1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Magdeburg

MAGDEBURG, a city of Germany, capital of the Prussian province of Saxony, a fortress of the first rank and one of the principal commercial towns of the German Empire. It lies in a broad and fertile plain, mainly on the left bank of the Elbe, 88 m. S.W. from Berlin and at the junction of main lines to Leipzig, Brunswick, Cassel and Hamburg. Pop. (1885), 159,520; (1890), 202,234; (1905), 240,661. It consists of the town proper, and of the five suburbs of Friedrichstadt, Wilhelmstadt, Neustadt, Sudenburg and Buckau; the last four are separated from the town by the ramparts and glacis, but are all included within the new line of advanced bastions, while Friedrichstadt lies on the right bank of the river. In the Elbe, between the old town and the Friedrichstadt, lies an island whereon stands the citadel; this is united with both banks by bridges. With the exception of the Breite Weg, a handsome thoroughfare running from north to south, the streets of the town proper are narrow and crooked. Along the Elbe, however, extend fine promenades, the Fürstenwall and the Fürsten Üfer. To the south of the inner town is the Friedrich Wilhelms Garten, a beautiful park laid out on the site of the celebrated convent of Berge, which was founded in 968 and suppressed in 1809. By far the most important building in Magdeburg is the cathedral, dedicated to SS Maurice and Catherine, a handsome and massive structure of the 14th century, exhibiting an interesting blending of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The two fine western towers were completed about 1520. The interior contains the tombs of the emperor Otto the Great and his wife Edith, an English princess, and the fine monument of Archbishop Ernest (d. 1513), executed in 1495 by Peter Vischer of Nüremberg. The Liebfrauenkirche, the oldest church in Magdeburg, is an interesting Romanesque edifice of the 12th and 13th centuries, which was restored in 1890–1891. The chief secular buildings are the town-hall (Rathaus), built in 1691 and enlarged in 1866, the government offices, the palace of justice, the central railway station and the exchange. The Breite Weg and the old market contain numerous fine gable-ended private houses in the style of the Renaissance. In front of the town-hall stands an equestrian statue of Otto the Great, erected about 1290. The modern streets are spacious, and the houses well-built though monotonous. There are two theatres, an agricultural college, an art school, several gymnasia, a commercial and other schools, an observatory, and two fine hospitals. The first place amongst the industries is taken by the ironworks (one being a branch of the Krupp firm, the Grusonwerke, employing about 4000 hands), which produce naval armour and munitions of war. Of almost equal importance are the sugar refineries and chicory factories. Then come establishments for making tobacco, gloves, chocolate, artificial manure, cement, varnish, chemicals and pottery. There are also distilleries and breweries, and factories for the manufacture of cotton and silk goods. Magdeburg is the central market in Germany for sugar and chicory, but trades extensively also in cereals, fruit, vegetables, groceries, cattle, horses, wool, cloth, yarn, leather, coal and books. A new winter harbour, made at a cost of £400,000, facilitates the river traffic along the Elbe. Three million tons of merchandise pass Magdeburg, going upstream, and nearly 1 million tons, going downstream, annually. Magdeburg is the headquarters of the IV. corps of the German army and the seat of the provincial court of appeal and administrative offices, and of a Lutheran consistory.

History.—Magdeburg, which was in existence as a small trading settlement at the beginning of the 9th century, owes its early prosperity chiefly to the emperor Otto the Great, who established a convent here about 937. In 968 it became the seat of an archbishop, who exercised sway over an extensive territory. Although it was burnt down in 1188, Magdeburg became a flourishing commercial town during the 13th century, and was soon an important member of the Hanseatic League. Its bench of jurats (Schöppenstuhl) became celebrated, and “Magdeburg law” (Magdeburger Recht), securing the administrative independence of municipalities, was adopted in many parts of Germany, Poland and Bohemia. During the middle ages the citizens were almost constantly at variance with the archbishops, and by the end of the 15th century had become nearly independent of them. It should, however, be noted that Magdeburg never became a free city of the Empire. The town embraced the Reformation in 1524, and was thenceforth governed by Protestant titular archbishops (see Bishop). On the refusal of the citizens to accept the “Interim,” issued by the emperor Charles V., Magdeburg was besieged by Maurice of Saxony in 1550, and capitulated on favourable terms in November 1551. During the Thirty Years’ War it was twice besieged, and suffered terribly. It successfully resisted Wallenstein for seven months in 1629, but was stormed and sacked by Tilly in May 1631. The whole town, with the exception of the cathedral, and about 140 houses, was burned to the ground, and the greater part of its 36,000 inhabitants were butchered without regard to age or sex, but it recovered from this deadly blow with wonderful rapidity. By the peace of Westphalia (1648) the archbishopric was converted into a secular duchy, to fall to Brandenburg on the death of the last administrator, which happened in 1680. In 1806 Magdeburg was taken by the French and annexed to the kingdom of Westphalia, but it was restored to Prussia in 1814, on the downfall of Napoleon. Otto von Guericke (1602–1686), the inventor of the air-pump, was burgomaster of Magdeburg. Count Lazare Carnot died here in exile, and was buried in the cemetery, but his remains were exhumed in 1889 and conveyed to Paris. Luther was at school here, and sang in the streets for bread with other poor choristers.

