TheAltmark (German pronunciation:[ˈaltˌmaʁk]ⓘ; English: OldMarch[1]) is a historic region inGermany, comprising the northern third ofSaxony-Anhalt. As the initial territory of theMarch of Brandenburg, it is sometimes referred to as the "Cradle of Prussia", as byOtto von Bismarck, a native ofSchönhausen nearStendal.
The Altmark is located west of theElbe river between the cities ofHamburg andMagdeburg, mostly included in the present-day[update] districts ofAltmarkkreis Salzwedel andStendal. In the west, theDrawehn hill range and theDrömling depression separate it from theLüneburg Heath inLower Saxony; the Altmark also borders theWendland region in the north and theMagdeburg Börde in the south. Adjacent east of the Elbe is the historicalPrignitz region.
The population is small. Thecultural landscape within theNorth European Plain is rural and widely covered with forests andheathlands. The largest towns areStendal, with a population of 39,000, andSalzwedel (21,500).
Before theMigration Period of 300 to 700 AD, theLombards had settled the future Altmark. Subsequently, Old GermanicSaxon tribes lived in the northwest andPolabian Slavs in the eastern territories along the Elbe. After theSaxon Wars, waged byCharlemagne from 772 to 804, the lands became part of theCarolingian Empire. They formed part of theEastphalian territory of theDuchy of Saxony, which, from 843 onwards, constituted the eastern borderlands ofEast Francia underLouis the German. Thebishops of Verden andof Halberstadt promoted theChristianisation of the Saxon population.
In 936 the German kingOtto I allotted the territory of the later Altmark to the Saxon CountGero, in order to subdue the West SlavicWends settling on the Elbe. Gero thereafter campaigned in the Slavic lands far beyond the river Elbe and thereafter established the SaxonMarca Geronis stretching up to theOder in the east. Upon Gero's death in 965, hismarca was split and theNorthern March was granted toDietrich of Haldensleben, who nevertheless turned out to be an incapable ruler and lost all the territories east of the Elbe in the SlavicLutici uprising of 983. He retained only his margravial title and the initial land basis of his predecessor Gero's conquests west of the river.
For more than one and a half centuries, the lands east of the Elbe defied German control, until in 1134 EmperorLothair of Supplinburg bestowed the Northern March on theAscanian countAlbert the Bear. Albert signed an inheritance contract with the SlavicHevelli princePribislav and in 1150 succeeded him in his eastern territory around the fortress ofBrandenburg an der Havel, which became the nucleus of his newly establishedMargraviate of Brandenburg in 1157.
As the Brandenburg margraves expanded their territory during the course of theOstsiedlung, the original western territory of the Northern March became known as the Altmark (literally "OldMarch") in contrast to theMittelmark (Middle March) andNeumark (New March) beyond the Oder river; the written record first mentions it in 1304 asAntiqua Marchia.
As part of Brandenburg, from 1415 held by theHouse of Hohenzollern, the Altmark became part ofBrandenburg-Prussia and (from 1701) of theKingdom of Prussia. After Prussia's defeat at the hands ofNapoleon in 1806, the terms of theTreaty of Tilsit (1807) assigned the territory of the Altmark to the newKingdom of Westphalia. Prussia regained the area upon Napoleon's defeat (per Article XXIII of the Final Act of theCongress of Vienna, 1815); however, it was incorporated into the new PrussianProvince of Saxony rather than being attached to theProvince of Brandenburg.[1] Within Prussian Saxony, the Altmark was subdivided into the districts ofSalzwedel,Gardelegen,Osterburg, andStendal, all administered within theRegierungsbezirk ofMagdeburg.
AfterWorld War II the Altmark, lying to the east of theinner German border, became part of the new state ofSaxony-Anhalt in theSoviet occupation zone. The regional administration ofEast Germany saw it administered withinBezirk Magdeburg from 1952 to 1990. WithGerman reunification in 1990, the Altmark became part of a reconstituted Saxony-Anhalt.
The region is drained by theElbe, joined by theHavel atHavelberg, and its left tributaries of the Milde-Biese-Aland system and theJeetzel river.
The largest natural lake of the Altmark is theArendsee.
The Altmark is located off the main traffic routes. TheBundesautobahn 14 leads to theBundesautobahn 2 fromHanover toBerlin, it however ends north of Magdeburg. A continuation through the Altmark towardsSchwerin is planned. Beside which theFederal roadsB71, B107,B188, B189, B190,B248 run through the region.
Stendal station is a stop on theHanover–Berlin high-speed railway. Other lines include:
52°43′N11°24′E / 52.717°N 11.400°E /52.717; 11.400
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