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49-543: Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located some 125 km (78 mi) west of Berlin , around 170 km (110 mi) east of Hanover , and 55 km (34 mi) north of the state capital Magdeburg . Stendal is the seat of a University of Applied Sciences ( Fachhochschule ) and preserves a picturesque old town including a historic market and several churches. The nearby village Uchtspringe

98-513: A 12th-century forgery, as the original document contained no such record. The fortified town near the Elbe crossing at Tangermünde was actually founded and granted Magdeburg rights by the first Brandenburg margrave Albert the Bear about 1160. The parish church of St Mary's was first mentioned in 1283. Stendal quickly prospered as a centre of commerce and trade; it received city walls about 1300,

147-502: A larger drainage basin . Nonetheless, for historical reasons the river retains the name Elbe, also because at the confluence point it is the Elbe that flows through the main, wider valley while the Vltava flows into the valley to meet the Elbe at almost a right angle, and thus appears to be the tributary river. Some distance lower down, at Litoměřice , the waters of the Elbe are tinted by the reddish Ohře . Thus augmented, and swollen into

196-447: A particular involvement in youth and children's theatre. Theatrical performances and dance events are staged, as well as concerts, conferences and meetings. The Winckelmann Museum is named after Johann Joachim Winckelmann , the founder of classical archaeology . Its holdings include biographical documents, works, designs and diagrams as well as Greek sculptures or casts, along with other small artworks from antiquity. Since summer 2003

245-597: A residential area in the southern part of the town, was devastated by bombs. The Cathedral and various historical buildings were heavily damaged by bombs. In April 1945, the aerodrome served as starting place of the Sonderkommando Elbe unit, only a few days before the local authorities surrendered to the US Army. On May 4, the commander of the Wehrmacht 12th Army , General Maximilian von Edelsheim , signed

294-411: A southerly course, emerging from the mountain glens at Jaroměř , where it receives Úpa and Metuje . Here the Elbe enters the vast vale named Polabí (meaning "land along the Elbe"), and continues on southwards through Hradec Králové (where Orlice flows in) and then to Pardubice , where it turns sharply to the west. At Kolín some 43 kilometres (27 mi) further on, it bends gradually towards

343-546: A stream 140 metres (460 ft) wide, the Elbe carves a path through the basaltic mass of the České Středohoří , churning its way through a picturesque, deep, narrow and curved rocky gorge. Shortly after crossing the Czech-German frontier, and passing through the sandstone defiles of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains , the stream assumes a north-westerly direction, which on the whole it preserves right to

392-762: A type of cable ferry that uses the current flow of the river to provide propulsion. Humans first lived in the northern Elbe region before about 200,000 years ago, during the Middle Paleolithic . Ptolemy recorded the Elbe as Albis ( Germanic for "river") in Germania Magna, with its source in the Asciburgis mountains ( Giant Mountains ), where the Germanic Vandalii then lived. The Elbe has long served as an important delineator of European geography. The Romans knew

441-532: Is home to a psychiatric rehabilitation clinic. The town Stendal consists of Stendal proper and the following 18 Ortschaften or municipal divisions: A settlement named Steinedal in the Eastphalian Balsamgau of Saxony , then a possession of Saint Michael’s Abbey in Hildesheim , was mentioned in a deed allegedly issued by Emperor Henry II in 1022. However, the entry has proven to be

490-694: Is inhabited by 24.4 million people; its biggest cities are Berlin , Hamburg , Prague , Dresden and Leipzig . First attested in Latin as Albis , the name Elbe means "river" or "river-bed" and is nothing more than the High German version of a word ( *albī ) found elsewhere in Germanic; cf. Old Norse river name Elfr , Swedish älv "river", Norwegian elv "river", Old English river name elf , and Middle Low German elve "river-bed". The Elbe (Labe) rises on

539-693: Is one of the major rivers of Central Europe . It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven , 110 kilometres (68 miles) northwest of Hamburg . Its total length is 1,094 km (680 mi). The Elbe's major tributaries include the rivers Vltava , Saale , Havel , Mulde , Schwarze Elster , and Ohře . The Elbe river basin, comprising

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588-461: The 10th (Magdeburg) Hussars regiment from 1884. Stendal was the site of a Luftwaffe airfield in World War II, which had been the site of the first German Fallschirmjäger training school from 1936; the boxer Max Schmeling was trained as a paratrooper here in 1940/41. The town suffered from strategic bombing . Stendal was hit by 10 air raids, and more than 300 civilians died when Röxe,

637-591: The U.S. Army . In 1945, as World War II drew to a close, Germany came under attack from the armies of the western Allies advancing from the west and those of the Soviet Union advancing from the east. On 25 April 1945 these two forces linked up near Torgau , on the Elbe. The victorious countries marked the event unofficially as Elbe Day . From 1949 to 1990 the Elbe formed part of the Inner German border between East Germany and West Germany . During

