Sack of Magdeburg

Timeline

1. 1631Magdeburg · Holy Roman EmpireCounts Tilly and Pappenheim led about 25,000 Imperial and Catholic League troops in a prolonged siege of Magdeburg; the Protestant garrison was small and appeals for aid went unanswered.
2. 1631Within the walls of Magdeburg · Holy Roman EmpireImperial troops breached the defenses and entered the city; the garrison quickly collapsed. Unrestrained soldiers immediately began looting and killing residents, and fires spread through the city.
3. 1631Magdeburg · Holy Roman EmpireFire rapidly consumed the whole city; about 20,000 civilians died in the massacre and blaze, and buildings were almost leveled, with only a few such as the cathedral surviving. The catastrophe shocked Europe and became one of the most condemned war atrocities of the time.