Editing Magdeburg (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}

===Early years===
[[File:Ankunft Ottos I. und Ediths in Magdeburg.jpg|left|thumb|Emperor [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] 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''<ref>{{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}}</ref>), the town was fortified in 919 by King [[Henry the Fowler]] against the [[Hungarian people|Magyars]] and [[Slavic peoples|Slavs]]. In 929 King [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] granted the city to his English-born wife [[Eadgyth|Edith]] as [[dower]]. Queen Edith loved the town and often resided there;<ref name="Catholic">{{Catholic |wstitle=Magdeburg |inline=1 |volume=9 |first=Klemens |last=Löffler}}</ref> 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<ref name=EB1911/> and was later buried in the cathedral. He granted the abbey the right to income from [[tithe]]s and to [[corvée]] labour from the surrounding countryside.

The [[Archbishopric of Magdeburg]] was founded in 968<ref name=EB1911/> at the [[synod]] of [[Ravenna]]; [[Adalbert (Archbishop of Magdeburg)|Adalbert of Magdeburg]] was consecrated as its first archbishop. The archbishopric under Adalbert included the bishoprics of [[Bishopric of Havelberg|Havelberg]], [[Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]], [[Bishopric of Merseburg|Merseburg]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen|Meissen]] and [[Bishopric of Naumburg-Zeitz|Naumburg-Zeitz]]. The archbishops played a prominent role in the [[Ostsiedlung|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.<ref name=EB1911/>

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]]).<ref name="Catholic"/>

===Early modern period===
{{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 Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]. The [[Protestant Reformation]] had quickly found adherents in the city, where Luther had been a schoolboy. Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] repeatedly outlawed the unruly town, which had joined the [[League of Torgau]] and the [[Schmalkaldic League]].<ref name="Catholic"/>

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]].<ref name="Catholic"/>

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, [[Holy Roman Empire|imperial]] troops under [[Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly]], [[sack of Magdeburg|stormed the city and massacred the inhabitants]], killing about 20,000 and burning the city.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels|August of Saxe-Weissenfels]], as the semi-autonomous [[Duchy of Magdeburg]]. This occurred in 1680.<ref name="Rathmann1806">{{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}}</ref><ref name="Rein2016">{{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–}}</ref><ref name="GehrtHund2019">{{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–}}</ref>

[[File:Magdeburg.jpg|thumb|[[Gaspar Schott]]'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 [[Horror vacui (physics)|hotly debated]] – was empirically proven, with enormous implications for the later developments of physics.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Guericke, Otto von |volume= 12 | page= 670 |quote=...he attempted the creation of a vacuum...}}</ref>

In the 1680s, communes of [[French people|French]] [[Huguenots]] and [[Walloons]] were founded in the city, which, as of 1700, constituted of 1,282 and 1,731 people, respectively.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

===19th century===
In the course of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the fortress surrendered to [[First French Empire|French]] troops in 1806. The city was annexed to the French-controlled [[Kingdom of Westphalia]] in the 1807 [[Treaties of Tilsit|Treaty of Tilsit]]. King [[Jérôme Bonaparte|Jérôme]] appointed Count Heinrich [[von Blumenthal]] as mayor. In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, Magdeburg was made the capital of the new [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] [[Province of Saxony]].

===20th century===
In 1912, the old fortress was dismantled, and in 1908, the municipality [[Ohrekreis|Rothensee]] became part of Magdeburg.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

During [[World War I]], Polish leader [[Józef Piłsudski]] and his close associate [[Kazimierz Sosnkowski]] were imprisoned in the city by Germany in 1917–1918.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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 under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] detachments of the [[Stalag XI-A]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner-of-war camp]] for some 4,500 [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] POWs,<ref>{{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}}</ref> a camp for [[Sinti]] and [[Romani people]] (see also ''[[Romani Holocaust]]''),<ref>{{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}}</ref> and three [[List of subcamps of Buchenwald|subcamps]] of the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]], in which mostly Jewish men and boys and Soviet, [[Nazi crimes against the Polish nation|Polish]] and Jewish women were imprisoned.<ref name=ab>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> In April 1945, dozens of prisoners were massacred by the ''[[Volkssturm]]'' and [[Hitler Youth]], and surviving prisoners were sent on [[Death marches during the Holocaust|death marches]] towards the [[Ravensbrück concentration camp|Ravensbrück]] and [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]] concentration camps.<ref name=ab/>

{{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 fuel|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 [[Ninth United States Army|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 [[Allied Occupation Zones in Germany|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 [[German reunification|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]].

<gallery mode="packed">
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 architecture#East Germany|Stalinist]] buildings from the 1950s.
</gallery>

===Since German reunification===
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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

In 2005 Magdeburg celebrated its 1200th anniversary.

The city was hit by [[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.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/10/germans-evacuated-river-elbe Thousands evacuated as Elbe bursts dam in German floods] 10 June 2013</ref>

On 20 December 2024, at least five people were killed and more than 200 injured at the [[Magdeburg Christmas market]] when [[2024 Magdeburg car attack|a car was driven into the crowd]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

[[Intel]] will build its largest plant in Europe in the south of the city by 2027.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>