Country Germany District Salzlandkreis Postal codes 06406 Population 36,105 (31 Dec 2008) Postal code 06406 | State Saxony-Anhalt Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Dialling codes 03471, 034692 Local time Saturday 11:08 PM | |
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Weather 10°C, Wind S at 8 km/h, 69% Humidity University Anhalt University of Applied Sciences | ||
Bernburg (Saale) is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkreis district. The former residence of the Anhalt-Bernburg princes is known for its Renaissance castle.
Contents
- Map of Bernburg Germany
- Geography
- History
- Bernburg memorial
- International relations
- Honorary citizen
- Sons and daughters of the city
- People who have worked on the ground
- References
Map of Bernburg, Germany
Geography
The town centre is situated in the fertile Magdeburg Börde lowland on the Saale river, approx. 40 km (25 mi) downstream from Halle and 45 km (28 mi) up stream from Magdeburg. It is dominated by huge Bernburg Castle featuring a museum as well as a popular, recently updated bear pit in its moat.
The municipal area comprises the villages of Baalberge, Biendorf, Gröna, Peißen, Poley, Preußlitz, and Wohlsdorf, all incorporated on 1 January 2010.
Bernburg is a stop on the scenic Romanesque Road (Strasse der Romanik).
History
Several archaeological sites in the area refer to the Walternienburg-Bernburg Culture, a mid-neolithic funnelbeaker culture from about 3200 to 2800 BC. Agriculture on the fertile Loess soil was already common in prehistoric times. Around 150 AD, a local settlement named Luppia was mentioned in the Geography by Ptolemy. In the Early Middle Ages, the Saale river marked the border between the German stem duchies in the west and the lands of the Polabian Slavs in the east.
The present-day borough of Waldau (which became part of Bernburg in 1871) was first mentioned in a 782 deed and again in 806 as Waladala in the chronicles of Moissac Abbey; the village church dedicated to St Stephen first appeared in 964, the nowadays building dates from around 1150. Bernburg itself was first mentioned as civitas Brandanburg in a 961 deed issued by King Otto I of Germany. According to the Annalista Saxo, Berneburch Castle, then a possession of the Ascanian prince Albert the Bear, was set on fire by his enemies in 1138. In 1252 the rebuilt castle became the residence of Albert's great-grandson Prince Bernhard I of Anhalt-Bernburg in 1252.
Bernburg memorial
In the Nazi era during World War II, a wing of the town's mental hospital was used for the so-called T-4 Euthanasia Programme. The site today houses a memorial to commemorate the suffering of more than 14,000 victims.
International relations
Bernburg is twinned with:
Honorary citizen
Date of award
All appointments of honorary citizens and the like from 1933 to 1945 were annulled.