Havelberg

Havelberg stands where the Havel approaches the Elbe, with the old town on an island below the cathedral hill. King Otto I founded a bishopric here in 946, but the early bishop's seat was destroyed during the Slavic uprising of 983. Ecclesiastical life resumed after the Wendish Crusade of 1147, and a Premonstratensian cathedral chapter was established. The cathedral was rebuilt after a fire, with work continuing until 1385. Its church and cloister rose above a town whose river position supported trade and fairs. The bishopric later came under Brandenburg's influence; after the Reformation its chapter continued in Protestant form, while the great cathedral remained a landmark above the waterways.