Bernburg (Saale) () is a town in

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

, Germany, capital of the

Salzlandkreis Salzland is a district in the middle of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is . It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts Harz, Börde, Magdeburg, Jerichower Land, Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Mansfeld-Südharz and Saalekreis. History ...

district. The former residence of the

Anhalt-Bernburg Anhalt-Bernburg was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and a duchy of the German Confederation ruled by the House of Ascania with its residence at Bernburg in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It emerged as a subd ...

princes is known for its

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

castle.

Geography

The town centre is situated in the fertile

Magdeburg Börde The Magdeburg Börde () is the central landscape unit of the state of Saxony-Anhalt and lies to the west and south of the eponymous state capital Magdeburg. Part of a loess belt stretching along the southeastern rim of the North German Plain, it ...

lowland on the

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale ( ) and Thuringian Saale (), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the M ...

river, approx. downstream from Halle and up stream from

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

. It is dominated by the huge Bernburg Castle featuring a museum as well as a popular, recently updated bear pit in its moat. The municipal area comprises the town Bernburg proper and eight ''Ortschaften'' or municipal divisions: Aderstedt (incorporated in 2003),

Baalberge Baalberge is a village and a former municipality in the district Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Bernburg Bernburg (Saale) () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkr ...

, Biendorf,

Gröna Gröna is a village and a former municipality in the district Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Bernburg Bernburg (Saale) () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkre ...

, Peißen, Poley,

Preußlitz Preußlitz is a village and a former municipality in the district Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Bernburg.Wohlsdorf Wohlsdorf is an ''Ortschaft'' (municipal division) of the town of Bernburg in Salzlandkreis, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. History Wohlsdorf was first mentioned as a village east of Bernburg in 986. It later became a municipality in the Salzlandkreis ...

, all incorporated on 1 January 2010.Hauptsatzung der Stadt Bernburg (Saale)
, December 2018. Bernburg is a stop on the scenic

Romanesque Road The Romanesque Road () is a scenic route in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt in central-east Germany. It is part of the Transromanica network, a major European Cultural Route since 2006. Route The route takes the form of a figure-of-eight, ...

(''Strasse der Romanik'').

Paleontology

Type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

temnospondyl Temnospondyli (from Greek language, Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order (biology), order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered Labyrinth ...

amphibian '' Trematosaurus brauni'' was found in the Late

Olenekian In the geologic timescale, the Olenekian is an age (geology), age in the Early Triassic epoch (geology), epoch; in chronostratigraphy, it is a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the Lower Triassic series (stratigraphy), series. It spans the time betw ...

(Lower

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

) deposits of Merkel's Quarry, near Bernburg.

History

Several archaeological sites in the area refer to the Walternienburg-Bernburg Culture, a mid-Neolithic

funnelbeaker culture The Funnel(-neck-)beaker culture, in short TRB or TBK (, ; ; ), was an archaeological culture in north-central Europe. It developed as a technological merger of local neolithic and mesolithic techno-complexes between the lower Elbe and middle V ...

from about 3200 to 2800 BC. Agriculture on the fertile

Loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

soil was already common in prehistoric times. Around 150 AD, a local settlement named ''Luppia'' was mentioned in the ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

'' by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

. In the Early Middle Ages, the Saale River marked the border between the German

stem duchies A stem duchy (, from '' Stamm'', meaning "tribe", in reference to the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians and Swabians) was a constituent duchy of the Kingdom of Germany at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dynasty (death of Louis the Child in ...

in the west and the lands of the

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs, also known as Elbe Slavs and more broadly as Wends, is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites, Lechitic (West Slavs, West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern Germany. The ...

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 Moissac Abbey was a Benedictine and Cluniac monastery in Moissac, Tarn-et-Garonne in south-western France. A number of its medieval buildings survive, including the abbey church, which has a famous and important Romanesque sculpture around t ...

; 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 Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Frankish (German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son of Henry the Fowler and Matilda of ...

. According to the

Annalista Saxo The Annalista Saxo ("Saxon annalist") is the anonymous author of an important imperial chronicle, believed to have originated in the mid-12th century at Nienburg Abbey in the Duchy of Saxony. General The chronicle of the "Annalista Saxo" is a ...

