Germany - Saxony-Anhalt - Magdeburg

Magdeburg

Sent by Xeniya from Magdeburg, Germany.

Magdeburg (German pronunciation: [ˈmakdəbʊrk]; Low Saxon: Meideborg, [ˈmaˑɪdebɔɐx]), is the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe.

Emperor Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor, founder of the archbishopric of Magdeburg, was buried in the town's cathedral after his death. Magdeburg's version of German town law, known as Magdeburg rights, spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe. The city is also well known for the 1631 Sack of Magdeburg, which hardened Protestant resistance during the Thirty Years' War. Magdeburg was destroyed twice in its history. (read further)

Germany - Collegiate, Church, Castles and Old Town of Quedlin

Collegiate, Church, Castles and Old Town of Quedlinburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sent by Anja, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from UNESCO : The importance of Quedlinburg rests on three main elements: the preservation of the medieval street pattern; the wealth of urban vernacular buildings, especially timber-framed houses of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the important Romanesque collegiate church of St Servatius. The original urban layout is remarkably well preserved: it is a classic example of the growth of European medieval towns. The history of the medieval and early modern town is perfectly illustrated by the street pattern of the present-day town.

Situated in a hilly region to the north of the Harz Mountains, villa Quitilingaburg is first mentioned in 922 in an official document of Henry I (the Fowler), who was elected German King in 919. The town owes its wealth and importance during the Middle Ages to Henry I and his successors. On the death of Henry I in 936 his widow Mathilde remained in Quedlinburg at the collegiate church of St Servatius on the Castle Hill, founded by Henry's son and successor Otto I as a collegial establishment for unmarried daughters of the nobility.

Westendorf, the area around the Burgberg, quickly attracted a settlement of merchants and craftsmen, which was granted market rights in 994. Several other settlements also developed in what was to become the early town centre, which was granted special privileges by the Emperors Henry III and Lothar IV in the 11th and 12th centuries. A Benedictine monastery was founded in 946 on the second hill, the Münzenberg. The Quedlinburg merchants were given the right to trade without restriction or payment of duties from the North Sea to the Alps. The resulting prosperity led to a rapid expansion of the town. A new town (Neustadt) was founded in the 12th century on the eastern bank of the river Bode, laid out on a regular plan.

The two towns were merged in 1330 and were surrounded by a common city wall. The new, enlarged town joined the Lower Saxon Town Alliance (Städtebund) in 1384, and in 1426 it became a member of the Hanseatic League. Quedlinburg retained an important economic role, as evidenced by the many elaborate timber-framed houses from the 16th and 17th centuries. The protectorate (Vogtei) of the town was sold by its hereditary owner, the Elector of Saxony, to the House of Brandenburg-Prussia in 1698, and in 1802 its special free status as an imperial foundation came to an end when it was formally incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia.

The area comprises the historic town enclosed within the city walls, consisting of the old (10th century) and new (12th century) towns, the Westendorf district with the collegiate church and the buildings of the imperial foundation, St Wipert's Church, and the Münzenberg. The nucleus of the town is the castle hill, with its administrative and religious buildings, around which settlements of craftsmen and traders quickly grew up to service the requirements of the rulers and their households. As was so often the case in central Europe, an independent mercantile settlement with civic rights was founded on the opposite side of the river, which was to be merged after a short time with the original town to create a new administrative unit whose integrity was demonstrated with the construction of an encircling town wall. To this in turn were accreted new extra-mural suburbs.

The original collegiate church of St Servatius was built when Henry the Fowler established his residence on the castle hill. The first basilica, in the crypt of which Henry and his wife Mathilde were buried, was destroyed by a disastrous fire in 1070. The crypt was incorporated into the new structure, also basilican in plan, that was constructed between 1070 and 1129. The two western bays of the three-aisled crypt survive, with their remarkable Ottonian 'mushroom' capitals. The groined vaulting of the new, raised crypt, stucco capitals, imperial and other tombs, and wall paintings make this one of the key monuments of the history of art from the 10th to the 12th centuries. The twin-towered western facade was added at the time of the reconstruction. Much of the decoration is in northern Italian style, emphasizing the imperial connections of the church.

Germany - Brockenbahn

Brockenbahn or Brocken Railway.

Sent by Helga, a postcrosser from Apen, Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : The Brocken Railway (German: Brockenbahn) is one of three tourist metre gauge railways which together with the Harz Railway and Selke Valley Railway form the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways railway network in the Harz mountain range of Germany.

