The capital is expressly designated.
The constitution begins with the foundations of the state and names Magdeburg as the state capital there. The classification is therefore not a guess based on city size, visitor numbers or cultural importance.
The Landtag’s address is at Domplatz in Magdeburg. This gives you a concrete connection: when planning to visit the state parliament, you associate the institution with the capital. A visit to a city administration would concern a different level of government.
The other three answers
The other place names do not change the clear constitutional rule.
Halle
Halle (Saale) is an independent city in Sachsen-Anhalt, but not its state capital. An important city need not be the capital.
Dessau
Dessau is the historical place name used in the catalogue option; the current independent city is called Dessau-Roßlau. It is not the state capital either.
Wittenberg
Wittenberg is not the capital designated in Article 1. Familiar place names should not be equated with that particular role.
Remember the town name and government level separately.
Berlin is Germany’s capital. Magdeburg is the capital of one federal state, Sachsen-Anhalt. The two answers belong to different questions.
The question retains the place names from the existing catalogue. The note about Dessau-Roßlau explains the current name without rewriting the options. Magdeburg remains the correct choice for this task.
Article 1(3) · Constitution of Sachsen-Anhalt ↗Sachsen-Anhalt → Magdeburg.
Distinguish federal capital Berlin from state capital Magdeburg.
Three words for this question
- die Landeshauptstadtstate capital
- The city designated as the capital of a federal state.
- der Landtagstate parliament
- The elected representative body of the federal state.
- der Stadtratcity council
- A city’s elected municipal representative body.