Hanseatic city of Stendal, a city in the Altmark

The marketplace of the city

Hanseatic city of Stendal

The Hanseatic city of Stendal is the first stop on our summer trip through the Altmark in Sachsen-Anhalt. Stendal is one of the Hanseatic cities of the Altmark. We like Hanseatic cities. That is why we are particularly interested in them. Hanseatic cities have fascinated us since our trip to Stralsund. We were curious about what can be seen in Stendal from the Hanseatic period. However, we do not have much time for them City, we are accompanied on this day by a TV team from the MDR. We are here on the occasion of our invitation by the LEADER action group Uchte-Tanger-Elbe to get to know the region as #AltmarkBlogger. The Altmark wants to become known and show its tourist attractions. This also includes the Hanseatic city of Stendal.

 

 

 

Parish Church of St. Mary in the Hanseatic city
Parish Church of St. Mary in the Hanseatic city of Stendal

 

Hanseatic city of Stendal sights

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We drive to Winckelmann Platz in Stendal. Some old city gates are still standing. One of them happens on our way to the city. Directly in front of us rises St. Mary's Church with its two pointed church towers. The church was first mentioned 1283. In the 15. Century it is consecrated in its present form. It served as a council church of the Hanseatic merchants and is thus one of the buildings that are of particular interest to us.

 

The sanctuary in the parish church of St. Mary
The sanctuary in the parish church of St. Mary

 

On our tour of the city center, we can also take a quick look inside the church. There we are particularly impressed by the choir barrier from the 15. Century. This separates the sanctuary from the prayer room for the community. From this time also comes the remarkable pulpit.

 

Pulpit in the parish church of St. Mary
Pulpit in the parish church of St Marien in the Hanseatic city of Stendal

 

At the Winckelmann Platz we then get an overview of the city on a model. You can also see the medieval layout of the residential districts and streets.

 

Model
Model of the Hanseatic city of Stendal

 

Johann Joachim Winckelmann - the most famous son of the Hanseatic city of Stendal

The statue of Johann Joachim Winckelmann rises right next to the model of the city. The son of a Stendal shoemaker showed early on that he was called to higher things. Although he came from a humble background, he had an extraordinary career. With diligence and determination, Winckelmann rose to become the most important art scholar of his time. He is considered the founder of modern German art history and classical archeology. In this function his path even led him to Rome. There he was entrusted with the city's collection of antiquities.

 

Johann Joachim Winkelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann from the Hanseatic city of Stendal

 

Winkelmann's tragic end

Less honorable, however, was the end of this influential man. After many years in Rome, he made his way back to Stendal. Already in Vienna, however, he decided not to complete his journey and returned again to return to the city on the Tiber. During a stopover in Trieste, he finally fell victim to an assassination attempt whose background is still unclear. The idea for the Winckelmann monument in Stendal was none other than Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who already suggested to 1826 to the mayors of the city to erect a monument to their most important son. That should still be up to the 20. Last century. Today there is also a museum dedicated to him in Stendal.

 

The market square in the Hanseatic city of Stendal
Market square in the Hanseatic city of Stendal

 

Old Town and Market Square

The market square of Stendal can be reached in a few steps on the other side of St. Mary's Church. There is also the town hall of the city. This building also bears witness to the economic boom of the Hanseatic League. The older part of the town hall is a brick building from the 15. Century. Later, the building was extended and the cultivation changed in the 16. Century in the style of the Renaissance. The two parts of the building dominate today the market place of Stendal.

Roland statue

In front of the brick building of the Stendaler Rathaus is a statue of Roland. This is a copy of the original statue from the year 1525. This Roland is depicted as a knight and holds a sword as a sign of his power in one hand. The other holds a sign depicting the Brandenburg eagle.

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Freshly roasted coffee in the coffee cult in the Hanseatic city of Stendal

 

Restaurants in the Hanseatic city of Stendal

First things first: restaurants and cafés are few and far between in the Altmark. This is because after the reunification, many people left the region in search of better-paying jobs. Few have returned. Instead, entrepreneurs came from the West who set up their own business here. Even in the style of one Viennese coffee house. The owner of the Kaffeekult coffee house is not a local either, as he tells us. His café is located in the historic brick building of the town hall and looks really cozy with its medieval vault and the golden shimmering coffee containers. These take up an entire wall of the café and exude an intoxicating scent of freshly roasted coffee.

