Stendal is the largest city in the Altmark. It lies on the Uchte,
which flows north parallel to the Elbe, which is only a few
kilometers to the west. Stendal is known as the city of brick Gothic
and is called the "heart of the Altmark". The city was a member of
the Hanseatic League. Today Stendal is the district town of the
district of Stendal. The city's most famous son is Johann Joachim
Winckelmann, founder of scientific archeology and custodian of
ancient antiquities in and around Rome. The Winckelmann Museum is
dedicated to his life and work.
Stendal was founded in 1151
by Albrecht the Bear, received, like most of the towns in the Slavic
region, Magdeburg law and gained various privileges under the
following margraves, for example, in 1215, the exemption from the
court of the burgrave, although the whole of the northern march came
under the suzerainty of 1196 Archdiocese of Magdeburg was advised.
When the Mark was divided between the brothers Johann I and Otto IV
in 1258, Stendal became the seat of the older (Stendal) line of the
House of Ascania, which died out in 1320 with Heinrich von
Landsberg. At that time, Stendal was one of the most important
cities in the Mark and, as mentioned, joined the Hanseatic League.
In the 15th century the city was at the head of a league of the
cities of the Altmark. In 1530 the Protestant doctrine found its way
here, but was violently suppressed by Joachim I; the Reformation was
only carried out in Stendal under Joachim II.
Monument to Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Bust monument for Gustav
Nachtigal
Memorial plaque in Stendal Cathedral for the fallen
soldiers and officers from Stendal during the Franco-Prussian War
Traditional monument to commemorate the centenary of the Magdeburg
Hussar Regiment No. 10, Altedorfstrasse (unveiled in 1923)
Memorial
stone for the fallen of the First World War of the parish of the
Katharinenkirche (former monastery church, now Musikforum
Katharinenkirche)
War memorial 1914-18 with the figure of a kneeling
praying soldier in the northern aisle of the Jacobikirche
Regimental
memorial 1914-18 for the soldiers of the Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No.
10 garrisoned in Stendal who died in World War I
War memorial 1914-18
in the district of Börgitz, on the main road
War memorial for the
fallen of 1866 and 1914-18 in the district of Staats
War cemetery for
victims of the Second World War in the municipal cemetery (“Bahnfeld”
next to the railway line): “We commemorate our fallen soldiers with
honor”. There are 448 names on eight plaques (165 of them with a date of
death after May 8, 1945). The inscription on a plaque reads: "The
Germans expellees commemorate with reverence the victims of flight and
expulsion and their fallen soldiers".
Large mass grave (now a lawn)
for civilian bomb victims from Stendal in the municipal cemetery, with a
memorial from 1966 “DIE TOTEN MAHNEN. 1945". Explanations or nameplates
are missing.
Burial site (comrade's grave) for the 31 deceased who
were transferred to the municipal cemetery in 1995 from the hospital at
the Borstel air base
Memorial plaque in the Petrikirche for all
victims of both world wars
Memorial stone from 1969 in
August-Bebel-Park for the victims of fascism
Commemorative plaque
from 1951 at Arneburger Straße 27 (in GDR times Robert-Dittmann-Straße)
in memory of the communist Nazi opponent Robert Dittmann, who was
murdered in 1942 in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The plaque was
removed after 1989.
Soviet cemetery of honor in the Röxe district for
262 Red Army soldiers, Soviet prisoners of war and forced labourers
There are six stumbling blocks in the city, two on Hallstrasse, two on Grabenstrasse, one on Breite Strasse and one on Karlstrasse. It is unusual that the lawyer Julius Charig has both a stone in front of his former office (Karlstraße) and his house (Grabenstraße 4). There is a commemorative plaque for the synagogue on the corner of Bruchstrasse and Ostwall. The building still exists and is used as a residence.
The cultural center of the city and the entire region is the Altmark
Theater. It was founded in 1946 and is heavily involved in children's
and youth theatre. In addition to its own theater performances, guest
performances from various music and dance theaters regularly take place.
There is also a symphony concert series and theater balls, conferences
and other events are organised.
In addition to the Altmark
Theater, the Kunstplatte has existed as a cultural center for young
people in the Stadtsee district since 1998. Cooperation agreements have
existed between the two houses since 2005.