686-746: The United Kingdom , was signed on 14 February 1929, ending in 2028. Since 1993 the Czech Republic holds the former Czechoslovak legal position. Before Germany was reunited, waterway transport in Western Germany was hindered by the fact that inland navigation to Hamburg had to pass through the German Democratic Republic. The Elbe-Seitenkanal (Elbe Lateral Canal) was built between the West German section of

735-466: The Wendish Crusade of 1147. The Elbe delineated the western parts of Germany from the eastern so-called East Elbia , where soccage and serfdom were more strict and prevailed longer than westwards of the river, and where feudal lords held bigger estates than in the west. Thus incumbents of huge land-holdings became characterised as East Elbian Junkers . The Northern German area north of

784-645: The 1970s the Soviet Union stated that Adolf Hitler 's ashes had been scattered in the Elbe following disinterment from their original burial-site. Stendal Nuclear Power Plant Stendal Nuclear Power Station ( German : Kernkraftwerk Stendal ) is a nuclear power station which was never completed. It was located in East Germany , near the city of Arneburg , Stendal in Bezirk Magdeburg , today's Saxony-Anhalt . The power station

833-516: The Elbe and its tributaries, has a catchment area of 148,268 square kilometres (57,247 sq mi), the twelfth largest in Europe. The basin spans four countries; however, it lies almost entirely just in two of them, Germany (65.5%) and the Czech Republic (33.7%, covering about two thirds of the nation's territory). On its southeastern edges, the Elbe river basin also comprises small parts of Austria (0.6%) and Poland (0.2%). The Elbe catchment area

882-517: The Elbe is subject to the tides , the tidal Elbe section is called the Unterelbe (Low Elbe). Soon the Elbe reaches Hamburg. Within the city-state the Unterelbe has a number of branch streams, such as Dove Elbe , Gose Elbe , Köhlbrand , Norderelbe (Northern Elbe), Reiherstieg , Süderelbe (Southern Elbe). Some of which have been disconnected for vessels from the main stream by dikes. In 1390

931-627: The German Autobahn network is planned with the extension of the BAB 14 from Magdeburg to Schwerin . The nearest inland harbour (River Elbe) is in Tangermünde about 15 kms from Stendal. Stendal is twinned with: Elbe The Elbe ( German: [ˈɛlbə] ; Czech : Labe [ˈlabɛ] ; Low German : Ilv or Elv ; Upper and Lower Sorbian : Łobjo , pronounced [ˈwɔbʲɔ] )

980-719: The German Twelfth Army located to the west of Berlin to guard against the advancing American and British forces. But, as the Western Front moved eastwards and the Eastern Front moved westwards, the German armies making up both fronts backed towards each other. As a result, the area of control of Wenck's army to his rear and east of the Elbe River had become a vast refugee camp for Germans fleeing from

1029-572: The Gose Elbe (literally in English: shallow Elbe ) was separated from the main stream by a dike connecting the two then-islands of Kirchwerder and Neuengamme . The Dove Elbe (literally in English: deaf Elbe ) was diked off in 1437/38 at Gammer Ort. These hydraulic engineering works were carried out to protect marshlands from inundation, and to improve the water supply of the Port of Hamburg . After

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1078-835: The Low Elbe's two main anabranches Northern Elbe and the Köhlbrand reunite south of Altona -Altstadt, a locality of Hamburg. Right after both anabranches reunite, the Low Elbe is passed under by the New Elbe Tunnel (Neuer Elbtunnel) , the last structural road link crossing the river before the North Sea. At the bay Mühlenberger Loch in Hamburg at kilometre 634, the Northern Elbe and the Southern Elbe (here now

1127-689: The Lower Elbe used to be called North Albingia in the Middle Ages. When the four Lutheran church bodies there united in 1977 they chose the name North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church . Other, administrative units were named after the river Elbe, such as the Westphalian Elbe département (1807–1813) and Lower Elbe département (1810), and the French département Bouches-de-l'Elbe (1811–1814). On 10 April 1945, General Wenck of

1176-655: The Mittellandkanal and the Lower Elbe to restore this connection. When the two nations were reunited, works were begun to improve and restore the original links: the Magdeburg Water Bridge now allows large barges to cross the Elbe without having to enter the river. The often low water levels of the Elbe no longer hinder navigation to Berlin. The Elbe is crossed by many ferries, both passenger and car carrying. In downstream order, these include: Many of these ferries are traditional reaction ferries ,

1225-516: The North Sea. The Elbe has always been navigable by commercial vessels, and provides important trade links as far inland as Prague . The river is linked by canals ( Elbe Lateral Canal , Elbe-Havel Canal , Mittellandkanal ) to the industrial areas of Germany and to Berlin . The Elbe-Lübeck Canal links the Elbe to the Baltic Sea , as does the Kiel Canal , whose western entrance is near

