Imperialist Army Captures, Then Sacks the City of Magdeburg; Tens of Thousands Perish

On May 20, 1631, Magdeburg in Germany was seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire under Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly. Most of the inhabitants were massacred. It was one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War. From the article:

Imperialist Army Captures, Then Sacks the City of Magdeburg; Tens of Thousands Perish

At the end of World War II, Germany was devastated. Its armies beaten, its industries bombed out, its cities burned or flattened by a concerted Allied bombing campaign. Nonetheless, the aftermath of that conflict could be compared to the state in which Germany found itself after the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). One of the first great wars of religion, it pitted the Catholic Holy Roman Empire – with a little help from their Spanish Hapsburg relatives – against nearly every Protestant nation of Europe. Whole sections of Germany were burnt, and their populations killed and scattered. One of the primary examples of this was the sack of the city of Magdeburg, located in east central Germany, 77 miles west of Berlin.

Background

There are a number of reasons the Thirty Years War occurred. Primarily, it can be traced to the Reformation of the early 16th century. Furthermore, political rivalries played a large role. The Holy Roman Empire was a patchwork of small duchies, principalities, free cities, petty lordships, land-owning priories, bishoprics, and archbishoprics. The largest component of the empire was Austria, ruled by the Hapsburg dynasty. In addition, Spain – ruled by another branch of the Hapsburg family – owned land in what is today Belgium and Italy, but these lands were under the protection of the empire. Finally, Denmark and Sweden, two of the preeminent Protestant nations of northern Europe, wished to gain control over north German states which bordered the Baltic Sea.


The event which actually sparked the war occurred in May of 1618, when Protestant Bohemians in the city of Prague objected to two men sent to rule over them by the Crown Prince of Bohemia. The two men were seized, subjected to a mock trial, and were punished by being thrown from the third-story window of Hradčany Castle, falling between 50 and 70 feet into the castle's moat. [This event, depicted in a contemporary woodcut above, is known as the "Second Defenestration of Prague."] Incredibly, both men survived, supposedly falling onto a pile of horse manure in the moat. Consequently, the Bohemian Revolt became the opening act of the conflict.

By November of 1620, the Bohemian Revolt was quelled with their defeat at the battle of White Mountain by Imperialist forces, reinforced by the Catholic League. Shortly afterwards, Denmark and Lower Saxony came to the aid of the Protestants. By 1629, these two nations were effectively beaten and forced to retire from the conflict. In these two initial phases of the war, the Imperialist armies enjoyed the advantage of highly competent and successful commanders, such as Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly (see below) and Duke Albrecht von Wallenstein.


Third Phase: Swedish Intervention

However, in mid-1630 the Swedes under their king Gustavus Adolphus – known as "The Lion of the North" – entered the conflict, thanks in no small part to large payments from and a secret treaty with France. Though a Catholic nation, France saw itself being squeezed between the two Hapsburg empires of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. [France would later enter the war against the Hapsburgs when the Swedes finally retired in 1635.] Gustavus inherited three separate wars when he was crowned king of Sweden in October of 1611. He prosecuted each conflict – against Denmark, Russia, and Poland – to a final end. The war against Poland ended in 1629, with Sweden taking control of the province of Livonia. Shortly thereafter, Sweden entered northern Germany and took control of the Protestant cause in Germany.


Gustavus Adolphus, "The Lion of the North"

Siege of Magdeburg Begins

The city of Magdeburg, which in 1630 had a population of some 30,000 people, was a major city and renowned as a center of Lutheranism. It was also considered an important town where a major army could resupply. In November of 1630, an Imperialist army under the command of Count Gottfried Heinrich von Pappenheim, a former cavalry commander, invested the city. A small garrison of 2400 men under the Swedish officer Dietrich von Falkenberg defended the city, with a few city natives involved. The Imperialist army number perhaps 8-10,000 men and could probably have taken the town easily, but they were content to starve out the defenders.

By early 1631, many Protestant rulers were less than thrilled with another foreign power seeking to interfere in German politics. In February of 1631, a meeting of major Protestant princes and electors, as well as administrators of bishoprics and various Imperial free cities, was convened in the city of Leipzig. The Protestant rulers determined to ally amongst themselves and raise forces to defend themselves, without the intervention of foreign powers (i.e., the Swedes). The assembled Protestant rulers hoped this armed alliance, the "Leipziger Bund," would enable them to effectively bargain with the Emperor.


Count Gottfried Heinrich von Pappenheim

(1594-1632)

The assembled Protestant rulers sent a manifesto to the Emperor demanding that he rescind the Edict of Restitution. This Imperial edict, passed two years previously, sought to restore the religious and territorial situation in the Empire as it existed before 1618. If he did so, they promised to join the Imperial forces in a campaign against the Swedes. Johann-Georg, the Elector of Saxony raised 40,000 troops all by himself.

Meanwhile, the Swedish army was beginning to move west from Pomerania, hoping to relieve the siege of Magdeburg. Unfortunately, his attempt to move across the lands of the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony was met with diplomatic hemming and hawing. If either of these realms managed to make their peace with the Emperor, Gustavus's army would be effectively blocked from advancing further west. Eventually, the Swedish ruler bullied the Elector into allowing Swedish garrisons in the cities of Küstrin and Spandau.

