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41-723: Tangermünde is situated in the historic Altmark region of the North German Plain , on a glacial terminal moraine , above the left shore of the Elbe. The town's name derives from the mouth ( German : Mündung ) of the Tanger tributary. The altitude protects it from floods . Since the administrative restructuring effective January 1, 2010, the area of Tangermünde comprises the former municipalities of Bölsdorf , Buch , Grobleben , Hämerten , Langensalzwedel , Miltern , and Storkau . These former municipalities are now Ortschaften (divisions) of

82-631: A baroque ceremony in Königsberg Castle . Frederick's move was controversial, and only became widely accepted after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Throughout the 18th century, the Hohenzollerns increased their power. They were victorious over the Austrian Habsburg monarchy in the three Silesian Wars , greatly increasing their power through the acquisition of Silesia . King Frederick II adopted

123-674: A chapter of Canons Regular . From 1415 onwards, it became the residence of the Hohenzollern electors, after the Nuremberg burgrave Frederick VI was enfeoffed with Brandenburg by Charles' son Emperor Sigismund . The 15th century marked the "Golden Age" of Tangermünde, an affluent member of the Hanseatic League , when numerous Brick Gothic buildings including the town hall and St. Stephen's parish church arose, surrounded by an almost entirely preserved city wall with well-fortified gates and

164-498: A local administrative building erected in 1699. The present-day complex is a reconstruction of the early 20th century. In 1826 a sugar refinery was established as the town's main employer, which from 1910 manufactured the popular Feodora chocolate , today part of the Hachez company. As an effect of Tangermünde's decreasing importance, its historic centre and the city walls were largely preserved in its original appearance. Tangermünde

205-635: A population of 39,000, and Salzwedel (21,500). Before the Migration Period of 300 to 700 AD, the Lombards had settled the future Altmark. Subsequently, Old Germanic Saxon tribes lived in the northwest and Polabian Slavs in the eastern territories along the Elbe. After the Saxon Wars , waged by Charlemagne from 772 to 804, the lands became part of the Carolingian Empire . They formed part of

246-581: Is the tallest tower. The foundations of Eulenturm Tower (24 metres), the oldest defensive tower of Tangermünde, where laid around 1300. Another fortified tower is preserved in Schulstrasse, a small lane in the southwest of the old town centre. Seats in the town's assembly ( Stadtrat ) as of 2009 local elections : Tangermünde is twinned with: North of the town lies the Bundesstraße 188 (B 188) which connects it to Stendal and Rathenow , as well as, via

287-567: The Autobahn A 2 , to Berlin and Hanover . The river Elbe is crossed over a new bridge built in 2001. The first road bridge was opened for the traffic in 1933 and blown up in the last days of the Second World War, 1945. The Elbe River was then the frontier between the Russian and Western armies' zones of occupation: thousands of refugees and German soldiers crossed the river on foot, climbing on

328-807: The Drömling depression separate it from the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony ; the Altmark also borders the Wendland region in the north and the Magdeburg Börde in the south. Adjacent east of the Elbe is the historical Prignitz region. The population is small. The cultural landscape within the North European Plain is rural and widely covered with forests and heathlands . The largest towns are Stendal , with

369-794: The Eastphalian territory of the Duchy of Saxony , which, from 843 onwards, constituted the eastern borderlands of East Francia under Louis the German . The bishops of Verden and of Halberstadt promoted the Christianisation of the Saxon population. In 936 the German king Otto I allotted the territory of the later Altmark to the Saxon Count Gero , in order to subdue the West Slavic Wends settling on

410-418: The legal fiction that Frederick was only sovereign over his former duchy. In Brandenburg and other Hohenzollern domains within the borders of the empire, he was legally still an elector under the ultimate overlordship of the emperor. By this time, however, the emperor's authority had become purely nominal. The rulers of the empire's member states acted largely as rulers of sovereign states, and only acknowledged

451-438: The 1430s. In German, this building is referred to as Rathaus and serves as a civic meeting center. The building performs a secular purpose, as a town hall for the community, but its exterior is evocative of a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic features. This building contains gothic and Romanesque structural elements that appear on the exterior of the building (the interior of the building has not been widely photographed). Some of

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492-598: The Altmark (literally "Old March ") in contrast to the Mittelmark (Middle March) and Neumark (New March) beyond the Oder river; the written record first mentions it in 1304 as Antiqua Marchia . As part of Brandenburg, from 1415 held by the House of Hohenzollern , the Altmark became part of Brandenburg-Prussia and (from 1701) of the Kingdom of Prussia . After Prussia's defeat at

533-785: The Altmark became part of a reconstituted Saxony-Anhalt. The region is drained by the Elbe , joined by the Havel at Havelberg , and its left tributaries of the Milde-Biese- Aland system and the Jeetzel river. The largest natural lake of the Altmark is the Arendsee . The Altmark is located off the main traffic routes. The Bundesautobahn 14 leads to the Bundesautobahn 2 from Hanover to Berlin , it however ends north of Magdeburg. A continuation through