Around 100 events,
including chamber and symphony concerts, choir and soloist concerts,
concerts from the rock and pop scene, folk concerts and cabaret events,
take place in the Katharinenkirche Music Forum every year.
The Winckelmann Museum is located in the old town, on the site of the
birthplace of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and is also the seat of the
Winckelmann Society. Biographical documents, editions of works, drawings
and prints as well as Greek sculptures (plaster casts) and antique small
art are exhibited. There are regular special exhibitions on archeology
and art history, especially from the 18th and 19th centuries to modern
art.
The Altmark Museum shows exhibits on the history and cultural
history of the city of Stendal and the Altmark, ranging from prehistory
and early history to the present day. These include prehistoric finds
from the region, exhibits on the culture of the Hanseatic city, sacred
sculptures, Romanesque cabaret and archaeological finds from the city.
The Saxony-Anhalt State Fire Brigade Museum presents the development of
firefighting from leather buckets to modern fire engines. The focus is
on fire engines of the German Democratic Republic.
The approximately six-hectare zoo on the Stadtsee was reopened in 1952.
Several buildings in the brick Gothic style are worth seeing:
Collegiate Church (“Cathedral”) of St. Nicholas
Marienkirche
Jacobi Church
St. Peter's Church
St. Anne's Church of the former
Franciscan convent, built in the second half of the 15th century
City
Hall with statue of Roland.
Stendal City Library in the refectory of
the former Franciscan monastery
Catherine's Church and Monastery ♁,
today the "Musikforum" concert hall and Altmarkisches Museum, 1456
Benedictine nuns, 1469 Augustinian nuns, after 1500 Protestant
Benedictine nuns
The Uenglinger Tor and the Tangermünder Tor are
preserved from the medieval city fortifications and can be visited.
Pulverturm, fortifications as a remnant of the old city fortifications,
built around 1450 in the ramparts on a base of boulders. It served as a
powder magazine from 1722 and was renovated in 1990.
The St. Gertrude
Hospital in front of the Uenglinger Tor with a Gothic church was built
in the 14th century.
Half-timbered houses from the 17th/18th century
in the old town
Ramelow department store in the Bauhaus style
The French writer Marie-Henri Beyle (1783–1842) used the pseudonym Stendhal from 1817, possibly to express his admiration for Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who was born in Stendal. The town twinning with Grenoble reflects this fact, because Marie-Henri Beyle was born there.
The "Rolandfest" takes place once a year in June.
The
"Children's and Family Festival at the Stadtsee" takes place once a year
in September.
The Christmas market takes place once a year in
December.
The football club 1. FC Lok Stendal plays in the "Stadion am Hölzchen" (Wilhelm-Helfers-Kampfbahn) (6,000 seats, including 1,000 seats). In the 1950s and 1960s, the then BSG Lokomotiv Stendal belonged to the GDR Oberliga for a long time. In addition, the "Stendaler Hanse-Cup", an international athletics event for senior all-around athletes, has been taking place in the "Stadion am Galgenberg" since 2013. The organizer is the Stendaler LV 1892.
By plane
Stendal is right in the middle. It takes about 3 hours by
public transport to get to the following commercial airports.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport (IATA: BER) , about 165 km
Leipzig/Halle
Airport (IATA: LEJ) , about 170 km
Hannover-Langenhagen Airport
(IATA: HAJ) , about 180km
Hamburg Airport (IATA: HAM) , about 220 km.
If you want to try it yourself: The 1 Stendal-Borstel Airport (IATA:
ZSN) is north-east of the city, which is used not only by private sports
aviation but also by business pilots.
By train
Stendal is a
railway junction. This is where the Berlin-Hanover and
Magdeburg-Schwerin long-distance trains cross via Wittenberge. Some ICE
and Intercity trains stop here.
In addition to these two routes,
there is also the single-track and electrified railway from Uelzen via
Salzwedel ("America Line") and the branch line from Tangermünde on the
Elbe, which is of no interest for the journey.
The Stendal Hbf
train station, Bahnhofstraße 34, 39576 Stendal is 1.5 km southwest of
the old town.
Another stop of the S-Bahn Stendal-Stadtsee,
Körnerstraße 1, 39576 Stendal on the route to Wittenberge is 2km west of
the old town. Feature: no WiFi.
