Tangermünde

Charles IV made Tangermünde a residence in the 1370s and rebuilt the castle, intending it as a northern counterpart to Prague; he died before the plan developed and the town stayed small, which is why its medieval fabric survives largely intact. The Neustädter Tor is a brick gate whose upper stages are worked in openwork tracery, thin brick screens that are among the most elaborate examples of the north German brick Gothic. Walls, towers and a town hall of about 1430 with a decorated gable complete the ensemble. A fire in 1617 destroyed much of the town and the timber-framed houses rebuilt after it fill the streets.

History

In 1009 Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg recorded a castle here, probably built in the early 10th century under Henry the Fowler on the border with the Slavs, and the town itself is first mentioned in a deed of 1275, soon a toll point on the Elbe and a residence of the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg. Emperor Charles IV, who bought Brandenburg in 1373, rebuilt the castle as an imperial palace, and from 1415 it was a residence of the Hohenzollern electors; in its 15th-century golden age, as a Hanseatic town, it gained the brick Gothic town hall and St Stephen's, but after a revolt against a beer tax in 1488 the court moved away. On 13 September 1617 a fire almost destroyed the town, blamed on a woman burned for it in 1619, whose story Fontane told in Grete Minde, and it was rebuilt in half-timber; in 1826 a sugar refinery opened, which from 1910 made Feodora chocolate (Wikipedia, Tangermünde).

What you'll find

• The Neustädter Tor - a gate with openwork brick tracery screens.
• The town hall gable - a 1430 brick facade of blind arcading and pinnacles.
• The wall circuit - towers and gates enclosing the small old town.
• The 1617 rebuild - timber houses put up after the fire.

When to go

April to October; the town is small and quiet, walked in a couple of hours. Elbe cycle traffic passes through in summer. Museums keep limited hours.

Things to know

The town is very small with limited services. The castle is largely gone. Public transport is a branch line from Stendal.

Nearby

Stendal lies west; Magdeburg is south.

Key facts