it was moved for traffic reasons, and a reconstruction can be seen today on Haydnplatz.
Opernhaus is the name of Magdeburg’s opera house, which opened in 1907 as the Central Theater. On the stage, you could enjoy variety shows until it became the stage for operettas from 1922. At that time, the Stadttheater Magdeburg was the city’s opera stage, where you could enjoy the performances in a period-typical 1870s from the floor and balconies.
During WWII, both the Centraltheater and the Stadttheater were destroyed. Large parts of the facade and outer walls of the Centraltheater remained, and the theater was rebuilt and opened as the Maxim-Gorki-Theater in 1950. It evolved into the current Opernhaus, while the Stadttheater was never rebuilt.
Schauspielhaus is a playhouse in Magdeburg which is one of the city’s theater venues, but the building started in a different way. The theater has a past as a residence, as it was built as Villa Klausemann, which was the residence of the industrialist Ferdinand Friedrich August Klausemann.
In 1906, the association Harmonie-Gesellschaft acquired the residence, which on that occasion was rebuilt for various social purposes such as dance and music and as a large meeting place. From the end of World War II, the building was temporarily used as a theater, which later became permanent.
In the past, it was at the Stadttheater Magdeburg that the city’s citizens primarily saw theater performances. It was a classic theater building, built in 1873-1878 and furnished in the beautifully ornate style of the day. The Stadttheater was destroyed during World War II and the ruins of the theater were demolished in 1958.
Stadtpark Rotehorn is a park located on the island of Großer Werder in the Elbe in central Magdeburg. The park was laid out in the years 1871-1874 with lawns, plantings and promenade paths. It was extended to the present area in 1898, and it is today one of the most beautiful English landscape gardens in Germany.
There are also several attractions in Stadtpark Rotehorn. This concerns, for example, the Stadthalle concert and congress building from 1926-1927, which is a beautiful architectural example of the Neue Bauen style, where the idea was to develop a completely new building form through rationalization and typification, the use of new materials and materials and to ensure an objective and simple interior design.
At the Stadthalle is the observation tower Albinmüller-Turm, which was also built in 1926-1927. The tower is also a work of the Neue Bauen style, and the 60 meter high tower was designed by the architect Albin Müller. From the top you can experience a panoramic view of Magdeburg. Close to this is the museum paddle steamer Württemberg from 1909, which was built to sail the Elbe.
Elbauenpark is a large park with green areas and various activities. The park was created in connection with the exhibition Bundesgartenschau 1999 and is located on either side of Herrenkrugstraße. It is divided into the Kleiner Anger and Großer Anger areas, and there are several things to see and do besides enjoying the green areas that lie down to the Elbe.
The park is not least known for the characteristic Jahrtausendturm tower. The tower is 60 meters high, it is built of wood and contains an exhibition about man’s time and development. You can also take walks through the many different gardens in the park, visit playgrounds and much more.
Wasserstraßenkreuz Magdeburg is an impressive bridge where a ship canal crosses the Elbe and thereby connects the Elbe-Havel-Kanal and the Mittelland-Kanal. The canals are already connected to the Elbe, but with the installation of the Wasserstraßenkreuz Magdeburg, ships can sail directly from canal to canal via the 918 meter long Kanalbrücke Magdeburg. This saves a detour of 12 kilometers via the Elbe.
There were already plans for the construction of the large river and canal crossing at the beginning of the 20th century, and preliminary works and several lifting works were built before the work came to a standstill during World War II and in the subsequent GDR period, when the east was not prioritized -west connection. With German reunification, the project became interesting again as a water transport route between Hanover and Berlin, and Kanalbrücke Magdeburg was completed in 2003.
Today, you can look at the great work of engineering for yourself. Kanalbrücke Magdeburg was built with sidewalks, so that you can walk or cycle over the bridge, from which there is a fine perspective over the Elbe and the canal bridge, and thereby you can really see the waterways in two floors. West of the bridge you can see the area with Schleuse Rothensee and Schiffshebewerk Rothensee, where the canal connects to the Elbe.