1274-606: The North Sea. The river rolls through Dresden and finally, beyond Meissen , enters on its long journey across the North German Plain passing along the former western border of East Germany , touching Torgau , Wittenberg , Dessau , Magdeburg , Wittenberge , and Hamburg on the way, and taking on the waters of the Mulde and Saale from the west, and those of the Schwarze Elster , Havel and Elde from

1323-616: The approaching Soviet Army. Wenck took great pains to provide food and lodging for these refugees. At one stage, the Twelfth Army was estimated to be feeding more than a quarter of a million people every day. During the night of 28 April, Wenck reported to the German Supreme Army Command in Fuerstenberg that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front. According to Wenck, no attack on Berlin

1372-545: The capitulation document at the Stendal town hall. In July 1945, Stendal was handed over to Soviet occupation. From 1949 until German reunification in 1990, the town belonged to East Germany , part of Bezirk Magdeburg from 1952. Until 1994, the Stendal barracks served as home base for a riflemen division of the Soviet 2nd Guards Tank Army . In 1974 the construction of the Stendal Nuclear Power Plant

1421-615: The citizens joined the Hanseatic League in 1358 and purchased the privilege of minting from the Brandenburg margraves in 1369. A Latin school is documented from 1338. In 1456 the Hohenzollern elector Frederick II Irontooth founded a convent of Augustinian nuns , which today is the site of a museum. In 1502 his descendant Elector Joachim I Nestor married Princess Elizabeth of Denmark at Stendal. Several churches,

1470-532: The cut-off meander Old Southern Elbe) used to reunite, which is why the bay is seen as the starting point of the Niederelbe (Lower Elbe). Leaving the city-state the Lower Elbe then passes between Holstein and the Elbe-Weser Triangle with Stade until it flows into the North Sea at Cuxhaven . Near its mouth, it passes the entrance to the Kiel Canal at Brunsbüttel before it debouches into

1519-631: The designs. Several operating plants today have such a design, notably the Temelin Nuclear Power Plant in the Czech Republic. An innovation for the Stendal plant was that the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) plans were modified heavily by the company SKET in Magdeburg in connection with the planning office in Moscow. It was to be constructed with a new steel cell composite technique, which differed from other similar plants. This RPV

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1568-436: The east. In its northern section both banks of the Elbe are characterised by flat, very fertile marshlands ( Elbe Marshes ), former flood plains of the Elbe now diked. At Magdeburg there is a viaduct, the Magdeburg Water Bridge , that carries a canal and its shipping traffic over the Elbe and its banks, allowing shipping traffic to pass under it unhindered. From the sluice of Geesthacht (at kilometre 586) on downstream

1617-698: The heavy inundation by the North Sea flood of 1962 the western section of the Southern Elbe was separated, becoming the Old Southern Elbe, while the waters of the eastern Southern Elbe now merge into the Köhlbrand, which is bridged by the Köhlbrandbrücke , the last bridge over the Elbe before the North Sea. The Northern Elbe passes the Elbe Philharmonic Hall and is then crossed under by the old Elbe Tunnel (Alter Elbtunnel) , both in Hamburg's city centre. A bit more downstream,

1666-707: The leather bucket to modern fire engines. Stendal is also part of the Altmark cycle path. Information and maps about this cycle path can be had for free from the tourist information office. Stendal station is the most important interchange and rail hub in the north of Saxony-Anhalt. Located on the Berlin–Lehrte railway and the parallel Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway line, it is regularly served by Intercity and Intercity-Express (ICE) trains. Many ICE trains stop in Stendal. Berlin can be reached within 40 minutes and Hanover within 50 minutes. A direct connection to

1715-795: The mouth of the Elbe. The Elbe-Weser Shipping Channel connects the Elbe with the Weser . By the Treaty of Versailles the navigation on the Elbe became subject to the International Commission of the Elbe, seated in Dresden. The statute of the commission was signed in Dresden on 22 February 1922. Following articles 363 and 364 of the Treaty of Versailles, Czechoslovakia was entitled to lease its own harbour basin, Moldauhafen in Hamburg. The contract of lease with Germany, and supervised by

1764-568: The museum has been the owner of the world's biggest Trojan horse. With its size of 15.60 m high, 13 m long, 9.50 m wide and its weight of 45 tons it offers a beautiful view over Stendal. Exhibitions are held relating to archaeology and the history of art from the 18th and 19th centuries; there is also a modern art museum. The museum is the seat of the Winckelmann-Gesellschaft (the Winckelmann Society). In addition,

1813-585: The museum has exhibits relating to the history and cultural history of the city of Stendal and of the Altmark dating from the prehistoric period through the area's early history right up to the present. There are exhibits pertaining to the Hanseatic League, Romanesque art and local archaeological material. The town also has the Landesfeuerwehrmuseum ( Fire Brigade Museum ), showing the development of fire fighting and protection from

