Hanseatic Cities of the Altmark - Medieval Towns in the Heart of Germany

Nowhere else are 8 Hanseatic Cities in such a small area still today witnesses of a great culture as the Hanseatic cities of the Altmark. The Altmark lets us immerse ourselves in the Middle Ages. Whether it is the venerable Stendal as the largest city in the Altmark with its stately church buildings, the old imperial residence and half-timbered town of Tangermünde, where Emperor Charles IV lived and ruled, or the old Hanseatic city of Salzwedel with the real "Salzwedel Baumkuchen", a sweet cake baked over fire. Or let's go to the smalles Hanseatic City of Werben and find until today a medieval town.
Eight cities - Stendal, Tangermünde, Salzwedel, Werben, Seehausen, Osterburg, Hanseatic City of Havelberg and Gardelegen - were once members of the Hanseatic League. The Hanseatic League was a very modern federation, in the middle of the 13th century merchants and cities came together to pursue common economic interests in cooperation and peace and thus to support the heyday of the Middle Ages and to bring prosperity and peace to the cities Today this prosperity can be experienced in the Altmark and it reminds us that in the history of mankind togetherness and freedom have created immortal values, which small states and egoism have threatened and visibly destroyed. The destruction of the 30 Years War, but also the fires and the force of the Second World War, have left their mark on these cities. The period between 1949 and 1989 with a socialist economic system also damaged the structures due to the lack of investment.
Today we can experience the architecture of the past centuries in the Hanseatic cities and enjoy the lovingly restored art treasures.