 

Homemade pralines in the coffee cult in the Hanseatic city of Stendal

 

Restaurants in the Hanseatic city of Stendal

For coffee you will not only get cakes of all kinds, but also homemade chocolates with imaginative ingredients, such as pralines with sea buckthorn ganache or dark chocolate balls filled with chilli orange ganache. Instead, we laugh at the red cassis chocolates that we can taste. Their fresh-fruity filling is just the thing for the hot late August day we visit.

On the other side of the market square we see the wine shop “The Olive Tree”. However, there is not enough time for a personal visit. Instead, we eat in the evening in the only award-winning restaurant in the Altmark: the Restaurant Atrium in the Hanseatic town of Stendal. This is located just a few steps from the St. Marien Church at Breite Straße 17. In the evening, in the pretty apple orchard behind the restaurant building, we enjoy the country house cuisine, which was worth 13 points to the Gault Millau testers. Definitely a good choice, in our opinion.

 

This has to be in your suitcase for your visit to the Hanseatic city of Stendal

    • Comfortable Shoes. In Stendal you walk a lot.
    • forget comfortable pumps not, because in some Stendal restaurants you dine in elegant surroundings.
    • A backpackin which you put a picnic.
    • An Camera* for the photo opportunities that Stendal offers.

 

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Travel Arrangements:

Parking at the airport

Here you can reserve your parking space at the airport.

Arrival in the Hanseatic city of Stendal

For example, book yours here Arrival by plane, bus or train*. The nearest airport is Berlin Tegel. From there you take the train to Altmark. Alternatively, you can also arrive by car or bike.

Car Rentals:

Cheap car hire - book quickly and easily!

Accommodation in the Hanseatic city of Stendal:

Accommodation in Stendal * You can also book through our partner booking.com.

Our accommodations in the Altmark:

Gutshof Ottersburg *  Click here for a map
Ottersburg Manor 1
Holiday sheepfold
39517 Ottersburg

Pension Kunsthof Dahrenstedt * Click here for a map
Dahrenstedter Dorfstr. 6
39576 Dahrenstedt

Bismarcksche Landgut Welle (there is a holiday apartment in which we did not live) Click here for a map
Weller Dorfstrasse 21 - 25
39576 Stendal OT wave

Manor house Birkholz Click here for a map
Holiday home
Birkholzer Schulstrasse 5
39517 Tangerhütte

Do you know this?

 

Source Hanseatic City of Stendal: own research on site. Our opinions definitely remain our own.

We would also like to thank the Leader Action Group Uchte-Tanger-Elbe for the kind support of this trip to Stendal City in the same district Stendal. Our opinion, however, remains our own.

Text Hanseatic City of Stendal: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline

Hanseatic city of Stendal, a city in the Altmark

Monika Fuchs

Monika Fuchs and Petar Fuchs are the authors and publishers of the Food and Slow Travel blog  TravelWorldOnline. They have been publishing this blog since 2005. TravelWorldOnline has been online since 2001. Their topics are trips to Savor, wine tourism worldwide and slow travel. During her studies Monika Fuchs spent some time in North America, where she - partly together with Petar Fuchs - traveled to the USA and Canada and spent a research year in British Columbia. This intensified her thirst for knowledge, which she satisfied for 6 years as an adventure guide for Rotel Tours and then for 11 years as a tour guide for Studiosus Reisen around the world. She was constantly expanding her travel regions, but curiosity still gnawed at her: "What's beyond the horizon? What else is there to discover in this city? Which people are interesting here? What do they eat in this region?" As a freelance travel journalist (her articles have appeared in DIE ZEIT, 360° Canada, 360° USA, etc.), she is now looking for answers to these questions as a travel writer and travel blogger in many countries around the world. Petar Fuchs produces the videos on this blog as well as on YouTube. Monika Fuchs from TravelWorldOnline is among Germany's top 50 bloggers in 2021. Find more Information about Monika and Petar Fuchs here.

2 thoughts too "Hanseatic city of Stendal, a city in the Altmark"

  1. Dear Monika,
    how cool, I've been looking for travel bloggers who report on Stendal for a long time ... because Stendal is - according to a statistic - considered one of the tourist flop cities - at least if you look at the number of nights in relation to other cities in Germany , I am writing on a report. :-)
    I would like to include you in the article - and quote ... is that ok?

    Regards
    Tanya

    1. Dear Tanja,

      you are welcome to do it. This is certainly due to the fact that the Altmark - and thus also Stendal - is so far hardly known and has only a limited tourist infrastructure. Interesting for tourism is certainly the nearby Tangermünde. Nevertheless, Stendal and especially its surroundings have interesting things to offer.

      Best regards,
      Monika

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