Tangermunde (Germany Saxony-Anhalt)

Tangermunde is an Elbe River cruise port and town in Germany's Saxony-Anhalt state (Stendal district) with population around 10,000. The town is located in the historic Altmark (Old March) region comprising the state's northern 1/3rd. In 2010, the Tangermunde manucipality was expanded by merging 7 neighboring municipalities (Bolsdorf, Buch, Grobleben, Hamerten, Langensalzwedel, Miltern, Storkau).

The settlement was founded in the early-10th-century and developed around a lowland/plains castle built during the reign of King Henry the Fowler (876-936), duke of Saxony and king of East Francia between 912-936. It received town status in late-13th-century and became a point for collecting tolls charged on riverboats. Here was also the residence of the margraves of Brandenburg (Ascanian family). Tangermunde Castle was purchased by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in 1373. Since 1415 the rebuilt castle became the residence of the House of Hohenzollern (dynasty of former German electors, princes, kings and emperors).

The town greatly expanded in the 15th-century when joined Hansa Teutonica (the Hanseatic League - commercial and defensive confederation of market towns). In 1617, the town was almost completely destroyed by a major fire caused by arson. In the 19th-20th-centuries, the economy was based on sugar refining Feodora chocolate production. The historic downtown and city walls are largely well-preserved in their original locations and architecture.

As cruise port, Tangermunde is included in the schedules of some of Europe's largest river cruise companies - CroisiEurope (ships Victor Hugo and Mona Lisa) and Nicko Cruises (ship Frederic Chopin). Next tables show some of the cruisetour itineraries as ports sequences and prices per person (double occupancy rates).

(CroisiEurope) 6-day itinerary between homeports Berlin and Hamburg, from ~USD 1300 pp

(Nicko Cruises) 8-day itinerary between homeports Potsdam and Hamburg, from ~USD 1700 pp