The May 1631 Sack of Magdeburg by Imperial Catholic Troops That Killed Approximately 20,000 of the City's 25,000 Inhabitants and Defined the Thirty Years War's Reputation
Imperial Catholic forces under Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, stormed the besieged Lutheran city of Magdeburg on 20 May 1631. The sack and fire that followed killed approximately 20,000 of the city's 25,000 inhabitants — about 80 percent of the population. The atrocity became the canonical symbol of the Thirty Years War's destructive scale.
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