On the street
Stendal does not
yet have a motorway connection. The plan is to expand the A14 from
Magdeburg via Stendal to Schwerin. This route has been completed from
Schwerin to Karstedt. In the south, a section near Colbitz is finished
and a subsequent section to Dolle is under construction. At the moment
you are often hampered on the B 189 by the construction work. The risk
of accidents is high due to the numerous deer crossings and risky
overtakers on curves and bumps. Another federal highway, the B 188, runs
in an east-west direction from Rathenow to Gardelegen and on to
Wolfsburg. Both federal highways generously bypass the city.
The city center and in particular its sights can be reached on foot.
The local public transport is developed within the city by the
Stendalbus GmbH with 6 lines (lines 901 to 906). However, the cycle
times are mostly quite long at 2 hours.
The Stendalbus also runs
regional buses on 35 lines (lines 910 to 973).
But you can also get
everywhere by bike. If you don't have your own bike with you, you can
borrow one.
camping
1 mobile home parking space, Nordwall, 39576 Stendal (on
the Schützenplatz). There are 20 free parking spaces available on the
Schützenplatz. Supply and disposal by Holiday Clean system, no toilet,
no shower, no electricity. Features: no wifi, dogs allowed.
2 RV
parking spaces at the position system, Gardelegener Straße 120 f, 39576
Stendal. Mobile: +49 (0)1575 1055837, email:
stellplatz-stellungssystem@online.de. Paid parking space for 8 Mobile on
the outskirts of OT-Röxe, space without any supply and disposal, no
electricity, no water. Open: all year round, 08:00-22:00. Price: €8/n.
Cheap
3 Pension Friese, Weinbergstrasse 16, 39576 Stendal. Tel.:
+49 (0)3931 214672, mobile: +49 (0)151 70522162, email:
info@pension-friese.de. Features: Guesthouse, Free WiFi, Garden.
Check-out: until 12:00 p.m. Price: double room from €35/night, possibly
plus breakfast €5/p.
Medium
4 Altstadt-Hotel, Breite Str. 60,
39576 Stendal. Tel.: +49 (0)3931 69890, fax: +49 (0)3931 698939, e-mail:
info@ah-stendal.de. Feature: free wifi. Check-in: from 3 p.m. Check-out:
until 11:00 a.m.
5 Hotel Schwarzer Adler, Kornmarkt 5-7, 39576
Stendal. Tel.: +49 (0)3931 41840, fax: +49 (0)3931 418490, e-mail:
info@adler-stendal.de . Modern and at the same time traditional hotel in
the house built 400 years ago with 41 rooms and suites, directly on the
Stendal market square. Features: Parking, WiFi, Bar, Conference Room,
Restaurant. Check-in: from 2 p.m. Check-out: until 11:00 a.m. Price:
double room from €89/BB.
6 Hotel Anna, Marienkirchstrasse 7, 39576
Stendal. Tel.: +49 (0)3931 718908, Mobile: +49 (0)173 1633078, Fax: +49
(0)3931 710291 . Hotel located in the old town, with a view of the
Marienkirche. Features: Wifi, Cafe, Dogs Allowed. Check-in: from 2 p.m.
Check-out: until 11:00 a.m. Price: Double room from €85/night (possibly
an additional €15/dog).
7 Hotel am Bahnhof, Bahnhofstrasse 30, 39576
Stendal. Tel.: +49 (0)3931 252990, fax: +49 (0)3931 25299299, e-mail:
info@hotelambahnhof-stendal.de. Hotel with 30 rooms, centrally located
directly at the train station. Features: bar, conference room,
restaurant, beer garden. Check-in: from 2 p.m. Check-out: until 11:00
a.m. Price: double room from €86 per night.
8 Am Uenglinger Tor
(Hotel Stendal), Moltkestrasse 17, 39576 Stendal. Tel.: +49 (0)3931
68480, fax: +49 (0)3931 684856, e-mail: rezeption@hotelstendal.de. Hotel
with 14 rooms and 3 apartments in the immediate vicinity of the city
center. Features: ★★★, Garni, free WiFi, parking space, dogs allowed.
Check-in: from 3 p.m. Check-out: until 11:00 a.m. Price: Double room
from €85/night.