574-668: The Altmark towards Schwerin is planned. Beside which the Federal roads B71 , B107, B188 , B189, B190, B248 run through the region. Stendal station is a stop on the Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway . Other lines include: 52°43′N 11°24′E  /  52.717°N 11.400°E  / 52.717; 11.400 King in Prussia King in Prussia ( German : König in Preußen )

615-647: The Altmark was subdivided into the districts of Salzwedel , Gardelegen , Osterburg , and Stendal , all administered within the Regierungsbezirk of Magdeburg . After World War II the Altmark, lying to the east of the inner German border , became part of the new state of Saxony-Anhalt in the Soviet occupation zone . The regional administration of East Germany saw it administered within Bezirk Magdeburg from 1952 to 1990. With German reunification in 1990,

656-615: The Elbe. Gero thereafter campaigned in the Slavic lands far beyond the river Elbe and thereafter established the Saxon Marca Geronis stretching up to the Oder in the east. Upon Gero's death in 965, his marca was split and the Northern March was granted to Dietrich of Haldensleben , who nevertheless turned out to be an incapable ruler and lost all the territories east of the Elbe in

697-618: The Slavic Hevelli prince Pribislav and in 1150 succeeded him in his eastern territory around the fortress of Brandenburg an der Havel , which became the nucleus of his newly established Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1157. As the Brandenburg margraves expanded their territory during the course of the Ostsiedlung , the original western territory of the Northern March became known as

738-562: The Slavic Lutici uprising of 983. He retained only his margravial title and the initial land basis of his predecessor Gero's conquests west of the river. For more than one and a half centuries, the lands east of the Elbe defied German control, until in 1134 Emperor Lothair of Supplinburg bestowed the Northern March on the Ascanian count Albert the Bear . Albert signed an inheritance contract with

779-573: The arrow . When the latter was held to ransom by the citizens of Magdeburg in 1278, he used the treasure to pay for his release. Upon the extinction of the Ascanian dynasty, the town was one of the favourite places of the Luxembourg emperor Charles IV , who had purchased the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1373 and had Tangermünde Castle (German: Burg Tangermünde ) rebuilt as a Kaiserpfalz , including

820-498: The building unique. This church was built in several stages. Nothing is left of the original construction, because it burned in the town fire of 1617. The church has a Scherer organ built in 1624, one of the top 10 organs in Europe. It has been completely restored. The castle overlooking the inland harbour and the valley of river Elbe was founded around 925 and enlarged by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in 1373. It burnt down in 1640 and

861-493: The castle complex. However, after a 1488 revolt of the Tangermünde citizens against an excise tax on beer , the town lost the grace of Elector John Cicero , and the residence was relocated to Berlin - Cölln . On 13 September 1617 Tangermünde was almost completely destroyed by a fire, allegedly started as an act of revenge by a townswoman who had vainly sued at the local court for her inheritance. Accused of arson and burned at

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902-486: The construction of which was started around 1300. It was repaired and renovated several times as it protected the town against floods of river Elbe. Neustädter Tor is an impressive gate dating from 1450 opposite a former church ( St. Nicolaikirche ) which was built in the 12th century. Its belltower dates from 1470. Wassertor is another impressive gate of the medieval city wall. Various towers are preserved as well. The Shot tower ( Schrotturm ) measuring 47 metres in height

943-457: The emperor's suzerainty in a formal way. Hence, even though Brandenburg was still legally part of the empire and ruled in personal union with Prussia, the two states came to be treated as one de facto. Although Prussia's royal title gave the Hohenzollern rulers higher status, Brandenburg was the wealthier and more populous portion of the combined realm, and Brandenburg's capital Berlin remained

984-628: The empire, in a personal union . The dual state was known unofficially as Brandenburg-Prussia . Originally the dukes of Prussia held the fief as vassals of the King of Poland, until the Treaties of Labiau (1656) and Bromberg (1657), with which Frederick William , the Great Elector, achieved full sovereignty from the Polish Crown. His son, Elector Frederick III , then sought to show his greatness by adopting

1025-406: The grandiose rose windows that appear on the west façade of many gothic cathedrals. "The most remarkable feature is the gable end richly decorated with octagon buttresses, having stories of canopied niches—the gable is stepped between these buttresses". This observational analysis of the building dates from late 19th century, therefore its terminology differs from modern architectural jargon. Many of

1066-411: The ground floor windows and doorways are exaggerated with ornamental archivolted brickwork. One of the most intriguing features of the town hall is its use of colour on the exterior. The highlighting and trabeation of the exterior are white and the tracery and decorative grills are dark blue. The rest of the building is composed of red brick. The colours create a very distinctive visual palette that makes

1107-638: The hands of Napoleon in 1806, the terms of the Treaty of Tilsit (1807) assigned the territory of the Altmark to the new Kingdom of Westphalia . Prussia regained the area upon Napoleon's defeat (per Article XXIII of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna , 1815); however, it was incorporated into the new Prussian Province of Saxony rather than being attached to the Province of Brandenburg . Within Prussian Saxony,

