magdeburg - sachsen-anhalt
Magdeburg - beautiful City on the River Elbe: once called the 'Third Rome' after Rome and Constantinople in terms of its importance for Christianity: principle City and final resting place of Otto the first, who was the first Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire joining the Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of Italy : first Church of St Maurice commissioned by Otto in 937 and becomming a Cathedral and Archdiocese in 968 with the appointment of Adalbert von Trier as Archbishop; its second Cathedral setting a new standard with the construction in Gothic style, the first in Germany: City of the Archbishopic of Magdeburg overseeing 10 dioceses, nurturing the lives of Mechtilde of Magdeburg and Saint Norbert: A City strongly supporting the cause of Church Reform of Martin Luther giving it the title the 'Chancery of God' and city of the Brethren of the Common Life, City of science, industry, innovation and discovery and art.
MAGDEBURG - CITY OF TRAGEDY
Magdeburg was first destroyed in 1207 due to a fire symbolically taking place on Good Friday destroying the original Cathedral of Otto the first. Magdeburg rose again and a new Cathedral started in 1209 and continued over the next three hundred years with the two tall steeples only being completed in 1520: The city nearly completely destroyed again in the Thirty Years War by the Catholic Armies of General Tilly in 1631 leaving 20,000 non-combattants dead. After a second rebuiding of the City in the 18th century, on January 16 1945 much of the City Center of Magdeburg was once again destroyed, this time by RAF and USAF Bombers, leaving between 2,000 to 2,500 casualties. At the end of the War Magdeburg became under Soviet rule in the Democratic Republic of Germany - the DDR.
the origins of the city of magdeburg
Magdeburg Map taken from Orbis Terrarum Civitatis compiled by Braun and Hogenberg and published in 1617
Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the [Holy] Roman Empire in 800 by Pope Leo III. It was the first time in 300 years that Europe had an Emperor. During his reign (768-814) he created 16 Cathedrals , 232 monasteries and 65 palaces. As Emperor he made it part of his mission of to ‘Christianize’ the tribes of Europe, assisting missionaries and helping to establish new religious houses of prayer and religious orders in different parts of the realm. Five years after his his crowning in 805 AD, Charlemagne founded the city of Magdeburg. From what one can gather from different sources, the location for his new city in Saxon Anhalt was formerly the site of a pagan shrine which was modelled on the Parthenon in Greece. At the Parthenon, the goddess Athena had been worshipped, but the Greek Temple was later converted in the 6th century into a church venerating Mary, the mother of Christ.[1] Magdeburg, however, – or as it was originally called ‘Parthenopolis’ in Greek meaning the City of the Virgin – was still an active pagan shrine at the time of Charlemagne.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon
The Latin description of the founding of Magdeburg in Orbis Terrarum Civitatis 1617
CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY AND THE ORIGIN OF THE CITY NAME
The city did not fall easily to the forces of the Emperor: Latin documentation from 1600 (pictured above) said the Saxons ‘had been the greatest and more war-like of the Germans’. They ‘worshipped pagan gods and thought nothing of divine or human law, and stated they hated nothing more than the Christian religion and the people devoted to it’.[2] It took three and a half years for the forces of the Emperor to defeat the Saxons and to impose laws on those conquered, so that they would profess the Christian faith. The documentation continues to state ‘great number of the Saxons were thus converted and, within a short time, were saved.’ All Saxony was thus reformed and then, over the next years, ten bishoprics were established, the most famous of which was Magdeburg.
The Latin article finishes by saying Magdeburg was a ‘fortified castle which was surrounded by fishermen’s huts in the manner of a village or a town, not closed. Charlemagne changed the city’s name from Parthenonopolis – meaning the city of the virgin – to its equivalent in German - Magdeburg the City (burg) of the Handmaid ( Magd). The actual meaning of Magdeburg itself is contested. Modern etymology suggested it means a ‘fortified Castle’ whereas in the Middle Ages it seems to have had the sense of ‘Jungfrauburg’ – the Castle of the ‘Virgin’ or the Castle of the ‘Handmaid’, both with possible connections with Mary of the Scriptures. (Luke 1:38) . The name probably originated in Magdeburg itself. It appears in the Magdeburg founding legend, which is recorded in the Annales Magdeburgenses (for the year 938) and the Gesta archiepiscoporum Magdeburgensium (chapters 2 and 3) and goes back to a lost source from the Ottonian period. There it is reported that after the subjugation of Gaul, Julius Caesar founded cities that were to offer him military support against the surrounding tribes. One of these was Magdeburg, which Caesar named Parthenopolis in honor of the virgin goddess Diana. On the banks of the Elbe, Caesar founded a sanctuary of Diana, in which - according to the legend - virgins dedicated to the goddess then lived.’
