Holiday in Magdeburg

About Magdeburg

Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt, is a city of contrasts: medieval sacred architecture meets Hundertwasser architecture, and the history of Otto the Great intertwines with GDR prefabricated buildings and modern science. Located on the banks of the Elbe, Magdeburg has developed a completely new face after severe war destruction. The Magdeburg Cathedral is the city's landmark and the oldest Gothic church building on German soil — begun in 1209, completed only in 1520. Here lies Otto the Great, the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The 97-meter high towers dominate the Elbsilhoütte and are visible from afar. Friedensreich Hundertwasser's last architectural work stands in Magdeburg: The Green Citadel, opened in 2005, is a brightly colored, organically shaped residential and commercial building with a green roof, uneven windows, and tree-covered terraces in the city center. Tours also showcase the courtyard and rooftop garden. Otto von Guericke, Magdeburg's most famous son, demonstrated the power of vacuum in 1657 with his Magdeburg hemispheres in front of the Reichstag in Regensburg — 16 horses could not pull apart the vacuum-pumped hemispheres. His monument stands in front of the town hall, and the technology museum commemorates his groundbreaking experiments. The Elbe shapes the cityscape: The Elbaünpark with the Millennium Tower (the tallest wooden structure in Germany, 60 m) offers an interactive science museum covering 6,000 years of human history. The Magdeburg Waterway Junction, where the Mittelland Canal crosses the Elbe via a trough bridge, is an engineering marvel.