Ströbeck

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The title of this article contains the character ö. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Stroebeck.

Ströbeck is a small village in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, near the city Halberstadt. It is famous as the Schachdorf (chess village), due to a long historic connection with chess. The village has about 1,200 citizens.

The first mention of the village in history was in the year 995 in a deed of donation by Emperor Otto II. However, the main historic event for which the village is known occurred in 1011. The Bishop of Halberstadt, Arnulf II, was asked by Emperor Henry II to imprison the duke Gunzelin. He did this in the Wartturm, a tower in Ströbeck, and ordered the local farmers to guard him. Due to the boredom in his prison, Gunzelin created a chess set and taught his guards the game. The game became a tradition among the local people, even though at that time chess was only played by peers.

The local school is the only public school in Germany which teaches chess as part of the curriculum, and it has done so since 1823. As of 2004, the school is threatened to be closed due to too few pupils.

Ströbeck is part of the network Cultural Village of Europe and will act as a host village in 2006 (also see external link).