However, early in January of 1631, Tilly moved his Catholic League forces east. However, fearing that Gustavus would strike west toward the Elbe and Magdeburg, he returned east across Brandenburg and joined his forces with those of von Pappenheim investing Magdeburg. The Imperialist-Catholic League army now number nearly 24,000 soldiers.

The Sack of Magdeburg

Finally, Tilly and Pappenheim decided to take the city by storm. Initial assaults on May 17 and 18 were repulsed. However, on May 20, the combined Imperialist forces assaulted the city once more, some sources claiming this was done without orders. Tilly's army was so enraged at the lengthy resistance provided by the Magdeburgers and the Swedes that they put the garrison of the city to the sword. They then sacked Magdeburg and massacred the population despite Tilly's efforts to stop them. Otto von Gericke, the burgomeister (mayor) of Magdeburg, described the scene as the Imperialist forces began their destruction of the city, which had existed since the 9th century:


Coat of arms of Magdeburg

"Thus it came about that the city and all its inhabitants fell into the hands of the enemy, whose violence and cruelty were due in part to their common hatred of the adherents of the Augsburg Confession, and in part to their being embittered by the chain shot which had been fired at them and by the derision and insults that the Magdeburgers had heaped upon them from the ramparts.

"Then was there naught but beating and burning, plundering, torture, rape and murder. Most especially was every enemy bent on securing much booty. When a marauding party entered a house, if its master had anything to give he might thereby purchase respite and protection for himself and his family till the next man, who also wanted something should come along. It was only when everything had been brought forth and there was nothing left to give that the real trouble commenced. Then, what with blows and threats of shooting, stabbing and hanging, the poor people were so terrified that if they had had anything left they would have brought it forth if it had been buried in the earth or hidden away.

"In this frenzied rage, the great and splendid city that had stood like a fair princess in the land was now, in its hour of direst need and unutterable distress and woe, given over to flames, and thousands of innocent men, women and children, in the midst of a horrible din of heartrending shrieks and cries, were tortured and put to death in so cruel and shameful a manner that no words would suffice to describe, not no tears to bewail it...

"Thus in a single day this noble and famous city, the pride of the whole country, went up in fire and smoke; and the remnant of its citizens, with their wives and children, were taken prisoners and driven away by the enemy with a noise of weeping and wailing that could be heard from afar, while the cinders and ashes from the town were carried by the wind to Wanzleben, Egeln, and still more distant places...

"In addition to all this, quantities of sumptuous and irreplaceable house furnishings and movable property of all kinds, such as books, manuscripts, painting, memorials of all sorts,...which money could not buy, were either burned or carried away by the soldiers as booty. The most magnificent garments, hangings, silk stuffs, gold and silver lace, linen of all sorts, and other household goods were bought by the army sutlers for a mere song and peddled about by the cart load all through the archbishopric of Magdeburg and in Anhalt and Brunswick. Gold chains and rings, jewels and every kind of gold and silver utensils were to be bought from the common soldiers for a tenth of their real value..."


During the looting, around noon fires started in various area of Magdeburg. Some were set by the city's defenders, others were supposedly set by the Imperialist troops. A veritable festival of killing, rape and looting went on for a full day. [It should be pointed out that in most European armies of the day, soldiers' pay was low. Therefore, looting after a battle or siege was considered common practice.] Despite the efforts of Tilly and Pappenheim to limit the reprehensible acts of the men under their command, little could be done to stop them.

Aftermath

By morning of May 21, the vast majority of the city was reduced to ashes. Somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 inhabitants of Magdeburg were killed, while the rest were scattered in the countryside. The Imperialist forces sustained casualties of about 300 killed and 1600 wounded. For the next several days, burnt corpses were thrown into the Elbe River, hoping to prevent plague.

Many historians consider it unlikely that Tilly actually ordered the city torched. Magdeburg was a strategically vital city of the Elbe River and was needed as a resupply center for the looming fight against the Swedes. Although extremely opposed to the Reformation movement, Tilly was a very experienced commander and would have recognized the strategic importance of the city. However, it is interesting to note that Tilly afterwards wrote to the Holy Roman Emperor, "Never was such a victory since the storming of Troy or of Jerusalem. I am sorry that you and the ladies of the court were not there to enjoy the spectacle."

Footnote #1: For years afterwards, the term "magdeburgization" was used to refer to the total destruction, pillaging, and rape of a city or area. In retribution, the Protestants began using the terms "Magdeburg quarter" or "Magdeburg justice" when executing Catholics who asked for mercy when surrendering.

Footnote #2: Broadsheets describing the horror of Magdeburg were distributed in the capitals of Europe and throughout Germany, to show how the emperor treated his recalcitrant Protestant subjects. This led to widespread revulsion and contributed to the United Provinces (Netherlands) and Saxony entering the Thirty Years War.

Footnote #3: By the end of the war in 1648, only about 400 people lived in the destroyed town. It did, however, manage to rebuild. Today, Magdeburg is a traffic junction as well as an industrial and trading center. The production of chemical, steel, paper and textile products are of particular economic significance, along with heavy mechanical engineering. The city boasts a population of over 230,000 souls."