1148-503: The initial territory of the March of Brandenburg , it is sometimes referred to as the "Cradle of Prussia", as by Otto von Bismarck , a native of Schönhausen near Stendal . The Altmark is located west of the Elbe river between the cities of Hamburg and Magdeburg , mostly included in the present-day districts of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel and Stendal . In the west, the Drawehn hill range and

1189-538: The more prominent features of the town hall are its high gables. On the façade are three staggered gables, with one central gable extending above the peak height of the roofline. These gables are a feature of brick architecture during this period. Adorning each gable are miniature spires, evocative of high gothic architecture popularized on cathedral exteriors. Each gable contains one large central circular window with two smaller ones below it, all with highly decorative tracery. These central circular windows are reminiscent of

1230-687: The primary residence of the King and his administration. In addition, the Duchy was only the eastern bulk of the region of Prussia; the westernmost fragment constituted the part of Royal Prussia east of the Vistula, held along with the title King of Prussia by the King of Poland . On 17 January 1701, Frederick dedicated the royal coat of arms, the Prussian black eagle with the motto " suum cuique " imprinted. On 18 January, he crowned himself and his wife Sophie Charlotte in

1271-520: The stake in 1619, her story was perpetuated by Theodor Fontane 's historical novel Grete Minde . The town was rebuilt with a variety of half-timbered houses lending it a unique appearance. However, after the castle had been slighted by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War in 1640, Tangermünde lost its strategic importance. Elector Frederick III (as Frederick I King in Prussia from 1701 on) had

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1312-681: The time allowed him to rule Prussia as a kingdom, outside the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. In the Crown Treaty of 16 November 1700, in return for Hohenzollern assistance in the War of the Spanish Succession and support for the Habsburg candidate in the subsequent imperial election, Emperor Leopold I allowed Frederick to crown himself "King in Prussia". The title "King in Prussia" reflected

1353-622: The title king . At the time, the only royal titles within the Holy Roman Empire were those of King of the Romans (held by the Holy Roman Emperor or their heir apparent ) and King of Bohemia (held more or less continuously since the 16th century by the Holy Roman Emperors in a de facto personal union). However, Prussia lay outside the empire, and the Hohenzollerns were fully sovereign over it. Frederick thus argued that German law of

1394-509: The title King of Prussia in 1772, the same year he annexed most of Royal Prussia in the First Partition of Poland . The Hohenzollerns continued to be both Kings of Prussia and Electors of Brandenburg until the empire's dissolution in 1806. At that point, the entire realm was formally unified as the Kingdom of Prussia, with Brandenburg one of its provinces and Berlin the kingdom's capital, though

1435-579: The town Tangermünde. Tangermünde can look back at a thousand-year-long history as already in 1009 the medieval chronicler Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg referred to a local lowland castle , which probably had been erected in the early 10th century during the rule of King Henry the Fowler at the border with the lands of the Polabian Slavs incorporated into the Saxon Marca Geronis . The town itself

1476-432: The war and the surrender en masse of the German 12th Army and remnants of the 9th Army to U.S. Forces. Between 4 May and 7 May 1945, as many as 100,000 German soldiers and civilians crossed the rickety ruins of the bridge on foot until Russian forces reached the east bank of the Elbe. Since German reunification the old town has been gradually restored. The Tangermünde Town Hall is a late medieval building constructed in

1517-462: The wrecked bridge, to escape from Russian control, photographed by Allied cameramen. Shortly afterwards, a temporary bridge was constructed, which served until 2001. There is a railway line which connects the town with Stendal . The first line was opened in 1886. Altmark The Altmark (English: Old March ) is a historic region in Germany , comprising the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt . As

1558-514: Was a title used by the Prussian kings (also in personal union Electors of Brandenburg ) from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently, they used the title King of Prussia ( König von Preußen ). The House of Hohenzollern ruled Brandenburg as Prince-Electors , and were subjects of the Holy Roman Emperor . Since 1618, the Electors of Brandenburg had also ruled the Duchy of Prussia , which lay outside

1599-415: Was first mentioned in a 1275 deed, governed by a succession of vogts (reeves), such as Ruthger von Blumenthal . Due to its favourable location, it soon became a point where tolls were charged on boats sailing along the Elbe River as well as a residence of the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg . Margrave John II hid his treasure under the parish church, and passed the secret to his brother Otto with

1640-400: Was not hit by severe damage during World War II until elements of the U.S. Army closed on the city and its strategic bridge across the Elbe River on 12 April 1945, triggering a brief but fierce battle, during which the modern (1933) combined rail and highway bridge was blown up by retreating German forces. In the closing days of the war Tangermünde was the scene of one of the last skirmishes of

1681-421: Was reconstructed in 1902. Its oldest building is Alte Kanzlei dating from the 14th century. The tower above the entrance gate was used as a prison, therefore its name Gefängnisturm (Prison Tower) . The other tower ( Kapitelturm ) measuring 50 metres in height, dates from 1376 and offers an impressive view of the town and its surroundings. The old centre of Tangermünde is surrounded by a well-preserved city wall

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