Saxony-Anhalt : Germany

State in the heart of Germany.

Saxony-Anhalt stretches from the Altmark heathland, which borders the state of Lower Saxony to the north, across the fertile lowlands of the Magdeburger Borde and the industrial areas around Halle and Bitterfeld to the vineyards along the Saale and Unstrut rivers, the northernmost wine-growing region in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Elbe River flows through the state over a distance of about 300 kilometers. In the southwestern portion of the Magdeburger Borde rise the Harz Mountains; their highest peak is the Brocken (1,142 meters). Extensive and extraordinarily scenic landscape reserves include the Hochharz National Park and the Elbe Reserve, where beavers can still be found living in the wild. Saxony-Anhalt’s history as a state in its

own right is brief: It existed only from 1947 to 1952 and was not reestablished until the unification of Germany on 3 October 1990. Some of its regions are among the oldest heartlands of German culture. The Altmark in the north was long under the influence of Brandenburg; the south and the east were dominated by Saxony. Anhalt was constituted in 1212 under the Ascanian princes and experienced its cultural zenith in the 18th century under Prince Leopold III of Anhalt-Dessau. The Russian empress Catherine the Great descended from the princes of Anhalt-Zerbst.