Atlas of Battles

siege, major, early modern

Sack of Magdeburg

Sack of Magdeburg was a siege conducted on 20 May 1631 at Magdeburg, in what is now Germany; it lasted 4 days. It was part of the Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War, which ran from 1630 to 1635. The recorded result: Catholic victory.

See it on the globe Read the article

Sack of Magdeburg
Daniel Manasser, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought20 May 1631lasted 4 days
WhereMagdeburg, Germany52.133N, 11.617E
OutcomeCatholic victory
BelligerentsHoly Roman EmpireagainstMagdeburg
Part ofSwedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War1630 to 1635

Record

Date20 May 1631
to 24 May 1631
PlaceMagdeburg, Germany
52.133N, 11.617E
KindSiege, early modern
Sack of MagdeburgSack of MagdeburgSiege of MagdeburgSiege of MagdeburgBattle of DodendorfBattle of FrohseBattle of Dessau BridgeBattle of Dessau BridgeBerlinDresdenHanoverLeipzigPotsdamGöttingenJenaKassel100 km52.133N, 11.617E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Sack of Magdeburg
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Sack of Magdeburg today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-05-15. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 59 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 32 to 116 m, 84 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 52% built-up, 29% tree cover, 14% grassland.

built-up: 52%tree cover: 29%grassland: 14%water: 3%built-up 52%tree cover 29%grassland 14%water 3%
west to east, 10.0 km39 to 87 mnorth to south, 10.0 km46 to 84 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 3 times between 1631 and 1813.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1631

Sack of Magdeburg is one of 1,470 engagements of the 17th century in the atlas and one of 538 in present-day Germany.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q698045, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Sack of Magdeburg, revision 1384567041, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.