1160 – Magdeburg law begins to spread

Magdeburg‘s municipal law began spreading beyond the mother city in the second half of the 12th century. Stendal and Leipzig were the first cities to receive municipal laws from their respective territorial rulers, which were presumably modeled after Magdeburg law. Once colonization commenced in the high Middle Ages, it subsequently began spreading to territories east of the Elbe.One of the oldest surviving written sources on Magdeburg law dates to 1188 and goes back to Archbishop Wichmann (1154−1192), overlord of the city at that time. This charter called a privilege was extremely important for the later development and spread of Magdeburg law, although it in no way marks its point of origin. Containing simplifications of individual provisions of the evidentiary procedure in Magdeburg‘s already existing municipal law, it contributed significantly to making Magdeburg law a model for other cities.