Bernburg (Saale) () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkreis district. The former residence of the Anhalt-Bernburg princes is known for its Renaissance castle.

Geography The town centre is situated in the fertile Magdeburg Börde lowland on the Saale river, approx. downstream from Halle and up stream from Magdeburg. 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, Biendorf, Gröna, Peißen, Poley, Preußlitz, and Wohlsdorf, all incorporated on 1 January 2010.Hauptsatzung der Stadt Bernburg (Saale) , December 2018.Gebietsänderungen vom 01. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2010, Statistisches Bundesamt

Bernburg is a stop on the scenic Romanesque Road (Strasse der Romanik).

Paleontology Type fossil of temnospondyl amphibian Trematosaurus brauni was found in the Late Olenekian (Lower Triassic) 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 from about 3200 to 2800 BC. Agriculture on the fertile Loess soil was already common in prehistoric times. Around 150 AD, a local settlement named Luppia was mentioned in the Geography by Ptolemy. In the Early Middle Ages, the Saale River marked the border between the German stem duchies in the west and the lands of the Polabian Slavs 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; 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. According to the Annalista Saxo, Berneburch Castle, then a possession of the Ascanian prince Albert the Bear, 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.

World War II

In the Nazi era during World War II, a wing of the town's mental hospital was used for the so-called T-4 Euthanasia Programme. The site today houses a memorial to commemorate the suffering of more than 14,000 victims.

Bernburg was also the location of forced labour subcamps of the Nazi prisons in Magdeburg and Coswig.

Gallery

Twin towns – sister cities

Bernburg is twinned with: Anderson, United States (1998) Fourmies, France (1967) Rheine, Germany (1990) Tarnowskie Góry, Poland (1983) Chomutov, Czech Republic (1992)

Notable people Honorary citizen

Date of award April 10, 1890: Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) April 7, 1937 – March 26, 1946: Hermann Göring (1893–1946) June 12, 1938 – March 26, 1946: Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (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 (1905–1995) February 5, 1967 – ?: Hilde Benjamin (1902–1989)

Sons and daughters of the city

Christoph Rothmann (1550–1600), mathematician and astronomer of the 16th century Sibylla of Anhalt (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 (1793–1860), historian

Ferdinand Reich (1799–1882), chemist and physicist Herrman S. Saroni (1824–1900), writer, composer and inventor Hans Reinowski (1900–1977), politician Herbert Weißbach (1901–1995), actor Ernst Busch (1900–1980), East German singer and actor, Busch was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize for 1970–71 Hilde Benjamin (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 Lykke Aresin (1921– 2011), sexologist and writer Otto Knefler (1923–1986), soccer coach and player Gerhard Dünnhaupt (1927–2024), bibliographer and cultural historian Michael Müller (born 1948), politician Rolf Milser (born 1951), weight lifter Heike Hartwig (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 (1767–1845), theologian, general superintendent in Bernburg 1812–1824

Wilhelm von Kügelgen (1802–1867), early-romantic painter and author, in the service of the court of Bernburg Richard Wagner (1813–1883), worked in 1834 in the Bernburg Hoftheater (Mozart operas) Hermann Hellriegel (1831–1895), biologist and agricultural scientist in Bernburg 1880–1895 Wilhelm Krüger (1857–1947), 25 years director of the agricultural test station Bernburg

See also Bernburg Euthanasia Centre Wacker Bernburg (1910–1945)

References

External links

Official Website of the city (in German) Bernburg Zoo at Zoo-Infos.de (in English) Bernburg Castle