Saxony-Anhalt Sachsen-Anhalt
—  State of Germany  —
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 51°58′16″N 11°28′12″E / 51.97111°N 11.47°E / 51.97111; 11.47
Country	Germany
Capital	Magdeburg
Government
- Minister-President	Reiner Haseloff (CDU)
- Governing parties	CDU / SPD
- Votes in Bundesrat	4 (of 69)
Area
- Total	20,447.7 km2 (7,894.9 sq mi)
Population (2010-12-31)
- Total	2,335,006
- Density	114.2/km2 (295.8/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	DE-ST
GDP/ Nominal	€ 48 billion (2005)
NUTS Region	DEE
Website	sachsen-anhalt.de

Saxony-Anhalt (German: Sachsen-Anhalt, pronounced [ˌzaksən ˈanhalt]) is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.

Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of 20,447.7 square kilometres (7,894.9 sq mi). It has a population of 2.34 million (more than 2.8 million in 1990).

Saxony-Anhalt should not be confused with Saxony or Lower Saxony, also German states.

Geography

Saxony-Anhalt is one of 16 states of Germany. It is located in the western part of eastern Germany. By size, it is the 8th largest state in Germany, and by population, the 10th largest.

In the north, Saxony-Anhalt is dominated by plain (North German Plain). In the sparsely populated Altmark, old Hanseatic cities like Salzwedel, Gardelegen, Stendal, or Tangermünde are located. The transition from the Altmark region to the Elbe-Börde-Heath region with its fertile, sparsely wooded Magdeburg Börde is accomplished by the Colbitz-Letzlingen Heath and the Drömling near Wolfsburg. Notable towns in the Magdeburg Börde are Haldensleben, Oschersleben (Bode), Wanzleben, Schönebeck (Elbe), Aschersleben, and Magdeburg, from which the region derives its name.

In the south-west, the Harz mountains are located, comprising the Harz National Park, the Harz foreland and the Mansfeld Land. The highest mountain of the Harz is Brocken, with an elevation of 1,141 meters (3,735 ft), which at the same time is the highest elevation in Northern Germany. In this area, one can find the cities of Halberstadt, Wernigerode, Thale, Eisleben, and Quedlinburg.

Located at the River Saale and Unstrut in the south of the state, forming part of Middle Germany, there is the winegrowing area Saale-Unstrut and the towns of Zeitz, Naumburg (Saale), Weißenfels, and Freyburg (Unstrut).

The metropolitan area of Halle (Saale) forms an agglomeration with Leipzig in Saxony. This area is known for its highly developed chemical industry (the Chemiedreieck - chemical triangle), with major production plants at Leuna, Schkopau (Buna-Werke) and Bitterfeld. Finally, in the east, Dessau-Roßlau is situated at the River Elbe (as is the capital Magdeburg) amidst the Anhalt-Wittenberg region.

Administrative subdivision

Magdeburg

Halle

Dessau

The capital of Saxony-Anhalt is Magdeburg. It is the largest city in the state, head-to-head with Halle.

Saxony-Anhalt is subdivided into eleven rural districts and three urban districts. The current state was created by two districts reforms. By the first one in 1994, 37 districts were reformed into 21 new districts. The last reform took place on January 1st, 2004, when the 21 districts were reordered into now eleven districts.

From 1994 to 2003, Saxony-Anhalt was divided into 21 rural districts ("Landkreise"). Above this level, there were three governmental districts (Regierungsbezirke): Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg. On 1 January 2004 these three governmental districts were abolished.

The rural districts are

• Altmarkkreis Salzwedel
• Anhalt-Bitterfeld
• Börde
• Burgenlandkreis
• Harz
• Jerichower Land
• Mansfeld-Südharz
• Saalekreis
• Salzlandkreis
• Stendal
• Wittenberg

and the three urban districts

• Dessau-Roßlau
• Halle (Saale)
• Magdeburg

History

Coat-of-arms of Saxony-Anhalt between 1946 and 1952.

In April 1945 the US Army liberated most of the western and northern area of future Saxony-Anhalt. The U.S. Group Control Council, Germany (a precursor of the OMGUS) appointed the first non-Nazi officials in leading positions in the area. So Erhard Hübener, furloughed by the Nazis, was reappointed Saxon Landeshauptmann (land-captain). By early July the US Army retired in order to allow the Red Army taking Prussian Saxony as part of its Soviet occupation zone, as agreed by the London Protocol in 1944.

