So then General Pappenheim collected a number of his people on the ramparts by the New Town, and brought them
from there into the streets of the city. Von Falckenberg was shot, and fires were kindled in different quarters; then indeed
it was all over with the city, and further resistance was useless. Nevertheless some of the soldiers and citizens did try
to make a stand here and there, but the imperial troops kept bringing on more and more forces - cavalry, too - to help them,
and finally they got the Krockenthor open and let in the whole imperial army and the forces of the Catholic League, - Hungarians,
Croats, Poles, Walloons, Italians, Spaniards, French, North and South Germans.
Thus it came about that the city and all its inhabitants fell into the hands of the enemy, whose violence
and cruelty were due in part to their common hatred of the adherents of the Augsburg Confession, and in part to their being
imbittered by the chain shot which had been fired at them and by the derision and insults that the Magdeburgers had heaped
upon them from the ramparts.
Then was there naught but beating and burning, plundering, torture, and murder. Most especially was every
one of the enemy bent on securing much booty. When a marauding party entered a house, if its master had anything to give he
might thereby purchase respite and protection for himself and his family till the next man, who also wanted something, should
come along. It was only when everything had been brought forth and there was nothing left to give that the real trouble commenced.
Then, what with blows and threats of shooting, stabbing, and hanging, the poor people were so terrified that if they had had
anything left they would have brought it forth if it had been buried in the earth or hidden away in a thousand castles. In
this frenzied rage, the great and splendid city that had stood like a fair princess in the land was now, in its hour of direst
need and unutterable distress and woe, given over to the flames, and thousands of innocent men, women, and children, in the
midst of a horrible din of heartrending shrieks and cries, were tortured and put to death in so cruel and shameful a manner
that no words would suffice to describe, nor no tears to bewail it . . . .
Thus in a single day this noble and famous city, the pride of the whole country, went up in fire and smoke;
and the remnant of its citizens, with their wives and children, were taken prisoners and driven away by the enemy with a noise
of weeping and wailing that could be heard from afar, while the cinders and ashes from the town were carried by the wind to
Wanzleben, Egeln, and still more distant places. . . .
In addition to all this, quantities of sumptuous and irreplaceable house furnishings and movable property
of all kinds, such as books, manuscripts, paintings, memorials of all sorts, . . . which money could not buy, were either
burned or carried away by the soldiers as booty. The most magnificent garments, hangings, silk stuffs, gold and silver lace,
linen of all sorts, and other household goods were bought by the army sutlers for a mere song and peddled about by the cart
load all through the archbishopric of Magdeburg and in Anhalt and Brunswick. Gold chains and rings, jewels, and every kind
of gold and silver utensils were to be bought from the common soldiers for a tenth of their real value. . .
@@@@@
Lord of our Life and God of our Salvation
M. Von Löwenstern
This was written by a Lutheran minister in 1644, the year the peace negotiations opened for the Thirty Years
War, which had as yet only been going for 25 years. A war of religion, between Catholics and Protestants, and also a major
international conflict, it took place almost entirely within the boundaries of what is now Germany. By the end of it Germany
had lost over a third of its inhabitants, with parts of it losing as much as 70 percent, directly from war as well as from
famine, disease, and other results of the fighting. A thing to ponder in this time of conflict between the Western World and
the Middle East.
Lord of our life and God of our salvation.
Star of our night and Hope of every nation,
Hear and receive Thy Church's supplication,
Lord God Almighty.
Lord, Thou canst help when earthly armor faileth;
Lord, Thou canst save when deadly sin assaileth;
Lord, o'er Thy Rock nor death nor hell prevaileth;
Grant us Thy peace, Lord:
Peace in our hearts, our evil thoughts assuaging;
Peace in Thy Church where brothers are engaging;
Peace when the world its busy war is waging.
Calm Thy foes' raging.
Grant us Thy help till backward they are driven;
Grant them Thy truth that they may be forgiven;
Grant peace on earth or, after we have striven,
Peace in Thy heaven.
#####
“Christendom ”
Graywyvern
there was once a king
a stupid king
son of a king
and he ruled a great empire
greatest of his time
and a pious king was he
so pious
he wanted to punish
everyone that didn't believe
and he made a department
to spy on his own people
this pious king
but it was war he loved
constant war
war with no object
he made war till he exhausted
the wealth of this richest empire
he ruined his country
to utter bankruptcy
and it became
the most backward country in Europe
and after this king
whose name was Philip the Second
a Golden Age of art &literature
was snuffed out
like it never existed
and it was three hundred years
three hundred years
till Spain produced anything good again
