"In the year 1631, on the 20th of May, the imperial forces took the city of Magdeburg by storm. It was a terrible, dreadful thing to see and hear. They killed all they encountered, men, women, children and servants. The slaughter continued for a day and a night. The city was set on fire in many places. The beautiful city, which was one of the greatest and most beautiful in the German lands, was in two days completely burned down, with the exception of the cathedral and a few houses. It was a sad and terrible sight, for there were thousands of men, women, children and servants who wept and cried and lamented. People were killed in the churches who had fled there for sanctuary."

Hans Heberle, Zeytregister (Chronicle), account of the Sack of Magdeburg, 1631. Heberle was a shoemaker from Ulm who kept a detailed chronicle of events during the Thirty Years War based on his own experiences and reports from refugees and travellers.