Stendal Police Station, Uchtewall 3, 39576 Stendal. Phone: +49 (0)3931 6850, Fax: +49 (0)3931 685290 . Open: 24/7.
Pharmacies
1 Löwen pharmacy, Markt 5+6, 39576 Stendal. Tel.: +49
(0)3931 212692, Tel. toll-free: +49 (0)800 0212692, Fax: +49 (0)3931
714570, email: service@loewenapothekestendal.de.
2 Roland Pharmacy
Stendal, Dr.-Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 23, 39576 Stendal (In the Roland
medical center). Tel.: +49 (0)3931 491491, fax: +49 (0)3931 491499,
e-mail: info@roland-apotheke-stendal.de .
3 Marien Pharmacy,
Bruchstraße 5-6, 39576 Stendal. Phone: +49 (0)3931 700224, email:
marien-sdl@t-online.de.
4 Altmark Pharmacy Stendal, Breite Str. 2,
39576 Stendal. Phone: +49 (0)3931 212876, fax: +49 (0)3931 689118,
email: info@altmark-apotheke-stendal.de.
Doctors
5 Roland
Medical Center, Dr.-Kurt-Schumacher-Strasse 23, 39576 Stendal. Tel.: +49
(0)3931 211502, fax: +49 (0)3931 211510. The Roland medical center was a
polyclinic until 1990 and was purchased by the resident doctors in
December 1993, completely modernized by March 1995 and replaced by a in
the new building completed in 1996. In the complex there is a large
number of medical practices and medical facilities of various
disciplines. A list with contact details and office hours can be found
here.
Johanniter Hospital Genthin-Stendal, Wendstr. 31, 39576 Hanseatic City of Stendal. Phone: +49 (0)3931 660, fax: +49 (0)3931 217112, email: krankenhaus@sdl.johanniter-kliniken.de. The Johanniter Hospital Genthin-Stendal is one of the most important health centers in the region. Hospital with 24 hour emergency room. Open: 24/7.
Tourist Information, Markt 1, 39576 Hanseatic City of Stendal. Phone: +49 (0)3931 651190, fax: +49 (0)3931 651195, e-mail: touristinfo@stendal.de.
Archaeologists have discovered
a wooden box fountain in Rathenower Straße, which dates to the year
889 and indicates a suburban settlement.
A document allegedly
issued by Emperor Heinrich II in 1022, in which the village of
Steinedal appears among the possessions of the Michaeliskloster in
Hildesheim, is a forgery from the 12th century. The original
document from Heinrich II. (No. 479) does not contain this place
name. The Brandenburg Margrave Albrecht the Bear founded a market in
his village of Stendale around 1160 and granted the town Magdeburg
rights. Excavations have confirmed that the construction on land in
the area of the market south of the "Old Village" in Stendal began
around 1160.
In the 12th and 13th centuries there was an
approximately 60-meter-long brick department store on the market
square, which is considered the oldest department store and one of
the largest and most important north of the Alps.
The parish
of St. Jacobi was founded in the 12th century. The construction of a
Franciscan monastery at Mönchskirchhof began in 1230. In the 13th
century, the Stendal Seafarers' Guild was formed, which traded with
its own ships in the Baltic and North Sea region. The oldest written
mention of the merchant church of St. Marien comes from the year
1283. Around 1300 Stendal received city walls, at the same time the
Tangermünder Tor was built. The field stone substructure is still
preserved today as the foundation of a newer gate structure. In 1338
a Latin school was built on Brüderstraße, which later became a
grammar school, whose famous pupil in the 18th century was the later
archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann. He attended high school
from 1726 to 1736.
There is evidence that Stendal belonged to
the Hanseatic League from 1358 to 1518. Alongside Brandenburg an der
Havel, Stendal was the oldest mint in the Mark Brandenburg. In the
margraviate of Brandenburg, several cities, including Stendal, paid
the margrave a one-time settlement and were given the right to mint
the so-called Eternal Penny.
In the 14th century the
refectory of the Franciscan monastery was built at the
Mönchskirchhof, which today houses the city library. At the place
where the Stendal Castle still stood in 1215, construction of the
Stendal Cathedral began in 1423. In 1440 the Uenglinger Tor was
built. In the 15th century the town hall was built in various stages
with a Gewandhaus, choir and side wing. The St. Catherine's
Monastery (foundation of Elector Friedrich II for Augustinian women,
today Altmärkisches Museum and Musikforum) was built in 1456. In
1462 the carved wall that is still preserved was completed in the
town hall festival hall.
