Duchy of Magdeburg

Geschichte

The Duchy of Magdeburg was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia from 1680 to 1701 and a province of the German Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1807. It replaced the Archbishopric of Magdeburg after its secularization by Brandenburg. The duchy's capitals were Magdeburg and Halle, while Burg was another important town. Dissolved during the Napoleonic Wars in 1807, its territory was made part of the Province of Saxony in 1815.HistoryThe Roman Catholic Archbishopric of Magdeburg began to be administered by secular princes, mostly Lutheran, in 1545 during the Protestant Reformation. In the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, the archbishopric was promised to the House of Hohenzollern of the Margraviate of Brandenburg upon the death of its incumbent administrator, August, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. The city of Magdeburg was also required to pay homage to the prince-electors of Brandenburg. In 1666, Elector Frederick William used his developing army to install a permanent Brandenburger garrison in the city.