Timeline of Magdeburg

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Magdeburg, Germany.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 19th century

• 5th to 7th century - the city was already fortified; shown by excavations by Ernst Nickel and other archaeologists, e.g. a double ditch system.^[1]
• 937 - Mauritiuskloster [de] (monastery) founded by Otto the Great.^[2]
• 968
  • Catholic Archbishopric of Magdeburg established.^[3]
  • Kloster Berge [de] (monastery) founded.^[4]
• 1010 - Volksfest begins.^{[citation needed]}
• 1018 - Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen [de] (monastery) founded.^[2]
• 1188 - Fire.^[4]
• 1290 - Statue of Otto the Great erected in front of the town-hall.^[4]
• 1294 - Magdeburg rights in effect.^[5]
• 1297 - Freischiessen begins.^[6]
• 1480 - Sankt-Petri-Kirche (Magdeburg) [de] (church) rebuilt.
• 1520 - Magdeburg Cathedral towers built.^[4]
• 1524 - Protestant reformation.^[4]
• 1525 - Stadtbibliothek Magdeburg [de] (library) founded.
• 1550
  • Magdeburg Confession issued in response to the Augsburg Interim.
  • Magdeburg besieged by forces of Maurice, Elector of Saxony.^[4]
• 1631 - May: Sack of Magdeburg during the Thirty Years' War; city burned by Tilly.^[4](de)
• 1680 - Duchy of Magdeburg established.
• 1685 - Huguenot refugee French Colony of Magdeburg develops.
• 1691 - Rathaus Magdeburg [de] (city hall) rebuilt.^[4]
• 1702 - Magdeburg Citadel [de] built.^[7]
• 1721 - Fort Berge [de] construction begins.
• 1780 - Population: 22,389.^(de)
• 1783 - Harmonie-Gesellschaft (Magdeburg) [de] (cultural association) founded.

19th century

• 1806 - Siege of Magdeburg (1806) by French forces; Magdeburg "annexed to the kingdom of Westphalia."^[4]
• 1814 - Magdeburg becomes part of Prussia again.^[4]
• 1815 - Administrative Regierungsbezirk Magdeburg (region) created.
• 1818 - Prussian IV Army Corps headquartered in Magdeburg.
• 1824 - Herrenkrugpark [de] expanded.
• 1825 - Industrie- und Handelskammer Magdeburg [de] (chamber of commerce) founded.^[8]

Magdeburg in the 1830s

• 1840
  • Magdeburg-Leipzig railway built.
  • Population: 50,898.^(de)
• 1843
  • Magdeburg–Thale railway begins operating.
  • Magdeburger Börse [de] (stock exchange) founded.
• 1846 - Berlin–Magdeburg railway begins operating.
• 1851 - Magdeburg Synagogue [de] built.
• 1855 - Grusonwerk [de] machinery manufactory begins operating in nearby Buckau.
• 1860 - Viktoriatheater (Magdeburg) [de] opens.
• 1866 - Rathaus Magdeburg [de] (city hall) enlarged.^[4]
• 1867 - Sudenburg [de] becomes part of Magdeburg.
• 1873 - Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof (train station) opens.
• 1876 - Stadttheater Magdeburg (theatre) opens.
• 1877 - Soldiers' Memorial erected.^[7]
• 1885 - Population: 114,291.^(de)
• 1886
  • Alte Neustadt [de] becomes part of Magdeburg.
  • Martin Luther monument (Magdeburg) [de] erected.^[7]
• 1887 - Buckau becomes part of Magdeburg.
• 1890 - Volksstimme newspaper begins publication.^[8]
• 1895 - Population: 214,424.^[9]
• 1896
  • SV Victoria 96 Magdeburg (football club) formed.
  • Gruson-Gewächshäuser (greenhouse garden) opens.