[2] https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3200m.gct00128a?sp=71 Title Civitates orbis terrarvm. A description of the principal cities of Europe with maps.
The Latin article finishes by saying Magdeburg was a ‘fortified castle which was surrounded by fishermen’s huts in the manner of a village or a town, not closed. Charlemagne changed the city’s name from Parthenonopolis – meaning the city of the virgin – to its equivalent in German - Magdeburg the City (burg) of the Handmaid ( Magd). The actual meaning of Magdeburg itself is contested. Modern etymology suggested it means a ‘fortified Castle’ whereas in the Middle Ages it seems to have had the sense of ‘Jungfrauburg’ – the Castle of the ‘Virgin’ or the Castle of the ‘Handmaid’, both with possible connections with Mary of the Scriptures. (Luke 1:38) . The name probably originated in Magdeburg itself. It appears in the Magdeburg founding legend, which is recorded in the Annales Magdeburgenses (for the year 938) and the Gesta archiepiscoporum Magdeburgensium (chapters 2 and 3) and goes back to a lost source from the Ottonian period. There it is reported that after the subjugation of Gaul, Julius Caesar founded cities that were to offer him military support against the surrounding tribes. One of these was Magdeburg, which Caesar named Parthenopolis in honor of the virgin goddess Diana. On the banks of the Elbe, Caesar founded a sanctuary of Diana, in which - according to the legend - virgins dedicated to the goddess then lived.’
[2] https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3200m.gct00128a?sp=71 Title Civitates orbis terrarvm. A description of the principal cities of Europe with maps.
THE ARCHDIOCESE OF MAGDEBURG center of evangelization
Prayer Card of St Adalbert of Magdeburg
At the Synod of Ravenna in 967 Emperor Otto received the permission of Pope John XIII to designate Magdeburg as the seat of an Archbishop and as a base to send missionaries to Eastern European slavs. The first Metropolitan of the Archdiocese was Adalbert of Magdeburg (910-981). He was born in Alsace Lorraine in France and became a Benedictine monk in Trier. After he was made a Bishop in 961 he was sent to Kievan Rus at the request of Princess Olga of Kiev who asked Emperor Otto 1 for a missionary from the Catholic church. Alalbert however had to flee after his companions were killed. After a subsequent period as the Abbot of Wissenbourg in Alsace, he was made Archbishop of Magdeburg, receiving the Pallium in Rome. From Magdeburg he did missionary work among the Polabian Slavs of East Germany and he established the Dioceses of Naumburg, Meissen, Mersburg, Brandenburg, Havelburg and Poznan in Poland. He became know as the 'Apostle to the Slavs'. He was canonised and his feast is on 20 June.
saint adalbert of prague, student of adAlburt of magdeburg
Saint Adalbert of Prague
Vojtĕch Slavníkovec from neighbouring Bohemia was a student in Magdeburg. At his confirmation he took the name of the Archbishop who had been his tutor for ten years between 970-980. After the Archbishop himself died in 981, Vojtĕch, now as 'Adalbert', returned to Bohemia and later was ordained a priest and then, at a young age, was consecrated Bishop of Prague. His time in Bohemia was unsuccessful due to his opposition to the practices of slavery and polygamy which were popular with the pagan population. Subsequently he became a missionary to the Hungarians and Poles as well as the Prussians. After a brief period as Bishop of Gniezno in Poland he set off to evangelize the Prussians living along the Baltic Sea. He had some success with the Prussians who however did not like that he would preach using a [sacred] book. They regarded it as having some evil power, as in Prussia all communication was face to face and oral. Adalbert was struck by an oar by a Chieftain scattering the pages of his book over the ground. At another place on 23 April 997 having said Mass Adalbert and his companions were set upon by a pagan mob and Adalbert was martyred. He was subsequently canonised in 999 by Pope Sylvester 11.
Approximately a thousand years later on June 3 1997 Pope John Paul II visited the tomb of Adalbert at Gniezno Cathedral and celebrated a liturgy with a million participants present. St Adalbert is the Patron Saint of the Czech Republic, Poland and the Duchy of Prussia as well as the Archdiocese of Esztergom in Hungary.
Approximately a thousand years later on June 3 1997 Pope John Paul II visited the tomb of Adalbert at Gniezno Cathedral and celebrated a liturgy with a million participants present. St Adalbert is the Patron Saint of the Czech Republic, Poland and the Duchy of Prussia as well as the Archdiocese of Esztergom in Hungary.
Visit of Pope John II to Gniezno on 1997 to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Adalbert of Prague