Marienborn is a village and a former municipality in the

Börde district A ''börde'' (; plural: ''börden'') is a region of highly fertile lowland in North Germany, a "fertile plain". These landscapes often cover great areas and are particularly important for arable farming on account of their rich soils. These reg ...

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 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Since 1 January 2010, it has been part of the municipality of

Sommersdorf Sommersdorf is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Börde (district), Börde Districts of Germany, district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. On 1 January 2010 it absorbed the former municipality Marienborn.Haldensleben Haldensleben (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Halslä'') is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Börde (district), Börde district. Geography It is situated on the Ohre river, near the confluence with its ...

. The historic

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

centre near the former

inner German border The inner German border ( or ''deutsch–deutsche Grenze''; initially also , zonal boundary) was the frontier between the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the West Germany, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West ...

is known for the preserved Helmstedt-Marienborn border crossing, now a memorial site. In 1191

Wichmann von Seeburg Wichmann von Seeburg ( – 25 August 1192) was Bishop of Naumburg from 1150 until 1154 and Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1154 until his death. He became the first Magdeburg prince-archbishop in 1180 Life Wichmann was the second son of the Saxon ...

, then Archbishop of Magdeburg, established an asylum at the site of an apparition of the Virgin Mary and a spring ''(Born)'' with healing waters, which during the 13th century evolved into a monastery for Augustinian nuns. The sisters of Marienborn abbey left a monastery church and

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

with foundations from about 1200, while the pilgrimage chapel at the spring is a replica dating from the 19th century.

Transportation

Marienborn has access to the

Bundesautobahn 2 is an autobahn in Germany that connects the Ruhr area in the west to Berlin in the east. The A 2 starts at the junction with the Bundesautobahn 3, A3 near the western city of Oberhausen, passes through the north of the Ruhr valley, through ...

and the

Bundesstraße 1 The Bundesstraße 1 (abbr. B1) is a German federal highway running in an east-west direction from the Dutch border near Aachen to the Polish border at Küstrin-Kietz on the Oder River. History The road developed from an ancient east-wester ...

federal highway. The former railway border crossing at

Marienborn station Marienborn station () is a railway station in the Municipalities of Germany, municipality of Marienborn, located in the Börde (district), Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Notable places nearby *Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing ...

today is a stop on the railway line from Braunschweig to Magdeburg, served by

Regionalbahn The ''Regionalbahn'' (; lit. Regional train; abbreviated ''RB'') is a train categories in Europe, type of Regional rail, local passenger train (stopping train) in Germany. It is similar to the Regionalzug (R) and Regio (Swiss railway train), R ...

trains of the

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

company.

External links

Marienborn pilgrimage site
Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Börde (district) {{Börde-geo-stub