Quedlinburg is a town located immediately north of the Harz mountain range. The city has existed since at least 922, when it was mentioned the first time. According to legend, Heinrich der Vogler was offered the German crown in Quedlinburg in 919. Heinrich also founded the town’s castle, which Emperor Otto expanded later that century. Quedlinburg grew and it became a member of the Hanseatic League in 1426. The beautiful old town center was built with many half-timbered houses, and it has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Today, Quedlinburg is one of the nicest and best-preserved towns of its kind. You can see everything from half-timbered houses from many centuries to examples of Art Nouveau from the decades around 1900. The oldest of the countless half-timbered houses is the Ständerbau from 1347, and you can also see the Klopstockhaus from 1570, where the poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was born in 1724. In the center you should walk to the central Quedlinburger Marktplatz, where you can see the city’s town hall, among other things.
Another highlight of Quedlinburg is literally the hill Schlossberg, where the famous Stiftskirche St. Servatius church is located next to the city’s castle. St. Servatius is the city’s cathedral, and it mainly dates from 1070-1124. At the castle, you can visit the Schlossmuseum, where you can see the stately rooms and exhibitions about the historic Quedlinburg. Heinrich der Vogler is also buried in Stift Quedlinburg.
You can also go to Quedlinburg’s fine railway station, which is a good starting point for trips on the narrow-gauge railways that form the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen. From Quedlinburg you can take the Selketalbahn to, for example, the interesting town of Harzgerode or to Eisfelder Talmühle, where you can change to the Harzquerbahn. It is a railway that you can take to Wernigerode or Drei Annen Hohne, and from here you can take the Brockenbahn to Brocken, which at 1,141 meters is the highest point in the Harz mountain range.
Bauhaus was a world-famous school of design and applied architecture that existed in the years 1919-1933. The school was founded by Walter Gropius in the city of Weimar, and it moved to Dessau in 1925 and was moved again to Berlin in 1932. Walter Gropius was the principal of the Bauhaus school from the beginning until 1928, and Hannes Meyer and then Ludwig Mies van der Rohe were the following principals.
It was the political climate in Germany that moved the school several times and thereby the Bauhaus activities. Criticism of the school’s modernist views meant that the school for political reasons and due to reduced funding, chose to move from the conservative Weimar to the social democratic Dessau in 1925. The Nazi regime in the city put an end to the Bauhaus in the city in 1932, after the party had won the local elections the year before. Mies van der Rohe moved the school to Berlin, but here too the school was closed by the political system.
Despite the closures, the Bauhaus school achieved fame and became one of the most influential institutions of modernism and functionalism. The graphic design and typography created at the Bauhaus also greatly influenced the development of modern graphic design. You can see more of this in Dessau, where you can visit the Bauhaus Museum Dessau.
The museum is located in the center of the city, where you can see the old Bauhaus school a little to the northwest, and in the southern suburb of Törten is an entire district created by Walter Gropius. You can also go to the northern part of the city, where the Elbe flows, and here you can see the Kornhaus, which is open as a restaurant.
Halle is one of the largest cities in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is located on the river Saale and was historically known for a large production of salt, which fed the city’s economy. Halle later became a member of the Hanseatic League, and in the 16th century the city became one of the important places for Martin Luther’s reformation. Today, Halle is the home of the educational institution Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg.
Halle is a city with many sights and a beautiful old quarter. The center is the square Marktplatz, and you can e.g. see the Marktkirche from the 16th century and the unique Roter Turm, which is the city’s landmark. Roter Turm was primarily built in the 15th century as a tower for a now historic church on the site. As a detail, you can see Halle’s Roland statue at the Roter Turm, and the city’s beautiful town hall is also located on the Marktplatz.