On July 9 the Soviet SVAG ordered to merge the Free State of Anhalt, Halle-Merseburg, the governorate of Magdeburg (in its then borders), Allstedt (before Thuringia) and some Brunswickian eastern exclaves and salients (Calvörde and the eastern part of the former Blankenburg district) into the Prussian Province of Saxony. While the prior Saxon Erfurt governorate had become a part of Thuringia.

For the earlier history see the respective articles of these entities before 1945. Anhalt takes its name from Anhalt Castle near Harzgerode; the origin of the name of the castle remains unknown.

The SVAG appointed Hübener as president of the provincial Saxon administration, a newly created function. The administration was seated in Halle upon Saale, which became the capital, also of later Saxony-Anhalt until 1952. On 3 September 1945 the new administration enacted by Soviet-inspired ordinance the mass expropriations, mostly hitting holders of large real estates, often of noble descent.

On the occasion of the first as well as one and only election in the Soviet zone, allowing parties to really compete for seats in provincial and state parliaments, on 20 October 1946, the Province of Saxony was renamed into Province of Saxony-Anhalt (Provinz Sachsen-Anhalt), accounting for the prior merger. On 3 December 1946 the members of the new provincial parliament elected Hübener the first minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt with the votes of CDU and Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD). So he became the only governor in the Soviet zone, who was no member of the communist Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). He was an unconvenient governor for the Soviet rulers.

After the official Allied decision to dissolve the Free State of Prussia, which had remained in agony since the Prussian coup of 1932, its former provinces, in as far as they still existed, achieved statehood, thus the province emerged into the State of Saxony-Anhalt on 6 October 1947. It became part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1949. From 1952 to 1990 the East German states had been suppressed and Saxony-Anhalt's territory was divided into the East German districts of Halle and of Magdeburg. In 1990, in the course of German reunification, the districts were reintegrated as a state.

Politics

List of minister presidents of Saxony-Anhalt

20 March 2011 state election

Former Minister-president Wolfgang Böhmer (CDU) did not run for re-election.

These are the official election results (secondary votes):

Economic development

After German reunification in 1990, the break down of non competitive former GDR industries caused severe economic and social problems. In 2000, Saxony-Anhalt had the highest unemployment rate of all German states, with 20.2 percent.

However, the process of economic transformation seems to be completed. Massive investments in modern infrastructure have taken place, and the remaining and newly created businesses are highly competitive. For example, the industry has doubled its share of international revenue from 13 percent in 1995 to 26 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has fallen considerably to 11.3 percent (as of June 2011).

Even though part of this recovery was induced by the quite good performance of the Germany economy, Saxony-Anhalt clearly outperformed other regions. For example, it got ahead of three German states in terms of unemployment (as of June 2011): the German capital and city-state of Berlin (13.3 percent), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (11.9 percent), and the city-state of Bremen (11.6 percent).

Structure of the economy

• The chemical industry is quite important. One of the biggest chemical producing areas can be found around the city of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. Because of the chemical industry, Saxony-Anhalt attracts more foreign direct investments than any other state in eastern Germany.

• The state is the location of numerous wind farms producing wind-turbine energy.

• Saxony-Anhalt is also famous for its good soil. Hence, the food industry has an important role. Some of the best known products are Baumkuchen from Salzwedel and Halloren chocolate globes from Germany’s oldest chocolate factory in Halle.

Religion

In 2010, the majority of citizens in Saxony-Anhalt were non-denominational and more were leaving the churches than entering them.

• Not member of a church or religious denomination: 80%,
• Evangelical Church in Germany: 15%,

• Roman Catholic Church: 3,6%.
• Others (Judaism, New Apostolic Church, Islam, Mandeism): 2%.

Anthem

• Lied für Sachsen-Anhalt ("Song for Saxony-Anhalt")
• Motto: Land of the Early Risers

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Urban and rural districts in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany    Urban districts Dessau-Roßlau · Halle (Saale) · Magdeburg Rural districts Altmarkkreis Salzwedel · Anhalt-Bitterfeld · Börde · Burgenlandkreis · Harz · Jerichower Land · Mansfeld-Südharz · Saalekreis · Salzlandkreis · Stendal · Wittenberg Former districts Anhalt-Zerbst · Aschersleben-Staßfurt · Bernburg · Bitterfeld · Bördekreis · Burgenlandkreis · Halberstadt · Köthen · Mansfelder Land · Merseburg-Querfurt · Ohrekreis · Quedlinburg · Saalkreis · Sangerhausen · Schönebeck · Weißenfels · Wernigerode