Magdeburg

Magdeburg, city in north central Germany, capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, on the Elbe River. Magdeburg is an important river port and rail junction and a center of commerce and industry. Located in the center of a sugar beet region, its sugar refineries are important. Other major manufactures include automobiles, chemicals, iron and steel products, machinery, paper, and textiles.

Known from 805 as an outpost of the Saxons, Magdeburg was made the seat of an archbishopric in 968; it was ruled by archbishops who were also princes of the Holy Roman Empire. The city was a powerful member of the Hanseatic League, but in 1524, when it embraced the Reformation, and subsequently joined the Schmalkaldic League in 1531, it incurred the wrath of the emperor. Religious tensions continued, and as a result, Magdeburg was burned in 1631 during the Swedish phase of the Thirty Years' War. At the close of the war in 1648, the archbishopric was converted into a secular duchy and conferred on the house of Brandenburg. In 1671 composer Georg Philipp Telemann was born in the city. Magdeburg was an important Prussian fortress until 1912. Most of the city was destroyed in World War II (1939-1945). The central areas have been rebuilt and many of the historic buildings restored or reconstructed. From 1953 to 1990, it was the capital of the Magdeburg District of East Germany. Population (2005 estimate) 226,700.