It runs from the station of Drei Annen Hohne at 542 m (1,778 ft), where it joins the Harz Railway, via Schierke and the Bode River valley to the summit of the Brocken, the highest mountain of the Harz at 1,141 m (3,743 ft) and part of the Harz National Park.

The Brocken Railway leaves Drei Annen Hohne station (542 m above NN), like the Harz Railway, in a southwesterly direction. Before exiting the station, however, it crosses the road to Schierke/Elend and then enters the Harz National Park. It then heads west to Schierke station (688 m), where until 1963, there was a siding to Knaupsholz granite quarry at about the half-way point. The line then runs for some distance along the valley of the Cold Bode, which lies south and far below the line. Next the 971 m high mountain, the Wurmberg, appears on the left, and the train crosses the Brocken Road for the first time.

After a tight left hand bend before the Eckerloch Bridge and another right-hander, the line reaches Goetheweg station (956 m), which is now only used as a locomotive depot. Then the line runs directly to the Brocken, encircling it in a spiral 1 ½ times, during which it crosses the Brocken Road again, and then finally ends after 18.9 km at Brocken station (1,125 m).

As early as 1869 there was a design for the construction of a railway to the Brocken, but it was turned down. A resubmission in 1895 succeeded, however, and, on 30 May 1896, the construction permit was issued once Prince Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode had allocated the requisite land. The first section of the Brocken Railway, from Drei Annen Hohne to Schierke, was opened on 20 June 1898 and construction work for the remaining section up to the Brocken was begun on 4 October 1898. Initially services to the Brocken only ran between 30 April to 15 October; during the winter trains terminated at Schierke station. At the end of the Second World War significant damage occurred to the track, mainly through bombs and grenades, in the course of fighting in the Harz, which had been declared a fortress. The section to the Brocken was only reopened, therefore, in 1949.


The operator of the Brocken Railway until 5 August 1948 was the Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company (NWE), after which it belonged from the Association of Publicly-Owned Companies (VVB), part of Saxony-Anhalt's transport services, and, from 11 April 1949 to the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany. Only after the German winter sports championships in 1950, which took place in Schierke, did winter trains run up to the Brocken summit. A railway station at Eckerloch was also built for the championships which was closed again after they had ended. The location of the former sidings at Eckerloch station can still be easily seen.

Goods trains continued to work the Brocken Railway right up to 1987, although since the construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 the Brocken and its station had been part of the out-of-bounds area and thus not accessible to the public. Up to that time the trains transported coal, oil and building materials up the mountain for the East German Border Troops and Soviet soldiers who were stationed there.

Passengers services on the Brocken Railway continued to run from Drei Annen Hohne to Schierke; usually only two pairs of passenger train pairs ran each day; however they could only be used with a special pass, because Schierke lay in the border zone with West Germany.

After German reunification the continued operation of the Brocken Railway was initially called into question, however united efforts by railway enthusiasts and politicians under the overall control of the then state Minister for the Economy, Horst Rehberger, helped to give the Brocken Railway a second chance. The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) were also involived, because the Brocken Railway was needed to haul away the obsolete, military facilities on the Brocken. On 15 September 1991, after being renovated, the Brocken Railway was ceremoniously opened to the public with two steam-hauled trains. The trains were headed by locomotive no. 99 5903, a Mallet locomotive, which had been procured by the NWE in 1897/98, and locomotive no. 99 6001, a prototype developed in 1939 by the firm of Krupp.
Since the privatisation of the narrow gauge lines in the Harz in 1993 the Brocken Railway has been operated by the Harz Narrow Gauges Railways (HSB).

The steam trains on the Brocken Railway have become popular with thousands of tourists every year, offering convenient access to the top of the Brocken.

Up to six pairs of trains run daily to the top of the Brocken during the winter. Of those, four start and end in Wernigerode. During the summer, services are increased to eleven pairs of trains daily. The fastest train takes 49 minutes to reach the summit. The Brocken Railway is the only HSB line whose regular services are exclusively hauled by steam locomotives (specials are also hauled by diesel railbuses and diesel engines of Class 199.8, the latter for clearing snow).

Germany - Lutherstadt Eisleben

Lutherstadt Eisleben.

Sent by Ariane, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as the hometown of Martin Luther, hence its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. As of 2005, Eisleben had a population of 24,552. It lies on the Halle–Kassel railway.

Eisleben is divided into old and new towns (Altstadt and Neustadt); the latter of which was created for Eisleben's miners in the 14th century.

Eisleben was the capital of the district Mansfelder Land and is the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft ("collective municipality") Lutherstadt Eisleben.