Wittenberg is a city located on the banks of the Elbe. It was mentioned in 1180, and in 1260 it became the residence of the Dukes of Saxony-Wittenberg. In the following centuries, Wittenberg became an important trading town, and from the end of the 15th century the Electors of Saxony made new developments. The best example was Frederik III’s founding of Wittenberg University in 1502. The university attracted people from outside town, and one of them was Martin Luther.
Martin Luther became a professor at the university, and he developed theological views on, among other things, the church and man’s relationship with God. One of the decisive points for him was the Catholic Church’s use of indulgences. Luther distanced himself from the indulgences and the teaching about the role of the pope and the councils, and in doing so he triggered the Reformation over the years, which separated the Protestant churches from the Catholic.
Luther formulated his views in 95 theses, which he posted on the door of the Schlosskirche church. The theses had also been sent to Albrecht of Brandenburg and the Bishop of Brandenburg, but Martin Luther also posted them on the church door to start an academic discussion. The diplomat Christoph Scheurl translated the theses into German and published them, and they spread in Germany and Europe at fast pace.
Wittenberg became world-renowned as the place where the Reformation started, and there are several sights in the city. The Schlosskirche was built 1496-1506, and it was here that Luther posted his theses in 1517. The church’s original door has not been preserved, but you can see the the Theses Door, which was inserted in 1858. The church is worth seeing, and in the interior you can see Martin Luther’s grave as one of the highlights. The Schlosskirche is today included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
You can also see the Lutherhaus, which was Martin Luther’s residence and place of study in the years before and after the Reformation. Today, the house is a museum, where you can see several belongings and objects from Luther’s life and deeds. The Lutherhaus was built in 1504 as part of Wittenberg’s university, and on a tour you can see some of the interior, such as the Lutherstube living room.
Ernst-Reuter-Allee 11
allee-center-magdeburg.de
Kantstraße 3
city-carre-magdeburg.de
Olvenstedter Graseweg 37
florapark-center.de
Breiter Weg 128
galeria.de
Breiter Weg, Ernst-Reuter-Allee
Nemo
Herrenkrugstraße 150
nemo-magdeburg.de
Elbauenpark
Tessenowstraße 7
elbauenpark.de
Schatzhöhle
Reinhard-Mannesmann-Weg 5
schatzhoehle.com
Stadtpark Rotehorn, Werder
Museum für Naturkunde
Otto-von-Guericke Straße 68-73
naturkundemuseum-magdeburg.de
Technikmuseum Magdeburg
Dedendorfer Straße 65
technikmuseum-magdeburg.de
Zoo Magdeburg
Zooallee 1
zoo-magdeburg.de
Altes Rathaus, Magdeburg[/caption]
Overview of Magdeburg
Magdeburg is beautifully situated on the banks of the river Elbe and is a city with many sights, beautiful parks and a rich history that can be seen and experienced in several places in the center. The city is of course also known for the Magdeburg Rights, which was a collection of city laws with great influence on the government of many European cities.
The cathedral dominates Magdeburg’s skyline, and it is one of the city’s most famous buildings. The church was founded by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, who is today buried in the cathedral. He established Magdeburg as the first capital of the German territory, and it added status and development in Magdeburg through the centuries.
There are several old churches and monasteries in Magdeburg, which are also characterized by beautiful and interesting buildings from more recent times. You can see many examples from the Gründerzeit era and from the magnificent 1950s architecture of the GDR. It is also in Magdeburg that you can enjoy Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s last project, the Green Citadel.
About the Whitehorse travel guide
Contents: Tours in the city + tours in the surrounding area
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Language: English
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The Altes Rathaus is Magdeburg’s old town hall, known from 1244, but which has been destroyed by fires and wars over the centuries. As a result, it is not the original 13th-century town hall that you can see today. However, the basement has been preserved as the restaurant Ratskeller, one of the city’s many cozy places to eat.
