Andreas Kritzmann

Drawing of the church equipped with guns

Andreas Kritzmann († March 9, 1551 in Magdeburg ) was a gunsmith and a folk hero in Magdeburg.

Kritzmann became famous during the siege of the city in 1550/51. From October 4, 1550 to November 5, 1551, the city of Magdeburg was besieged in enforcement of an imperial ban. The siege troops, between 15,000 and 20,000 men, were led by Elector Moritz von Sachsen and Duke Georg zu Mecklenburg . There were around 40,000 people in the city.

On the night of November 28th to 29th, 1550, the besiegers under Moritz von Sachsen took Magdeburg Neustadt and stood directly at the northern gates of the city. On December 10th, Andreas Kritzmann had several guns brought to the north tower of the Sankt-Jakobi-Kirche Magdeburg . From this raised gun platform fire was opened on the enemy troops. The besiegers suffered considerable losses. The besiegers took targeted fire at the church tower. In the course of the fighting, which lasted for months, the church tower was so badly damaged that the Magdeburg defenders pulled down the top of the tower with ropes as a precaution on the night of February 19th to 20th, 1551. The heavily destroyed and torn tower was hung with sacks of wool and lasted for another month. Kritzmann died on March 9th from falling masonry. On March 15, the tower collapsed for good. The city of Magdeburg survived this long siege without storming.

In later times the city of Magdeburg named streets ( Andreas-Kritzmann-Straße , Kritzmannstraße ) in honor of the legendary Andreas Kritzmann .

literature

• Helmut Asmus: 1200 years Magdeburg , Volume 1, the years 805–1631, 1999, ISBN 3-933046-15-7
• Hans-Joachim Krenzke: Churches and monasteries in Magdeburg . City Planning Office Magdeburg, 2000