Bernburg

Bernburg is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkreis district. The former residence of the Anhalt-Bernburg princes is known for its Renaissance castle.GeographyThe town centre is situated in the fertile Magdeburg Börde lowland on the Saale river, approx. 40km downstream from Halle and 45km up stream from Magdeburg. It is dominated by huge Bernburg Castle featuring a museum as well as a popular, recently updated bear pit in its moat.The municipal area comprises the villages of Baalberge, Biendorf, Gröna, Peißen, Poley, Preußlitz, and Wohlsdorf, all incorporated on 1 January 2010.Bernburg is a stop on the scenic Romanesque Road (Strasse der Romanik).HistorySeveral archaeological sites in the area refer to the Walternienburg-Bernburg Culture, a mid-neolithic funnelbeaker culture from about 3200 to 2800 BC. Agriculture on the fertile Loess soil was already common in prehistoric times. Around 150 AD, a local settlement named Luppia was mentioned in the Geography by Ptolemy. In the Early Middle Ages, the Saale river marked the border between the German stem duchies in the west and the lands of the Polabian Slavs in the east.