Haldensleben

Geography

It is situated on the Ohre river, near the confluence with its Beber tributary, and the parallel Mittelland Canal, running from the fertile Magdeburg Börde basin to the Elbe river in the east. The town centre is located approx. 30 kilometres (19 miles) northwest from Magdeburg. It is connected by railway to the neighbouring towns of Magdeburg, Oebisfelde and Eilsleben.

The municipal area includes the village of Süplingen, incorporated in 2104.

History

The Saxon fortress of hahaldeslevo in Eastphalia was first mentioned in a 966 deed of donation issued by Emperor Otto I. The Counts of Haldensleben rose to considerable power, most notably Dietrich and William, who ruled as margraves of the Northern March. Soonafter a trading place (Neuhaldensleben) arose nearby, which was vested with market rights about 1150. Besieged and devastetd by the forces of Archbishop Wichmann in 1181, the Haldensleben estates belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Magdeburg from 1215.

Rebuilding of the town began in 1223, and Archbishop Albert I established a Cistercian abbey at Althaldensleben. The citizens again received market rights in 1526. The Protestant Reformation was implemented in 1541 and in 1680 the former episcopal lands were secularized as the Duchy of Magdeburg, held by the Hohenzollern rulers of Brandenburg-Prussia.

Today Haldensleben has a Protestant and a Catholic church. An old equestrian statue of Roland symbolized the rights of a medieval settlement to be accepted as a town. It is the only statue of Roland sitting on a horse in the world. Before 1938, when it merged with Althaldensleben, the town was called Neuhaldensleben.

International relations

Haldensleben is twinned with:

Notable people