Merseburg - Ständehaus

Merseburg was first mentioned in 850. King König Heinrich I. (Henry the Fowler) built a royal palace at Merseburg after having married the daughter of Count Erwin of Merseburg, so that the place came under the rule of the Saxon dynasty. In 955, after finally defeating the Hungarians at the Battle of Lechfeld, King Otto I vowed to found a diocese. Otto I founded the archbishopric of Magdeburg in 968 with the suffragan bishopric Merseburg, but the diocese was dissolved in 981 and only re-established in 1004 by King Heinrich II.

Until the Protestant Reformation, Merseburg was the seat of the Bishop of Merseburg, in addition to being for a time the residence of the margraves of Meissen. It was a favorite residence of the German kings during the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries. Fifteen diets were held here during the Middle Ages, during which time its fairs enjoyed the importance which was afterward transferred to those of Leipzig. In the years 1218/19, the area on the left bank of the Saale was protected by a city wall that adjoined the already fortified "Domfreiheit". Civil self-government of the city was first mentioned in 1289.

In 1428, Merseburg, together with other towns and against the resistance of the bishops, joined the Hanseatic League, to which it was to belong until at least 1604. The town suffered severely during the German Peasants' War and also during the Thirty Years' War.

The cornerstone for the Merseburger Ständehaus was laid in 1892. The state parliament of the Prussian province of Saxony used to meet here.