Arrival in Magdeburg East Germany

Magdeburg is a large industrial city which houses large manufacturing plants in and around this entire region. I had never heard of this city before I began researching potential routes across Germany.
I chose this city as an emergency stop if we were unable to completely ride across Germany in one full day.
The weather conditions during our ride made it effectively impossible to achieve the goal of reaching the Polish border in one day.
Despite the better weather in several stretches of riding down the Autobahn, we were no longer young strong men who could be expected to ride for 10-12 hours to reach Poland.
Our arrival in Magdeburg created an opportunity for us to be educated in exactly where some parts of Germany stood in relation to its Nazi past. There was no doubt in our minds that the old Nazi regime was alive and well in Magdeburg.
Our first impression of this quaint city was the total lack of foot traffic in the mostly well appointed residential streets of the city. We discovered quickly why that was something not surprising here.