1862-521: The north-west. At the village of Káraný , a little above Brandýs nad Labem , the Jizera enters in. At Mělník its stream is more than doubled in volume by the Vltava , a major river which winds northwards through Bohemia . Upstream from the confluence the Vltava is in fact much longer (434 kilometres (270 mi) against 294 kilometres (183 mi) of the Elbe so far), and has a greater discharge and

1911-832: The river as the Albis ; however, they made only one serious attempt to move the border of their empire forward from the Rhine to the Elbe, and this attempt failed with the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, after which they never seriously tried again. In the Middle Ages the Elbe formed the eastern limit of the Empire of Charlemagne (King of the Franks from 769 to 814). The river's navigable sections were essential to

1960-403: The slopes of Mt. Violík at an elevation of 1,386 metres (4,547 ft) in the Giant Mountains on the northwest borders of the Czech Republic. Of the numerous small streams whose waters compose the infant river. After plunging down the 30 metres (98 ft) of the Elbe Falls , the latter stream unites with the steeply torrential Bílé Labe , and thereafter the united stream of the Elbe pursues

2009-443: The success of the Hanseatic League in the Late Middle Ages , and much trade was carried on its waters. From the early 6th century Slavic tribes (known as the Polabian Slavs ) settled in the areas east of the rivers Elbe and Saale (which had been depopulated since the 4th century). In the 10th century the Ottonian Dynasty (dominant from 919 to 1024) began conquering these lands; a slow process of Germanization ensued, including

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2058-426: The town hall and the two remaining city gates show Stendal's wealth in the period. The Stendal citizens turned Protestant in 1539, with the reformator Konrad Cordatus serving as superintendent . For centuries part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg , Stendal with the Altmark region passed to the Prussian Province of Saxony after the Napoleonic Wars . A Prussian garrison town since the 17th century, it hosted

2107-451: Was about 85% finished and unit 2 was about 15% finished. The above-ground connecting building between all units has been knocked down. The emergency diesel generators for unit 1 were completed and still stand almost entirely intact. It was planned to have two cooling towers per reactor, as was typical with such Soviet designs. The turbine house was connected to the reactor buildings and each reactor had its own turbine and cooling towers in

2156-501: Was begun north of the town, but abandoned after reunification. In 2009 the Stendal citizens voted for the prefix Hansestadt ("Hanseatic City"). On 1 January 2010, the town Stendal absorbed the former municipalities Buchholz , Groß Schwechten , Heeren , Möringen , Nahrstedt , Staats , Uchtspringe , Uenglingen , Volgfelde , and Wittenmoor . On 29 April 2010, it absorbed Vinzelberg , and on 1 September 2010 Dahlen and Insel . The Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences

2205-416: Was built around 1450 is a former defence tower of the medieval city wall. St. Nicholas Church was built in 1423-1467 and heavily damaged by bombs in 1945. Reconstruction was started in 1946, interrupted several times and completed in 2013. The City Hall in the Market Place where a statue of Roland can be seen was built in the 14th century. St. Mary's Church with its two towers measuring 84 metres in height

2254-450: Was founded in 1991 and has around 50 study programmes taught at three departments in Magdeburg and two departments in Stendal. There are approximately 130 professors with around 3,700 students in Magdeburg and 1,800 in Stendal. There are various well-preserved historical buildings in Stendal, e.g., the Tangemünde Gate , a medieval city gate dating from 1220 and Uenglinger Gate built in the 15th century. The Powder Tower ( Pulverturm ) which

2303-426: Was inaugurated in 1447, and its altar dates from 1471. St. Jakobi Church in the northern part of the historical centre was built 1311-1477. St. Petri Church built at the end of the 13th century is the oldest church in Stendal. Breite Straße with many well-preserved medieval houses is the main street of the old city centre. The area has a theatre named Theater der Altmark. It was founded in 1946 and has always had

2352-547: Was planned to become the largest nuclear power station of East Germany – also the largest nuclear power station in all of Germany. However, after German reunification the safety of the Soviet design was questioned, and all plans for operation and further construction were halted. Altogether, it was planned to house four reactors at the site of the VVER-1000/320 type, which were some of the most modern and largest units of its time with 1000 MWe. Construction of unit 1 and 2 began in 1983 and units 3 and 4 remained in planning. Unit 1

2401-434: Was possible as support from Busse's Ninth Army could no longer be expected. Instead, starting April 24, Wenck moved his army towards the Forest of Halbe , broke into the Halbe pocket and linked up with the remnants of the Ninth Army , Hellmuth Reymann 's "Army Group Spree", and the Potsdam garrison. Wenck brought his army, remnants of the Ninth Army, and many civilian refugees across the Elbe and into territory occupied by

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