, ''Berneburch'' Castle, then a possession of the

Ascanian The House of Ascania () was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schloss Askanien'' in ...

prince

Albert the Bear Albert the Bear (; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142. Life Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, and Eilika of Sa ...

, 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.

Bernburg memorial

In the

Nazi era Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a wing of the town's mental hospital was used for the so-called

T-4 Euthanasia Programme (German, ) was a campaign of mass murder by involuntary euthanasia which targeted people with disabilities and the mentally ill in Nazi Germany. The term was first used in post-war trials against doctors who had been involved in the killings ...

. The site today houses a memorial to commemorate the suffering of more than 14,000 victims.

Gallery

Aerial image of Schloss Bernburg (view from the south).jpg, Bernburg Castle aerial view Bernburg (Saale), town square, Mary´s Church and former town hall of the lower city.jpg, Old town hall and St. Mary´s Church (inner city) Bernburg (Saale), St. Nikolai 20170411 001.jpg, St. Nicolai church Bernburg (Saale), Schlosssgartenstraße 16 20170411 001.jpg, Town Hall Saaleblick - panoramio (1).jpg, Old mill at Saale river Bernburg (Saale), Schlossstraße 22 20170411 001.jpg, Schlossstraße (inner city)

Twin towns – sister cities

Bernburg is twinned with: * Anderson, United States (1998) * Fourmies, France (1967) *

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt (district), Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems (river), Ems, about north of Münster ...

, Germany (1990) *

Tarnowskie Góry Tarnowskie Góry (; ; ) is a city in Silesia, southern Poland, located in the Silesian Highlands near Katowice and seat city of Tarnowskie Góry County Located in the north of the Metropolis GZM, a megalopolis (city type), megalopolis, the great ...

, Poland (1983) *

Chomutov Chomutov (; ) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. There are almost 80,000 inhabitants in the city's wider metropolitan area. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected as ...

, Czech Republic (1992)

Notable people

Honorary citizen

Date of award * April 10, 1890:

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

(1815–1898) * April 7, 1937 – March 26, 1946:

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

(1893–1946) * June 12, 1938 – March 26, 1946:

Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk Johann Ludwig "Lutz" Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (Born Johann Ludwig von Krosigk; 22 August 18874 March 1977) was a German senior government official who served as the minister of finance of Germany from 1932 to 1945 and '' de facto'' chancellor ...

(1887–1977) All appointments of honorary citizens and the like from 1933 to 1945 were annulled.Beschluss der Magistratssitzung der Stadt Bernburg vom 26. März 1946 – Stadtarchiv Bernburg Findbuch 8/II-675 * February 24, 1950: Johannes R. Becher (1891–1958) * February 19, 1953:

Hermann Henselmann Hermann Henselmann (3 February 1905 – 19 January 1995) was a German architect most famous for his buildings constructed in East Germany during the 1950s and 1960s. Early years Henselmann was born in Roßla and studied at the Kunstgewerbesch ...

(1905–1995) * February 5, 1967 – ?:

Hilde Benjamin Hilde Benjamin ( Lange; 5 February 1902 – 18 April 1989) was an East German judge who served as the Minister of Justice of the German Democratic Republic from 1953 to 1967. Benjamin was a professional lawyer and member of the Communist Pa ...

(1902–1989)

Sons and daughters of the city

Christoph Rothmann Christoph Rothmann (between 1550 and 1560 in Bernburg, Saxony-Anhalt – probably after 1600 in Bernburg) was a German mathematician and one of the few well-known astronomers of his time. His research contributed substantially to the fact that Ka ...

(1550–1600), mathematician and astronomer of the 16th century *

Sibylla of Anhalt Sibylla of Anhalt (28 September 1564 – 26 October 1614) was a German princess from the House of Ascania who became Duchess of Württemberg as the wife of Duke Frederick I. Life Sibylla of Anhalt was born in Bernburg on 28 September 1564, as th ...