From 1488 Joachim Westfal, the first
printer of the Mark Brandenburg, worked in Stendal. In the same
year, the citizens of Stendal revolted against the beer tax. In
1502, the Brandenburg Elector Joachim I married Elisabeth
(1485–1555) in Stendal, the daughter of the Danish King Johann I. In
1518, Stendal left the Hanseatic League together with Berlin,
Brandenburg, Frankfurt (Oder) and Salzwedel. The Stendaler Roland
was erected in 1525. In 1539, through the Reformation, Lutheran
teaching became an official religion in the Altmark. Luther's pupil
and colleague Konrad Cordatus was the first Lutheran superintendent
on site from 1540. In 1535, 1540 and 1549 Achim von Zehmen, married
to Margarete von Lüderitz, was named mayor of Stendal. In 1682 1,205
people (including 537 children) died of the plague in the city. From
1771 to 1830 the city fortifications were partially demolished, the
turning tower, the gate tower, the Arneburg gate and the cattle gate
were demolished.
The Magdeburg – Stendal – Wittenberge
railway line was opened in 1849. At the same time as the
Berlin-Lehrter Railway, the Stendal Central Station was opened in
1871, and construction began in 1869. In 1873 the main railway
workshop was built, which in 1881 was transferred to the Royal
Prussian Railway Administration and after 1920 became the Stendal
Reichsbahn repair shop (RAW Stendal). The Altmark Museum was founded
in 1888. In 1906 a fountain was built on the Sperlingsberg in memory
of the honorary citizen Friedrich Hermann Haacke, which is popularly
known as "Sperlings-Ida". The Stendaler horse-drawn railway ceased
operations in 1926 after 34 years.
In 1909 Stendal left the
Stendal district and formed its own urban district. The city was
reintegrated into the district in 1950.
On August 3, 1914, the first squadron of the hussars stationed in Stendal (Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10) entered the First World War. The first wounded, around 160 soldiers, arrived in the city's hospitals on September 8, 1914. In December 1916, more than 11,000 prisoners of war were housed in the team prisoner camp at the Stendal parade ground. In 1917 two bells from the cathedral and one bell from St. Mary's Church were dismantled and handed over to the "Metal Mobilization Office". In the course of the November Revolution, on November 8, 1918, a “workers and soldiers council” took over police power in Stendal. After the Compiègne armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, a scattered collection point was set up in the hussar barracks. In addition, the prisoner of war camp was almost completely cleared by January 1, 1919 and converted into a transit camp for released German prisoners of war.
During the Second World War, the city came increasingly
into the focus of Allied bombing attacks, mainly because of the
armed forces stationed there. There were frequent aerial battles
over Stendal, in which Allied bombers also crashed over the city or
nearby. Stendal and the fighter squadrons stationed there at the
Stendal-Borstel air base (including Jagdgeschwader 301 "Wilde Sau")
were directly in the flight path of the bomber groups that had been
assigned to Berlin as a target. On February 22, 1945, an attack by
the 8th US Air Force with 73 "flying fortresses" Boeing B-17s on
Stendal (with 214 tons of bombs) killed 300 people in the Röxe
district alone. The main train station was also hit. On April 8th of
that year, another attack by the US Air Force with 73 B-17s and 179
tons of bombs hit St. Nicholas Cathedral, which was partially
destroyed: especially the cloister, frescoes, tracery and lattice
friezes. The medieval stained glass windows had previously been
relocated and were thus saved. In April 1945 one of the most
controversial companies of the final phase of the Second World War,
the Elbe Special Command, started from the Stendal-Borstel airfield.
On April 13th, Mayor Karl Wernecke, who was a member of the
NSDAP, handed the city over to the American armed forces. Thereupon
Joseph Goebbels called Stendal "because of cowardly handover" as
"dishonorable". On May 4, 1945, the German 12th Army (Wenck Army)
surrendered under General Maximilian von Edelsheim in the Stendal
town hall. British troops took over the administration in Stendal on
June 12, but were replaced by the Soviet Army on July 1. The Red
Army brought the former mayor Wernecke to the Sachsenhausen special
camp, where he died in December 1945. As a result of the flow of
refugees, Stendal housed around 65,000 residents on June 16, 1945;
at the beginning of the war there were only around 34,000
inhabitants.
