The town centre is situated in the fertileMagdeburg Börde lowland on theSaale river, approx. 40 km (25 mi) downstream fromHalle and 45 km (28 mi) up stream fromMagdeburg. It is dominated by the huge Bernburg Castle featuring a museum as well as a popular, recently updated bear pit in its moat.
The municipal area comprises the town Bernburg proper and eightOrtschaften or municipal divisions: Aderstedt (incorporated in 2003),Baalberge,Biendorf,Gröna,Peißen,Poley,Preußlitz, andWohlsdorf, all incorporated on 1 January 2010.[3][4]
Bernburg is a stop on the scenicRomanesque Road (Strasse der Romanik).
Several archaeological sites in the area refer to theWalternienburg-Bernburg Culture, a mid-Neolithicfunnelbeaker culture from about 3200 to 2800 BC. Agriculture on the fertileLoess soil was already common in prehistoric times. Around 150 AD, a local settlement namedLuppia was mentioned in theGeography byPtolemy. In the Early Middle Ages, the Saale River marked the border between the Germanstem duchies in the west and the lands of thePolabian Slavs in the east.
The present-day borough of Waldau (which became part of Bernburg in 1871) was first mentioned in a 782 deed and again in 806 asWaladala in the chronicles ofMoissac Abbey; the village church dedicated to St Stephen first appeared in 964, the nowadays building dates from around 1150. Bernburg itself was first mentioned ascivitas Brandanburg in a 961 deed issued by KingOtto I of Germany. According to theAnnalista Saxo,Berneburch Castle, then a possession of theAscanian princeAlbert the Bear, was set on fire by his enemies in 1138. In 1252 the rebuilt castle became the residence of Albert's great-grandson PrinceBernhard I of Anhalt-Bernburg.
In theNazi era duringWorld War II, a wing of the town's mental hospital was used for the so-calledT-4 Euthanasia Programme. The site today houses a memorial to commemorate the suffering of more than 14,000 victims.
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