In 1293, the town hall burned, which was rebuilt the same year with arcades and a large meeting hall, emphasizing the bourgeois influence on the city. The town hall was again burned down during the 17th century’s Thirty Years’ War, and it was not rebuilt until 1713. Magdeburg grew, and so did the city’s administration. Therefore, the Neues Rathaus was built north of the Altes Rathaus in the years 1905-1907.
Both town hall buildings were destroyed during Allied air raids in 1944 and 1945, and therefore the Altes Rathaus had to be rebuilt again, and the new town hall building was also rebuilt. The Altes Rathaus was completed in 1979 in the same style and appearance as the building from 1713.
There are several things to see at and in front of the town hall. In addition to the beautiful facade of the Altes Rathaus, you can see sculptor Heinrich Apel’s bronze door, which shows scenes from Magdeburg’s history. In front of the town hall stands the gilded Magdeburger Reiter, and close to this you can see the Magdeburg Roland statue, erected in 2005. The statue symbolizes the city’s freedom and independence, and Magdeburg’s first Roland is known from 1419.
The Dommuseum Ottonianum is Magdeburg’s cathedral museum, which was opened in 2018. Before 2018, Magdeburg did not have a cathedral museum like many other cities, but with the extensive excavations in the years 2001-2010, the idea of a museum emerged where the results of the excavations could be exhibited. The establishment was decided, and the city’s old national bank building from 1921-1923 was chosen as the seat of the museum.
At the museum, you can experience exciting parts of Magdeburg’s history with a focus on three exhibitions about Emperor Otto I and Queen Editha, the archbishopric seat of Magdeburg and about archaeological finds in and around the beautiful cathedral, which is located immediately next to the museum.
Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen is an exciting museum for both medieval and contemporary art, which is housed in the old Vor Frau Kloster. The monastery was founded in the years 1015-1018, and it is Magdeburg’s oldest preserved building. The monastery also stands as one of the most beautiful examples of Romanesque architecture in Germany, just as it was for a time the country’s most important monastery for the Premonstratensian order.
In the beautiful setting there are many things to see; both building-wise and in the museum’s changing exhibitions. The focus of the collection is art from 1945 to the present day, and there are works in particular in the genres of sculptures, media art and photographs. There is also a historical collection that includes sculptural works from Antiquity through the Middle Ages to the Baroque. You can also see the area around the monastery complex, which since 1989 has been designed as a sculpture park, which extends into Magdeburg’s old town.
The Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg is a museum that was founded in 1906 as the art-historical Kaiser-Friedrich Museum. The museum building was then also built 1901-1906 to house this museum and its collections of arts and crafts. It was the Viennese architects Friedrich Ohmann and August Kirstein who designed the centrally located building.
The cultural history museum’s focus is the dissemination of various parts of Magdeburg’s history and culture. There are many exciting themes in the exhibitions, which include archaeological collections, paintings, handicrafts, coins, medals and much else that can contribute to the description of the city’s history.
You can, for example, visit the exhibition Magdeburg – Die Geschichte einer Stadt, which is an interesting journey through the history of Magdeburg. It is also here that you can see the original statue of the Magdeburger Reiter, which dates from the 13th century and is a masterpiece of European Gothic. The statue stands in the beautiful Kaiser-Otto-Saal. The Magdeburger Reiter is an ensemble consisting of three statues. They stood for centuries on the Alter Markt, where you can see replicas of the old statues set up today.
The Landtag von Sachsen-Anhalt is the seat of the Landtag, which makes up the parliaments of the German federal states. When Saxony-Anhalt became a new federal state in reunified Germany, Magdeburg was chosen as the state capital ahead of Halle. With Magdeburg’s status as the capital, there is therefore also a country day in the city. The building complex with the Landtag consists of four connected houses with baroque facades facing the Domplatz, and the Landtag’s meeting hall is located as a new building against the complex’s courtyard environment.
