Magdeburg: Germany

Magdeburg: Germany
Magdeburg, the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, lies on the Elbe river. As of 2004 it had a population of 226,200.
Cathedral of Magdeburg
Magdeburg’s most impressive building, the cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice, has a height of 104 m.—the highest church building of eastern Germany.
The predecessor of the cathedral was a church built in 937 within an abbey, called St. Maurice. Emperor Otto I was buried here beside his wife in 973. St. Maurice burnt to ashes in 1207. The exact location of that church remained unknown for a long time. The foundations were rediscovered in May 2003, revealing a building 80 m long and 41 m wide.
The construction of the new church lasted 300 years. The cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice was the first Gothic church building of Germany. The completion of the steeples took place only in 1520.
While the cathedral was virtually the only building to survive the massacres of the Thirty Years’ War, it nevertheless suffered destruction in World War II. But it was soon rebuilt and completed in 1955.
The place in front of the cathedral (sometimes called “new marketplace�, Neuer Markt) was occupied by an imperial palace (Kaiserpfalz), which was destroyed in the fire of 1207. The stones of the ruin served for building the cathedral. The presumptive remains of the palace were excavated in the 1960s.
Other sights in Magdeburg
Monastery “Unser Lieben Frauen�
Monastery “Unser Lieben Frauen� (literally “Our Beloved Lady�), 11th century, containing the church of St. Mary.
Town hall (1698); a town hall has stood on the marketplace since the 13th century, but it was destroyed in the Thirty Years’ War; the new town hall was built in a Renaissance style influenced by Dutch architecture.
Landtag; the seat of the government of Saxony-Anhalt is a Baroque palace built in 1724.
Monuments: the city has monuments depicting emperor Otto I (old marketplace, 1240) and Otto von Guericke (1907).