Jerichow () is a town on the east side of the river Elbe, in the District of Jerichower Land, of the state of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. With about , the municipality of Jerichow is one of the largest municipalities in area size in Germany.
Geography The city of Jerichow lies on an old branch of the river Elbe between Stendal and Genthin, 31 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Magdeburg. The territory of the municipality extends from the center of the city to the east along the northern boundary of the District of Jerichower Land to the state boundary of Brandenburg and from there a strip of land to the south.
Divisions On 1 January 2010, the municipality (Einheitsgemeinde) of Stadt Jerichow was founded by the merger of the 12 former municipalities that had until then formed part of the Municipal Association (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft) of Elbe-Stremme-Fiener.Gebietsänderungen vom 01. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2010, Statistisches Bundesamt The 12 former municipalities became Ortschaften or municipal divisions of the town Jerichow. These Ortschaften are composed of several Ortsteile (local parts):Hauptsatzung der Einheitsgemeinde Stadt Jerichow, § 12, February 2020. Brettin (Annenhof, Brettin) Demsin (Großdemsin, Kleindemsin, Kleinwusterwitz) Jerichow (Jerichow, Klein-Mangelsdorf, Klietznick, Mangelsdorf, Steinitz) Kade (Belicke, Kade, Kader Schleuse, Neubuchholz) Karow Klitsche (Altenklitsche, Neuenklitsche) Nielebock (Nielebock, Seedorf) Redekin (Neuredekin, Redekin, Scharteucke) Roßdorf Schlagenthin (Kuxwinkel, Schlagenthin) Wulkow (Altbellin, Blockdamm, Großwulkow, Havemark, Hohenbellin, Kleinwulkow) Zabakuck (Güssow, Zabakuck)
Mangelsdorf had already merged with Jerichow on 6 August 2002.Gebietsänderungen vom 01.01. bis 31.12.2002, Statistisches Bundesamt
Climate With the annual precipitation of 530 mm, Jerichow has one of the lowest amounts recorded in Germany. At seven percent the weather stations of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (German Weather Service) were registering low numbers. The driest month is February, with most of the rainfall coming in June. In June, the amount of rain is twice the total for February.
History Jerichow is not named after a Jericho in the Holy Bible of the Christians. Jerichow was actually an Old Slavic word meaning, "riverside settlement of the dominant one". Oswald Jannermann, Slawische Orts– und Gewässernamen in Deutschland : Von Belgrad in Pommern bis Zicker auf Rügen [ Slavic Place and Water Names in Germany : From Belgrad in Pomerania to Zicker on the Rügen ] (Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, 2012), , page 13. Wjerch ( "peak" ) and zwjercha ( "on top" ) are Lower Sorbian words derived from fercho, the stem word from Old Slavic for "above, dominant". The suffix, –ow, is Old Slavic for "water-place". There used to be a castle backed by a man-made tributary of the Elbe River, but today only a lump of earth remains with the name of Burgberg (lit. Castle Hill).
Jerichow was mentioned for the first time at the end of 1144 by the documents. The occasion was the foundation of the Jerichow Monastery of the Premonstratensian canons with the donation of Hartwig von Stade, the canon of the Cathedral of Magdeburg (with the confirmation from the Holy Roman Emperor, Conrad III of Germany). In the following year, the Premonstratensian canons came from the Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen (Monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary) in Magdeburg to settle in the town center but, in 1148, they moved to the present location because of the disturbing bustle of the town's marketplace. They built between 1149 and 1172 the collegiate church as a basilica with three naves as well as the east wing of the cloister. These buildings are considered as important works of the Romanesque brick style, the oldest of its kind east of the Elbe River. They would serve for centuries as the landmark for the surrounding areas.
In the 13th century Jerichow received the city charter (Stadtrecht). In 1336 the town was completely destroyed by the flooding from the Elbe River but it was rebuilt and founded in its present location by a local nobleman, Johann III von Buch. Peter Neumeister, "Johann von Buch : Ein altmärkischer Rechtsgelehrter im Dienste der Wittelsbacher [ Johann von Buch : A Lawyer from the Altmark in the Service of the Wittelsbachs ]", Die Altmark von 1300 bis 1600 : Eine Kulturregion im Spannungsfeld von Magdeburg, Lübeck und Berlin [ The Altmark 1300–1600 : A Cultural Region in the Area of Conflict between Magdeburg, Lübeck and Berlin ], edited by Jiri Fajt, Wilfried Franzen and Peter Knüvener (Berlin : Lukas Verlag, 2011), , pages 150-155 for more information. However, its former location is still marked by a deep trench lined with ancient walls of brick. W. Schmidt, "Der Trüben und seine Umgebung [ The Troubled Waters and their Surroundings ]", Geschichts-Blätter für Stadt und Land Magdeburg [ Historical Papers for the City and County of Magdeburg ], Volume 39 (1904), page 59. Around 1530, with the Reformation, the Lutheran doctrine took hold of the town and, in 1552, the Monastery was secularized by Hans von Krusemark; a part of the convent's building was reserved for the Elector of Brandenburg's domains. During the Thirty Years War, the Imperial and Swedish armies devastated the village and monastery of Jerichow in 1631. Since 1680, along with the Duchy of Magdeburg, Jerichow belonged to the Electorate of Brandenburg and later the Kingdom of Prussia and to the former Jerichower District. In 1684 and 1685, the Monastery's church was repaired by the order of the Great Elector, Frederick William, to be used as a new Reformed church for the Huguenot refugees.
In 1806, Napoleon and his Grande Armée captured the city of Magdeburg and added to the Kingdom of Westphalia, with his brother Jérôme Bonaparte as the King, but the eastern boundary of the new Kingdom stopped at the Elbe River. Jerichow was on the other side of the Elbe so it remained Prussian for the rest of the French occupation (1806–1814).
