Stendal is a city in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is capital of the district Stendal, and unofficial capital of the Altmark. Population 38.900 (2001). It is located 100 km NW of Berlin and 150 SE of Hanover. It also has a marketing area annd a rehab.

It was founded by Albrecht the Bear in the 12th century. It quickly became an important member of the Hanseatic League. Magnificent churches, the city hall and the two remaining city gates are still proof of that former wealth.

The pseudonym "Stendhal" of the French author Marie-Henri Beyle is an homage to the German Author Johann Joachim Winckelmann who was born in Stendal in 1717.

Twinnings

• Lemgo, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Sites of interest

The area has a theatre named Theater der Altmark Stendal. It was founded in 1946 and was also for youths. Performances and dances are performed. It also has a symphony concert, conferences and meetings.

The Winckelmann museum which is named after Johann Joacihm Winckelmanns which is the founder of findings of classical archaeology. Biographic documents, works, designs and diagrams as well as Greek plastics along with small art dating back ot the antiquity. Exhibitions to the archaeology and history of art from the 18th and the 19th centuries and includes the modern art museum. The museum is the seat of the Winckelmann-Gesellschaft.

In addition, the museum has exhibits to the history and cultural history of the city of Stendal and Altmark dating from prehistory and to early history extendinp up to the present. It also has exhibits to the Hanseatic league, Romanesque art and local archaeological material.

Another museum is called Landesfeuerwehrmuseum . The exhibition shows the development of fore protection from the leather bucket to modern fire trucks.

Other buildings include the Gothic cathedral, the city hall with the statue of Roland. The medieval gated are also founded, There are other churches in the area.

Persons

Honorary citizens

• Dr. Friedrich Hermann Haacke (1824-1899), a person dedicating to figh against cholera epidemics which affected Stendal in the 19th century. The Haacke-Brunnen, a well honours this person in Sperlingsberg .

• Hans Jütting

Sons and daughters of Stendal

• Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the founder of classical archaeology and the art of science. He was born in 1717 and was a son of a shoemaker and dressed in Amt as Präsidenten aller Altertümer" in Rome. A museum is named after him.

Literature

The French Writer Marie Henri Beyle used the alias Stendhal in 1817 as hommage at Johann Joachim Winckelmenn. He was a soldier during the Napoleonic times.