(1564–1614), Duchess of Württemberg * Wilhelm Heinrich Sebastian Bucholz (1734–1798), official physician * Heinrich Friedrich von Diez (1751–1817), diplomat and orientalist *

Isaak Markus Jost Isaak Marcus (Markus) Jost (February 22, 1793, Bernburg – November 22, 1860, Frankfurt am Main) was a Jewish historical writer. He studied at the universities of Göttingen and Berlin. In Berlin he began to teach, and in 1835 received the appo ...

(1793–1860), historian Fotothek df pk 0000213 012

Ferdinand Reich Ferdinand Reich (19 February 1799 – 27 April 1882) was a German chemist who co-discovered indium in 1863 with Hieronymous Theodor Richter. Reich was born in Bernburg, Anhalt-Bernburg, Holy Roman Empire and died in Freiberg, Saxony, Freibe ...

(1799–1882), chemist and physicist * Herrman S. Saroni (1824–1900), writer, composer and inventor *

Hans Reinowski Hans Reinowski (January 28, 1900 in Bernburg – January 3, 1977 in Darmstadt), was a German journalist, writer and politician, representative of the Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been use ...

(1900–1977), politician *

Herbert Weißbach Herbert Weißbach (12 November 1901 – 13 October 1995) was a German actor, cabaret artist, and voice actor. Born in Bernburg, he appeared in more than 240 films and television shows between 1935 and 1994. Selected filmography * ''Donog ...

(1901–1995), actor * Ernst Busch (1900–1980), East German singer and actor, Busch was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize for 1970–71 *

(1902–1989), presiding judge in a series of political trials in the 1950s and Justice Minister of the GDR * Ruth Lange (1908–1994), shot putter and discus thrower *

Otto Knefler Otto Knefler (5 September 1923 – 30 October 1986) was a German association football player and manager. As player he won the championship of the German Democratic Republic of 1952 with Turbine Halle, today known as Hallescher FC. Between 196 ...

(1923–1986), soccer coach and player *

Gerhard Dünnhaupt Gerhard Dünnhaupt, Royal Society of Canada, FRSC (15 August 1927 in Bernburg (Saale) – 17 November 2024 in Toronto)Peter Hess, Mara R. WadeRemembering Professor Gerhard “Gerry” Dünnhaupt (1927–2024).Retrieved 17 February 2025. was a Ger ...

(1927–2024), bibliographer and cultural historian * Michael Müller (born 1948), politician *

Rolf Milser Rolf Milser (born 28 June 1951) is a retired German weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People en ...

(born 1951), weight lifter *

Heike Hartwig Heike Hartwig (born 30 December 1962 in Bernburg, Bezirk Halle) is a retired East German shot putter. She represented the sports club SC Dynamo Berlin, and became East German championships in 1987, 1989 and 1990. Her personal best throw was 21. ...

(born 1962), athlete * Ingo Weißenborn (born 1963), fencer

People who have worked on the ground

* Christian II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (1767–1834), Prince and Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg *

Friedrich Adolf Krummacher Friedrich Adolf Krummacher (July 13, 1767 – April 14, 1845) was a German Reformed theologian and a writer of devotional poetry and prose. Biography He was born in Tecklenburg, Westphalia. Having studied theology at Lingen and Halle, he became ...

(1767–1845), theologian, general superintendent in Bernburg 1812–1824 Hermann Hellriegel

Wilhelm von Kügelgen Wilhelm Georg Alexander von Kügelgen (20 November 1802, in St.Petersburg – 25 May 1867, in Ballenstedt) was a German portrait and history painter, writer, and Chamberlain (office), chamberlain at the Court of Anhalt-Bernburg. He is best kn ...

(1802–1867), early-romantic painter and author, in the service of the court of Bernburg *

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

(1813–1883), worked in 1834 in the Bernburg Hoftheater (Mozart operas) * Hermann Hellriegel (1831–1895), biologist and

agricultural scientist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

in Bernburg 1880–1895 * Wilhelm Krüger (1857–1947), 25 years director of the agricultural test station Bernburg

References

External links

Official Website of the city (in German)

Bernburg Castle
{{Authority control Salzlandkreis