Eisleben was first mentioned in 997 as a market called Islebia and in 1180 as a town. It belonged to the counts of Mansfeld until it passed to the Electorate of Saxony in 1780. It was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815 and was administered within the Prussian Province of Saxony. It became part of the new state of Saxony-Anhalt after World War II.

The Protestant reformer Martin Luther was born in Eisleben on November 10, 1483. His father, Hans Luther, was a miner like many of Eisleben's citizens. Luther's family moved to Mansfeld when he was only a year old and he lived in Wittenberg most of his life, but by chance he was in Eisleben when he preached his last sermons and died (1546).

Eisleben was a pioneer of "heritage tourism" — it took steps to preserve its Luther memorials as far back as 1689.

Together with the Luther sites in Wittenberg, the "Birth House" and "Death House" of Martin Luther in Eisleben were designated a World Heritage Site in 1997. Also in Eisleben is the St. Peter and Paul Church, where Luther was baptised (the original font survives) and St. Andreas Church, where he preached his last sermons.

Germany - Mapcard of Saxony-Anhalt

A mapcard of Saxony-Anhalt.

Sent by Manuela from Halle in Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : Saxony-Anhalt (German: Sachsen-Anhalt, pronounced [ˌzaksən ˈanhalt]) is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.

Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of 20,447.7 square kilometres (7,894.9 sq mi). It has a population of 2.34 million (more than 2.8 million in 1990).

Saxony-Anhalt should not be confused with Saxony or Lower Saxony, also German states.

Germany - Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg

WITTENBERG

Sent by Diana, a postcrosser from Germany.

These memorials are of outstanding universal value as bearing unique testimony to the Protestant Reformation, which was one of the most significant events in the religious and political history of the world, and as outstanding examples of 19th-century historicism. They are all associated with the lives of Martin Luther and his fellow-reformer Melanchthon.

In the 15th and 16th centuries Eisleben owed its great prosperity to copper and silver mining, Martin Luther was born there on 10 November 1483 at lodgings in a house in a street then known as Lange Gasse. The family moved in the following year to Mansfeld, some 10 km distant from Eisleben. After studying philosophy at Erfurt University, Martin Luther joined the Augustinian Order in 1505. He stayed there until 1510, when he transferred to the newly built Augustinian monastery at Wittenberg, where he also held the chair of Bible studies at the University. Two years later, on 31 October 1517, he launched the Reformation by nailing his 95 Propositions to the north door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Luther developed his views on the authority of Holy Scripture and the doctrine of salvation by faith in publications in the years that followed, actions which led to his being excommunicated and banished from the empire by the imperial Diet of Worms in 1521. Frederick of Saxony extended his protection to Luther, whom he sheltered in his castle of Wartburg, enabling him to begin translating of the Bible into German. He returned to Wittenberg in March 1522, and in 1525 he broke with his monastic vows and married the former nun, Katharina von Bora.His household became the centre for reformists from all over Europe, and the family room that he created on the first floor was the setting for his 'table talks,' which were later to be published.

The following individual sites and monuments are included in the World Heritage site:

• Luther's birthplace (1483), Eisleben : one of the oldest town houses but heavily restored; it is noteworthy for a special mixture of historical importance and 19th-century historicism.
• House in which Luther died (1546), Meben : now used as a museum and offices for the Luther Memorials organization.
• Luther Hall, Wittenberg : a three-storey building housing the Luther Hall, part of the early 16th-century monastery.
• Melanchthon's house, Wittenberg : built in 1536 in typical Renaissance style - a narrow three-storey building crowned by a tripartite round-arched staggered gable. The internal arrangement of rooms is original; unlike the previous houses; it retains much of its 16th-century character.
• Town Church, Wittenberg : located near the Market Place in the centre of the old town;in late Gothic Style, with two massive towers. The most striking feature is the main altar, the work of Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Younger, and strongly influenced by Luther and Melanchthon in its iconography.
• Castle Church, Wittenberg : the castle rises above the medieval town, to the west, and the spire of its church crowns the north-western corner. Much of the original character of the castle has been lost, as a result of its having been reused as a barracks in the 19th century, but the church is largely as it was at the time of Luther. It is a long basilical structure with an eastern apse, a typical example of the German Hallenkirche in very late Gothic style. Access is through the western door; because of its symbolic importance, the second door on the north side, the famous Propositions Portal, is only used on special occasions. Its ogival arch is contemporary with the original construction in 1499, as an inscription testifies. The decoration around the door includes representations of Luther and Melanchthon, and the Latin text of the 95 Propositions is displayed on the bronze doors. The church houses the tombs of Luther and Melanchthon. (Source)