Diesdorf

Diesdorf
Diesdorf: Monastery church
Coat of arms
Diesdorf
Location of Diesdorf within Altmarkkreis Salzwedel district
Coordinates: 52°45′06″N 10°52′31″E / 52.75156°N 10.87531°E / 52.75156; 10.87531Coordinates: 52°45′06″N 10°52′31″E / 52.75156°N 10.87531°E / 52.75156; 10.87531
Country	Germany
State	Saxony-Anhalt
District	Altmarkkreis Salzwedel
Municipal assoc.	Beetzendorf-Diesdorf
Government
• Mayor	Fritz Kloß
Area
• Total	100.52 km2 (38.81 sq mi)
Elevation	56 m (184 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	2,385
• Density	24/km2 (61/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	29413
Dialling codes	03902
Vehicle registration	SAW
Website	www.diesdorf.de

Diesdorf is a municipality (Flecken) in the district Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Diesdorf is situated in the western Altmark about 5 kilometres (3 mi) east of the border between Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony which between 1945 and 1990 was part of the inner German border, and about 25 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of Salzwedel. The nearest major settlement in Lower Saxony is Wittingen at a distance of about 10 kilometres (6 mi). The surrounding countryside is characterised by terminal moraines and sandy soils which are mostly wooded. It has been shaped during the Saale stage of the middle .

Aside from the eponymous village, the municipality consists of the following districts: Abbendorf, Bergmoor, Dankensen, Dülseberg, Haselhorst, Höddelsen, Hohenböddenstedt, Hohengrieben, Lindhof, Mehmke, Molmke, Neuekrug, Peckensen, Reddigau, Schadeberg, Schadewohl, Waddekath, and Wüllmersen, as well as the smaller settlements Forsthof Vier, Kerstenberg, Römke, and Schinkenmühle. Waddekath is located immediately east of the former inner German border.

The climate is comparatively dry with an average yearly precipitation of 622 mm, lower values being registered in only 25 % of the weather stations of DWD. Precipitation is distributed fairly evenly over the year, with a ratio of 1.6 between the wettest month (August) and the driest (October), with lower variations being registered only in 4 % of the DWD weather stations.

Megalithic graves near Diesdorf, Molmke, and Schadeberg are evidence of the area having been populated already in the Upper Paleolithic era.

Diesdorf was first mentioned in 1112. The monastery Marienwerder of the Augustinian Canons, founded in 1161 by count Hermann of Warpke-Lüchow, had a major influence on the development of the village. After the Protestant Reformation and the secularisation of the monastery in 1551, the administration of a demesne of the state of Brandenburg and a noble women's convent were established in its place. Both were dissolved under the rule of the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1810.