20th century

Magdeburg at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

• 1903 - Königsbrücke [de] (bridge) opens.
• 1905 - Population: 240,661.^[4]
• 1906 - Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg founded.
• 1907
  • Zentraltheater (theatre) opens.^[5]
  • Rathaus Magdeburg [de] (city hall) new building constructed.
• 1908 - Rothensee [de] becomes part of Magdeburg.^[5]
• 1910 - Cracau (Magdeburg) [de], Fermersleben [de], Lemsdorf [de], Prester (Magdeburg) [de], Salbke [de], and Westerhüsen [de] become part of Magdeburg.^[5]
• 1917 - Polish leader Józef Piłsudski and close associate Kazimierz Sosnkowski imprisoned in Magdeburg.^[10]
• 1918 - Piłsudski and Sosnkowski released.^[10]
• 1919 - Population: 285,856.^[11]
• 1934
  • Volkspark Westerhüsen [de] (park) opens.^[12]
  • City hosts the 1934 European Aquatics Championships.
• 1938 - November: Kristallnacht pogrom against Jews.^[5]
• 1939 - Nazi camp for Sinti and Romani people established (see also Porajmos).^[13]
• 1942 - Zwangsarbeiterlager Diana [de] (labor camp) built.
• 1944
  • 14 June: Women subcamp of the Ravensbrück concentration camp established at the Polte ammunition factory. The prisoners were mostly Soviet, Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish.^[14]
  • 1 July: Province of Magdeburg established.
  • 1 September: Subcamp of Ravensbrück at the Polte ammunition factory converted into a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp.^[14]
  • 3 November: Men subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp established at the Polte ammunition factory. The prisoners were mostly Jewish.^[15]
• 1945
  • 16 January: Aerial Bombing of Magdeburg on 16 January 1945 [de] by Allied forces.^[5]
  • 13 April: Subcamps of Buchenwald at the Polte ammunition factory dissolved. Dozens of prisoners massacred by the Volkssturm and Hitler Youth. Surviving prisoners sent on death marches towards the Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen concentration camps.^[14][15]
  • 18 April: City occupied by United States forces.^[5]
  • 1 July: City occupied by Soviet forces.^[5]
• 1949 - City becomes part of the German Democratic Republic.
• 1954 - Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg [de] (hospital) and Medizinische Akademie Magdeburg [de] (medical school) founded.
• 1955
  • Ernst Grube Stadium opens.
  • SC Magdeburg (sport club) formed.

Magdeburg in 1963

• 1965
  • 1. FC Magdeburg (football club) formed.^[5]
  • Neue Strombrücke Magdeburg [de] (bridge) opens.
• 1974 - S-Bahn Mittelelbe (city railway) begins operating.
• 1987 - Technical University Magdeburg [de] active.^[5]
• 1990
  • City becomes part of reunited nation of Germany.
  • Wilhelm Polte [de] becomes mayor.^[5]
• 1991
  • Regional Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt (legislature) begins meeting in Magdeburg.
  • Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal [de] (school) established.
• 1993 - Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg established.
• 1994 - Municipal election held.^(de)
• 1996 - Jerusalembrücke (Nordbrücke) [de] (bridge) built.
• 1997 - GETEC Arena opens.
• 1998
  • March: Alliance '90/The Greens conference held in Magdeburg.^(de)
  • Allee-Center Magdeburg [de] (shopping centre) in business on Breiter Weg (Magdeburg) [de].
• 1999
  • Jahrtausendturm (tower) built.
  • Panoramabahn [de] monorail begins operating.
  • National Bundesgartenschau (garden show) held in the Elbauenpark.^[5]

21st century

• 2001
  • Lutz Trümper becomes mayor.^[5]
  • Landesarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt [de] (archives) established.
• 2003 - Magdeburg Water Bridge opens near city.^[5]
• 2006 - MDCC-Arena opens.
• 2010 - Magdeburger Regionalverkehrsverbund [de] (transit entity) established.
• 2013 - June: Flood.^[5]
• 2015 - Population: 238,212.^(de)
• 2024 - Christmas market attack, killing at least 5^[16]

See also

• Magdeburg history (de)
• List of mayors of Magdeburg (in German)
• List of bishops of Magdeburg [de] (en)
• List of heritage sites in Magdeburg [de]
• History of Saxony-Anhalt

Other cities in the state of Saxony-Anhalt:^(de)

• Timeline of Halle (Saale)