The old Hanseatic city of Stendal, the largest town in the Altmark, lies on the river Uchte some 60km/40mi north of Magdeburg. It was the birthplace of the 18th century antiquarian and art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann. The French novelist Henri Beyle (1783-1842), better known as Stendhal, took his pseudonym from the name of the town.
In the south of Stendal is the Cathedral of St Nicholas (1423-67), a Late Gothic hall-church with its original stained glass (scenes from the life of Christ and saints), fine choir-stalls (c.1430-40) and thirteen sandstone figures (c.1240-50) from the choir-screen of an earlier church on the site.
Address: Cathedral of St Nicholas, D-39576 Stendal, Germany
The Stendal Town Hall (14th C., with much later alteration) is a gem of Gothic architecture with its stepped and curving gables. Nearby can be seen a monument to Winckelmann (1859).
Of Stendal's medieval fortifications there survive two gate-towers - the 15th C Uenglinger Tor on the northwest side of the old town, one of the finest brick-built town gates in North Germany, and the Tangermünder Tor (1220) to the south (stone-built, with a brick upper story).
The surviving buildings of St Catherine's Convent (founded 1456) in Stendal contain the Altmark Museum (early history of the area, Romanesque bronzes, wood sculpture, carved altars, faience and porcelain).
In front of the Stendal Town Hall is a figure of Roland, frequently found in North German towns as a symbol of municipal authority. The figure is a copy of the original (1525), which was destroyed in a violent storm in 1972.
St James's Church (1311-1477) in the north of Stendal has a fine interior (choir screen with a Triumphal Cross group, Late Gothic stalls and stained glass).
Near the Stendal Town Hall stands the twin-towered parish church of St Mary, a hall-church consecrated in 1447. The most notable features of the interior are the groined vaulting, the beautiful choir screen and a fine altar of 1471. At the west end of the nave is an astronomical clock which is thought to date from the second half of the 15th C.
Address: St Mary's Church, D-39576 Stendal, Germany
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