Tourist Guide

3000 BC

Neolithic Dolmen Goddess

The Neolithic chambered tomb of the dolmen goddess is built in Langeneichstädt near Merseburg in what is now southern Saxony-Anhalt. People who visit the site today can admire the replica of a menhir, a so-called dolmen goddess.

Permanent Neolithic and Bronze Age exhibition

The Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale) has an extensive, new permanent exhibition on the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Main attraction: the original “Sky Disc” (beginning 2008).

around 1590 BC

The smelted sky

In 1999 on Mittelberg near Nebra, treasure looters find a wrought bronze sky disc 32 centimeters in diameter. With an estimated age of 3600 years, it is now considered the oldest known representation of the cosmos in human history (with Information and Tourist Centre ”Nebra Ark).

around 4790 BC

Oldest solar observatory

The Goseck solar observatory (southern Saxony-Anhalt) is considered the oldest in the world (ca. 6,800 years), and after large-scale reconstruction work it was opened to the public in 2005. It consists of four concentric circles – a mound, a ditch and two wooden palisades (75 meter diameter), as well as gates and apertures for determining the summer and winter solstices (Information Centre in Goseck Castle).

772

Charlemagne (742-814) conquers the Saxons

He begins to erect fortifications near Magdeburg and Halle in 780. Saxony falls to the Frankish Empire.

around 804

Mission becomes a diocese

Founded in Osterwieck in 802, the mission which had been moved to Halberstadt is raised to a diocese.

12th century

Ascanian prince, Albert the Bear

This adversary of Henry the Lion is buried in Ballenstedt Castle (Romanesque Road).

13th century

Albrecht von Halberstadt

The canon is the first to translate Ovid’s Metamorphosis into the German vernacular.

919

The first Saxon king

Henry Duke of Saxony (912-936) becomes the first East Francian-German king. Upon his death, he is entombed in the collegiate church of Quedlinburg.

962

Otto I becomes emperor

His favourite palatinate is Magdeburg. He and his wife Editha are buried in the Magdeburg Cathedral (Romanesque Road).

968

Emperor Otto I (936-973) founds the Archbishopric of Magdeburg

The centre of his power is the region of the Middle Elbe river. In 973 he is buried at the cathedral in Magdeburg.

1188

Magdeburg Rights

Archbishop Wichmann (1155-1192) codifies the Magdeburg Rights. He formulates important legal provisions into a charter. The Rights of the Imperial Free City of Magdeburg spread across much of southern and eastern Middle Europe.

1220

The first German book of law

Eike von Repgow (Reppichau bei Köthen) pens the “Sachsenspiegel” (Saxon mirror), the first law book in German, at Falkenstein Castle (Romanesque Road).

1283

Mechthild von Magdeburg

The first female German mystic dies at the nunnery in Helfta (near Eisleben).

Early 10th century

The Merseburg Incantations

The Merseburg Incantations are written down in a theological manuscript from the 9th/10th century. They are the only known examples of German pagan belief preserved in Old High German.

1472-1553

Lucas Cranach the Elder

He is considered painter of the Reformation and besides his large workshop, ran a chemist’s shop, a printing shop and a bookshop.

1483-1546

Martin Luther

The reformer Martin Luther was born in Eisleben. In Luther’s cities, Eisleben and Wittenberg, the history of the Reformation is still quite tangible today.

1497-1560

Philipp Melanchthon

Melanchthon was Luther’s friend and confidant, and he was often negotiator for the Protestant side at diets and in theological discussions and disputes. He gave the impetus for Luther’s translation of the Bible.

1502

Oldest German-speaking university

The university in Wittenberg is founded, one of the oldest universities in the German-speaking world.

1506

The House of Orange in Saxony-Anhalt

In 1506 Juliane von Stolberg is born in Stolberg/Harz. She is the mother of William of Nassau. The current Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is his direct descendant.

16th century

The region that is now Saxony-Anhalt becomes the centre of the Reformation.

Cradle of Baroque music

The region now known as Saxony-Anhalt becomes the cradle of Baroque music.

1517

Luther posts The 95 Theses

The Wittenberg theology professor Martin Luther (1483-1546) becomes founder of the Reformation by posting The 95 Theses on October 31st, 1517.

1552

The Marienbibliothek is established

The Marienbibliothek in Halle, one of the oldest and largest theological libraries in Germany, is established.

1585-1672

Heinrich Schütz

Composer of the first German opera, “Daphne”. He spent his childhood and his retirement in Weißenfels.