See W. Kawerau, Aus Magdeburgs Vergangenheit (Halle, 1886) O. von Guericke, Geschichte der Belagerung, Eroberung und Zerstörung von Magdeburg (Magdeburg, 1887); M. Dittmar, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Stadt Magdeburg (Halle, 1885); F. W. Hoffmann, Geschichte der Stadt Magdeburg (Magdeburg, 1885–1886); F. Hülsse, Die Einführung der Reformation in der Stadt Magdeburg (Magdeburg, 1883); R. Volkholz, Die Zerstörung Magdeburgs 1631 (Magdeburg, 1892); W. Leinung and R. Stumvoll, Aus Magdeburgs Sage und Geschichte (Magdeburg, 1894); and the Urkundenbuch der Stadt Magdeburg (1892).

The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was carved out of the bishopric of Halberstadt when it was founded in 968, and its history is largely bound up with that of the city and of the prelates who have ruled the see. The first archbishop was Adalbert, and he and his successors had six or seven suffragan bishops. Several of the archbishops took very prominent parts in German politics. Early in the 15th century their residence was fixed at Halle, and about the same time it became the custom to select them from one of the reigning families of Germany, most often from the house of Brandenburg. The doctrines of the reformers made their appearance in the diocese early in the 16th century, and soon Archbishop Sigismund, a son of Joachim II., elector of Brandenburg, openly avowed his adherence to Lutheranism. After the issue of the edict of restitution by the emperor Ferdinand II. in 1629, there were three rival candidates for the see, and their struggles added to the confusion caused by the Thirty Years’ War. By the peace of Prague, however, in 1635, the archbishopric was given to Augustus, prince of Saxe-Weissenfels, who retained it until his death in 1680. In 1773 the area of the see was over 2000 sq. m. It included 29 towns and over 400 villages and contained about 250,000 inhabitants.

See the Regesta archiepiscopatus magdeburgensis, edited by G. A. von Mülverstedt (Magdeburg, 1876–1899); and K. Uhlirz, Geschichte des Erzbistums Magdeburg unter den Kaisern aus sächsischem Hause (Magdeburg, 1887).

Distinct both from the archbishopric and from the city was the Burgraviate of Magdeburg. The office of burgrave dates from the time of Charlemagne, although its holder was not at first called by this name, and it soon became one of great importance. The burgrave was the king’s representative; he was charged with the administration of the royal estates in a given district, and in general with watching the royal interests therein. The burgraviate of Magdeburg was held by several countly families in turn until 1269, when it was purchased by Archbishop Conrad II., who, however, soon sold it. In 1294 it was again united with the archbishopric and the prelates retained it until 1538; then in 1579 Augustus, elector of Saxony, made an arrangement which again gave the office to the archbishops, who held it until the secularization of the see.

The Magdeburg Centuries (Magdeburger Zenturien) is the name given to the first general history of the Christian Church written from a Protestant point of view. It was compiled in Magdeburg, and the history is divided into periods of one hundred years each. It was written in Latin in 1562, its principal author being the reformer Matthias Flacius, who was assisted by other Lutheran theologians. The cost of the undertaking was borne by some of the German Protestant princes. As the Historia ecclesiae Christi it was first published at Basel in seven volumes (1559–1574). It deals with the history of the Church down to 1400, and considering the time at which it was written it is a remarkable monument to the scholarship of its authors. The earlier part of it has been translated into German (Jena, 1560–1565).

See E. Schaumkell, Beitrag zur Entstehungsgeschichte der Magdeburger Zenturien (Ludwigslust, 1898).