The Hanseatic town of Stendal is the economic, cultural and administrative centre of the Altmark region.

Around 1165 it was granted market and town rights and in the 15th century it turned into a flourishing Hanseatic town. It was during this period that the characteristic religious and secular buildings of the Brick Gothic style were built, giving the townscape its distinctive character to this day. Its numerous towers give Stendal a silhouette reminiscent of Lübeck.

The well-preserved and restored town centre not only has those older buildings, but also many residential buildings from the Wilhelminian period.