1602

Otto von Guericke born in Magdeburg

He was burgomaster (mayor) and scholar. His book Experimenta nova Magdeburgia de vacua spatio (New Magdeburg Experiments about the Vacuum) published in 1672 is one of the first in the field of modern experimental physics.

1631

Sack of Magdeburg

During the 30 Years’ War (1618-1648) the Protestant stronghold Magdeburg is stormed, sacked and burned by Tilly’s imperial troops.

1632

Battle of Lützen

Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus falls in the Battle of Lützen. A memorial stone and a chapel commemorate the site today.

1657

Guericke’s “Magdeburg Hemispheres” experiment

Otto von Guericke carries out his famous Magdeburg Hemispheres Experiment in 1657, proving that substances are not pulled by a vacuum, but pushed by the strength of surrounding air pressure.

1676

“The Old Dessauer”

Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau (“the Old Dessauer“) is born in Dessau.

1681-1767

Georg Philip Telemann

Georg Philipp Telemann is considered one of the greatest Baroque musicians. The son of a clergyman, he was born in Magdeburg in 1681. He inspired Handel to become a musician.

1685-1750

Johann Sebastian Bach

He is considered the greatest German composer and church musician of the 18th century. From 1717 to 1723 he was director of music for Prince Leopold in Köthen and wrote, among other works, the Brandenburg Concertos.

1685-1759

George Frideric Handel

The virtuoso was born on February 23rd, 1685, in Halle (Saale). The house where he was born is now a memorial in this city on the Saale river.

1694

Opening of the University Halle

The Brandenburg prince-elector Frederick III opens the university in Halle.

1715

The first female German doctor

The woman who would become the first female German doctor, Dorothea von Erxleben, is born in Quedlinburg.

1724

Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock

Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock is born in Quedlinburg.

1757

Battle of Rossbach

The Prussian army of Frederick the Great defeats the French.

1762

Catherine the Great

Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst becomes Tsarina Catherine the Great of Russia.

1790

Beginning of romanticism

Art flourishes in the area that is now Saxony-Anhalt. The poet Novalis (the blue flower) is born near Mansfeld.

1814/1815

The province Saxony is founded

The Congress of Vienna is held as a result of the Napoleonic Wars: founding of the Prussian Province of Saxony (capital Magdeburg) and the Anhaltian duchies Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Köthen and Anhalt-Bernburg.

1815

Otto von Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck is born in Schönhausen/Altmark.

1844

Oswald Sprengler

The philosopher Oswald Sprengler is born in Sangerhausen.

1844

Friedrich Nietzsche

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is born in Röcken near Lützen.

1859

Fontane in the Altmark

The poet and novelist Theodor Fontane wanders through the Altmark. Novels such as Effi Briest recall his impressions and experiences even today.

1862

Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) becomes Minister-President.

Born on April 1st, 1815, in Schönhausen (Altmark) to a wealthy landowner, Bismarck becomes the first Chancellor of Germany in 1871. He is the leading force in German politics until 1890.

1879

Naumburg becomes seat of the Higher Regional Court

Naumburg becomes seat of the Higher Regional Court for the Province of Saxony and the Duchy of Anhalt.

1925-1932

Bauhaus in Dessau

Dessau becomes the new home of the Bauhaus founded in Weimar in 1919. As one of the first institutes of higher education in the field of design, it brings leading architects and artists together.

1945

Destruction during air raids

The cities of Magdeburg, Dessau, Halberstadt, Merseburg and Zerbst are destroyed during air raids shortly before the end of World War II.

1945-1947

Province of Saxony-Anhalt

The Province of Saxony-Anhalt is formed. The first Minister-President is Dr. Erhard Hübener (LDP). On January 10th, 1947, the constitution is promulgated, and on July 21st, 1947, it is renamed “State of Saxony-Anhalt”.

1952

State of Saxony-Anhalt is abolished

The State of Saxony-Anhalt is abolished in the course of the GDR’s centralisation policy, and the Districts of Halle and Magdeburg are formed.

1990

Federal State Saxony-Anhalt

On October 3rd, the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt is founded. On October 14th, its citizens vote for state parliament in a free election for the first time since 1946.

1992

Democratic Constitution

The constitution of the State of Saxony-Anhalt is promulgated on July 16th. Saxony-Anhalt becomes the third new Federal State (after Brandenburg and Saxony) to have a democratic constitution.

around 1924

Centre of Social Housing Movement

Magdeburg, along with Frankfurt am Main, becomes a centre of the Social Housing Movement in the sense of Neues Bauen (“New Building”) in Germany.