City (pop., 2002 est.: 229,755), capital of Saxony-Anhalt state, east-central Germany.
Located on the Elbe River , it was a trading settlement as early as the 9th century, and by the 13th century it was a leading member of the Hanseatic League . It embraced the Reformation in 1524 and was governed by Protestant titular archbishops. In 1631, during the Thirty Years' War , it was burned and sacked. Captured by the French during the Napoleonic Wars , it soon passed to the Prussians, and in 1815 it became the capital of the province of Saxony . It was heavily bombed during World War II. One of Germany's most important inland ports, it is a railroad junction. The composer Georg Philipp Telemann was born there.
The cathedral at Magdeburg, Ger.
W. Krammisch/Bruce Coleman Inc.