From 1853 to 1856, at the request of King Frederick William IV of Prussia, Ferdinand von Quast restored the Monastery Church. Around 1870 the convent building was used as a brewery and a distillery. In the present time, there was an extensive renovation of the Monastery Church with the considerable restoration of the Romanesque appearance.
With a series of administrative reorganizations, Jerichow remained in the Kingdom of Prussia until 1918, when it became German. At the end of the Napoleonic wars, it was assigned to Landkreis Jerichow II but its district's name was changed in 1952 to Landkreis Genthin and in 1994 to Landkreis Jerichower Land. Jerichow has been a part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt since the 1990 reunification of Germany.
Political Administration 1180–1680 : Holy Roman Empire, Prince-Archbishopric of Magdeburg, (at least since 1588) Amt (District of) Jerichow 1680–1701 : Electorate of Brandenburg-Prussia, Province of the Duchy of Magdeburg, Amt Jerichow 1701–1816 : Kingdom of Prussia, Province of the Duchy of Magdeburg, Amt Jerichow 1816–1918 : Kingdom of Prussia, Province of Saxony, Regierungsbezirk Magdeburg, Kreis (District of) Jerichow II Rolf Jenke, compiler, Territoriale Veränderungen in Deutschland und deutsch verwalteten Gebieten 1874 – 1945 [ Territorial Changes in Germany and German-Administrated Areas 1874 – 1945 ], retrieved 29 December 2013. 1918–1944 : Germany, Province of Saxony, Regierungsbezirk Magdeburg, Kreis (Landkreis since 1939) Jerichow II 1944–1945 : Germany, Province of Magdeburg, Landkreis Jerichow II 1945–1949 : (Soviet Occupation) Province of Saxony-Anhalt, Landkreis Jerichow II 1949–1952 : German Democratic Republic, State of Saxony-Anhalt, Landkreis Genthin 1952–1990 : German Democratic Republic, Bezirk Magdeburg, Landkreis Genthin 1990–1994 : Germany, State of Saxony-Anhalt, Regierungsbezirk Magdeburg, Landkreis Jerichow II 1994–2004 : Germany, State of Saxony-Anhalt, Regierungsbezirk Magdeburg, Landkreis Jerichower Land 2004–present : Germany, State of Saxony-Anhalt, Landkreis Jerichower Land
Heraldry
Coat of arms The coat-of-arms of the collective municipality of Stadt Jerichow was approved on 11 May 2011 by the authorities of the Landkreis Jerichower Land. Genehmigungsurkunde des Landrates vom 11. Mai 2011 [ Approval of the District Administrator of 11 May 2011 ].
Blason: "In blue two silver towers with golden tipped and pitched roofs, arched windows, sound holes and ledges, between them a silver nave with a golden roof, with windows and cornices. The towers were accompanied by two golden ears. The golden bottom of the shield is covered with a wavy blue bar."
The coat-of-arms, designed by the municipal heraldist Jörg Mantzsch, presents in the middle the stylized collegiate church of the Jerichow Monastery with a wavy bar at the bottom. The wavy bar symbolizes the Elbe River, which had, from the earliest times, significant importance to the history of the town. Two accompanying ears, each with eleven grains, are the reference to the formerly independent eleven towns that are now united in the Collective Municipality with Jerichow, and to agriculture, their main industry for many centuries. Jörg Mantzsch, Das Wappen der Stadt Jerichow, Dokumentation zum Genehmigungsverfahren [ The Coat-of-arms of the City of Jerichow, Documentation of the Approval Process ], deposited with the authorities of the Landkreis Jerichower Land, 2010 (Magdeburg: Landeshauptarchiv [ State Archives of ] Magdeburg).
The colors of the town are white and blue. Current coat of arms of the town of Jerichow
Blason: "On the blue field St. George in a silver armor, in his right hand a silver cross-tipped lance, on his left side holding a shield divided in red and silver, with a silver double-towered church in the upper half; on his right side, a golden dragon."
Until 1999 Jerichow did not have an official coat-of-arms but for centuries it had used as its temporary symbol the changing image of St. George in his armor with the lance and the dragon.
From Christian iconography, numerous incarnations of St. George have survived. The earliest seals showed him dressed in a simple robe and standing on the downed and pierced dragon; only in the Middle Ages and then again towards the end of the 19th century, he was transformed into a knight, complete with a set of armor, a helmet, a shield and more. It is assumed that Jerichow's coat-of-arms also underwent another change because, in 1779, it had a different description. In the archives of the Jerichow Monastery, there is a file with the title "Nachrichten von der Stadt Jerichow de Anno 1779" (News from the Town of Jerichow for the Year 1779). In this file, the Mayor answered various questions about the town. The thirty-first question is, "Was die Stadt im Wappen führe?" (What would the town have in the coat-of-arms?); the answer: "Den Ritter St. Georg der den Lindwurm ersticht " – The knight St. George stabbing the dragon.
Old archival documents from 1779:
"In Jerichow ist die Stadtkirche dem Heiligen Georg geweiht; hierin erklärt sich der Zusammenhang zum Wappenbild. Erste bildliche Zeugnisse des Jerichower Wappens zeigen eine recht naturalistische Darstellung mit Beiwerk und in falschen Tinkturen" (In Jerichow the town church is dedicated to St. George, which explains the image on the coat-of-arms. The first visual evidence of Jerichow's coat-of-arms shows a fairly naturalistic representation with accessories and in incorrect tinctures).
The redesign of the coat-of-arms was undertaken in 1999 by the municipal heraldist (Kommunalheraldiker) :de:Jörg Mantzsch Jörg Mantzsch. Former Coat-of-arms of Jerichow