The beautiful building with baroque facades was mainly built in the 1720s, and then it consisted of separate residence buildings. The residential building with the address Domplatz 7 belonged to the wine merchant Johann Christian Winneberg, while Domplatz 8 consisted of apartments. Domplatz 9 was home to the Prussian architect Cornelius von Walrave. During the Second World War, the three houses were damaged, and they were rebuilt 1953-1958 together with Domplatz 6, which was built with a similar baroque facade as the other houses. The houses were converted into country houses in the 1990s.
Hasselbachplatz is a beautiful square located at the southern end of the main street Breiter Weg. The square was laid out after the demolition of Magdeburg’s fortifications in the 19th century, and on the square and in the streets around it you can see fine buildings in the so-called Gründerzeit style, which was characterized by rich decorations, where both classical elements and national romanticism were used.
When Magdeburg’s fortifications were breached, new suburbs were developed south of the center, which were connected to the city center by the Breiter Weg, which was extended here. This created the square, which was named after Carl Gustav Friedrich Hasselbach, who was mayor of Magdeburg for many years. From 1890 to 1927, the Hasselbachbrunnen fountain stood on the square, but it was moved for traffic reasons, and a reconstruction can be seen today on Haydnplatz.
Opernhaus is the name of Magdeburg’s opera house, which opened in 1907 as the Central Theater. On the stage, you could enjoy variety shows until it became the stage for operettas from 1922. At that time, the Stadttheater Magdeburg was the city’s opera stage, where you could enjoy the performances in a period-typical 1870s from the floor and balconies.
During WWII, both the Centraltheater and the Stadttheater were destroyed. Large parts of the facade and outer walls of the Centraltheater remained, and the theater was rebuilt and opened as the Maxim-Gorki-Theater in 1950. It evolved into the current Opernhaus, while the Stadttheater was never rebuilt.
Schauspielhaus is a playhouse in Magdeburg which is one of the city’s theater venues, but the building started in a different way. The theater has a past as a residence, as it was built as Villa Klausemann, which was the residence of the industrialist Ferdinand Friedrich August Klausemann.
In 1906, the association Harmonie-Gesellschaft acquired the residence, which on that occasion was rebuilt for various social purposes such as dance and music and as a large meeting place. From the end of World War II, the building was temporarily used as a theater, which later became permanent.
In the past, it was at the Stadttheater Magdeburg that the city’s citizens primarily saw theater performances. It was a classic theater building, built in 1873-1878 and furnished in the beautifully ornate style of the day. The Stadttheater was destroyed during World War II and the ruins of the theater were demolished in 1958.
Stadtpark Rotehorn is a park located on the island of Großer Werder in the Elbe in central Magdeburg. The park was laid out in the years 1871-1874 with lawns, plantings and promenade paths. It was extended to the present area in 1898, and it is today one of the most beautiful English landscape gardens in Germany.
There are also several attractions in Stadtpark Rotehorn. This concerns, for example, the Stadthalle concert and congress building from 1926-1927, which is a beautiful architectural example of the Neue Bauen style, where the idea was to develop a completely new building form through rationalization and typification, the use of new materials and materials and to ensure an objective and simple interior design.
At the Stadthalle is the observation tower Albinmüller-Turm, which was also built in 1926-1927. The tower is also a work of the Neue Bauen style, and the 60 meter high tower was designed by the architect Albin Müller. From the top you can experience a panoramic view of Magdeburg. Close to this is the museum paddle steamer Württemberg from 1909, which was built to sail the Elbe.
Elbauenpark is a large park with green areas and various activities. The park was created in connection with the exhibition Bundesgartenschau 1999 and is located on either side of Herrenkrugstraße. It is divided into the Kleiner Anger and Großer Anger areas, and there are several things to see and do besides enjoying the green areas that lie down to the Elbe.
The park is not least known for the characteristic Jahrtausendturm tower. The tower is 60 meters high, it is built of wood and contains an exhibition about man’s time and development. You can also take walks through the many different gardens in the park, visit playgrounds and much more.
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