In the GDR, Stendal was the most
important industrial location in the north of the Magdeburg
district, including the Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk (RAW) Stendal,
the VEB Dauermilchwerk Stendal, the steel furniture and heating
equipment factory (STIMA) Stendal and the VEB Geological Exploration
/ VEB Geological Research and Exploration Stendal. Stendal was also
the seat of the District Veterinary Institute (BIV) Stendal, which
emerged from the Animal Health Office (TGA) and the District
Veterinary Clinic and was converted into the State Veterinary and
Food Inspection Office after 1990.
In 1974, construction of
the Stendal nuclear power plant began north of Stendal, but it never
went into operation and was canceled after reunification.
At a public hearing on September 27, 2009, 78% of
the residents voted to rename the city to “Hanseatic City of
Stendal”. The name change came into effect on January 1, 2010.
Stendal as a garrison town
In 1640 Stendal became a garrison
town for the first time. As a result, an old Prussian regiment
founded in 1715 was stationed in Stendal on foot until 1806. From
1860 Stendal was again the location of troops, including from 1884
location of the Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10, which was
disbanded in 1919. In its tradition, from 1919, the 3rd Cavalry
Regiment stood in the city, which withdrew in 1937. In 1936, the
first German paratrooper troop was founded at the Stendal-Borstel
airfield, of which Max Schmeling was a member. There was also an
infantry regiment (No. 93) and various Luftwaffe fighter squadrons
in the city.
Until the fall of the Berlin Wall, Stendal was the seat of the
border command north of the GDR border troops and also the location
of the 207th Motorized Rifle Division (MotSchtzDiv) of the group of
Soviet armed forces in Germany.
At the end of 1994, the last
Russian troops withdrew, which ended Stendal's time as a garrison
town.
The population development
began to decline during the First World War. However, the city
quickly recovered from this and reached almost 37,000 inhabitants
shortly before the outbreak of World War II. After the Second World
War, it grew to over 40,000 inhabitants for the first time due to
the immigration of displaced persons from the former German eastern
territories. In the period from 1950 to 1964 the city lost over
4,600 inhabitants and in 1964 its population fell to the pre-war
level. With 35,931 inhabitants, Stendal reached an all-time low in
the post-war period in 1964.
From 1965, the city grew
steadily, mainly due to the construction of the large settlements
Stadtsee and Stendal Süd, and on December 31, 1989, it reached its
all-time high with 51,461 inhabitants. Since 1990, the city's
population has declined sharply due to emigration and the surplus of
death rates, and by mid-2007 it fell back to around the level of
1964. The resulting vacancy rate for rented apartments has been
counteracted since 2000 by demolishing, dismantling and accompanying
renovation of the prefabricated housing estates. By resolution of
the city council, with the area-based integrated action / urban
development concept (SEK) adopted on February 18, 2002, the complete
demolition of an entire residential area (Stendal-Süd) was initiated
for the first time in Saxony-Anhalt. The city's two major landlords
- Stendaler housing association and Altmark housing association -
demolished around 6,000 apartments between 2000 and 2013. With its
infrastructure, Stendal is preparing for a population of 35,000.
Since 2014 there has been a slight stabilization of the population
development. Due to the regional reform of Saxony-Anhalt in
2009-2011, Stendal became a unified municipality on January 1, 2010.
The incorporation of ten communities that took place on this day
increased the population from 35,900 to 40,974 (figures from
December 31, 2008).
Stendal is not far west of the Elbe in the south-eastern Altmark. Berlin is around 120 kilometers away, Hanover around 150 kilometers. Leipzig is around 160 kilometers and Hamburg around 180 kilometers away. Stendal is about 55 kilometers north of Magdeburg on the Wolfsburg – Berlin axis.
The annual mean precipitation is 493 mm and is therefore relatively low. Lower values are registered at only 2% of the measuring stations of the German Weather Service. The driest month is February, with the most rainfall in June. In June there is twice as much rainfall as in February. Precipitation varies only minimally and is extremely evenly distributed over the year. Lower seasonal fluctuations are recorded at only 3% of the measuring stations.