From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bad Harzburg is a spa town in central Germany, in the Goslar district, Lower Saxony.
[edit] Geography
Bad Harzburg is situated at the northern foot of the Harz mountain range and the rim of the Harz National Park. In the east of the municipality is the border to the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the former inner German border. The small Radau river, a tributary to the Oker, has its source in the Harz mountains and flows through the locality. Neighbouring municipalities are the city of Goslar in the west, the towns of Vienenburg in the north, Braunlage in the south as well as Ilsenburg and Osterwieck in the east.
[edit] City districts
- Bad Harzburg
- Bettingerode
- Bündheim
- Eckertal
- Göttingerode
- Harlingerode
- Schlewecke
- Westerode
[edit] History
According to legend Charlemagne had a chapel built on the Burgberg mountain (482m/1,581ft) about 780 in the place of a Saxon sacred grove dedicated to the pagan god Krodo. Allegedly King Conrad I had founded a college of canons here in 916, which Emperor Henry III transferred to the Kaiserpfalz in Goslar in 1039. Between 1065 and 1068 his successor Emperor Henry IV had a big castle - the Harzburg - built on the mountain, where he was besieged in 1073 by the rebellious Saxons under Duke Otto of Nordheim. Henry managed to flee the castle, which was badly damaged by the insurgents. Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa rebuilt it after he defeated his rival Duke Henry the Lion, member of the Welf dynasty, and invaded Saxony in 1180. Henry's son Emperor Otto IV died at the castle on May 19, 1218. From 1488 on, the Harzburg with its surrounding estates was part of the duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
Archaeological findings of a later abandoned first settlement below the castle called Schulenrode (secret root out) date back to the 10th century. Another locality nearby called Hartesborch was first mentioned in a 1314 deed of the Ilsenburg Benedectine abbey, the place Neustadt (new town) in 1338. About 1569 Duke Julius of Brunswick promoted the development of a saline water well to extract salt. The well was called Juliushall and since 1852 the brine was used for saline baths as well as for other medical purposes. In 1892 the citizens changed its name from Neustadt to Harzburg, it was given the title "Bad" (bath=spa), received town privileges in 1894 and became an important spa town and tourist attraction. Here on October 11, 1931 the leadership of the NSDAP, the Stahlhelm association and the German National People's Party DNVP formed the Harzburg Front of a united "national opposition" against the German government of Heinrich Brüning. During World War II military hospitals were established in several hotels. The town surrendered without a fight to the 83rd Infantry Division of the United States Army on April 10, 1945.
[edit] Demographics
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1821 |
4,358 |
| 1848 |
4,679 |
| 1871 |
6,132 |
| 1885 |
7,630 |
| 1905 |
11,568 |
| 1925 |
14,164 |
|
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1933 |
14,744 |
| 1939 |
16,686 |
| 1946 |
27,417 |
| 1950 |
29,901 |
| 1956 |
26,487 |
|
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1961 |
25,946 |
| 1968 |
26,256 |
| 1970 |
25,334 |
| 1975 |
25,780 |
| 1980 |
24,924 |
|
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1985 |
23,662 |
| 1990 |
23,882 |
| 1995 |
23,599 |
| 2000 |
23,100 |
| 2005 |
22,734 |
|
[edit] Sights
- The Harzburg was finally slighted in 1650 by order of Duke Augustus the Younger, so only ruins remain today. A scenic overlook at the western rim offers a panoramic view of the northern lowlands. The place is marked by the 19 m (62 ft) tall Canossasäule (Canossa Column) erected in 1877 in remembrance of both the Walk to Canossa by Emperor Henry IV in 1077 and a famous expression by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck during his Kulturkampf conflict with the Roman Catholic Church "We will not go to Canossa" ("Nach Canossa gehen wir nicht"). Since 1929 the Burgberg Aerial Tramway runs up the mountain.
- The Bündheimer Schloss (Bündheim Castle) was the seat of the Amtmann (bailiff or Vogt) of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. It was erected in 1685 under the rule of Duke Rudolph Augustus at the site of a former manor house, built in 1573, that had been destroyed during the Thirty Years' War. The Bündheimer Schloss replaced the Harzburg as the headquarters of the local government, it was constructed with stones of the slighted castle.
- Near Bündheim Castle are the horse breed stables of the Bad Harzburg stud farm, one of Europe's oldest, established in 1413 by the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The adjacent horse racing track is the site of the annual Harzburger Rennwoche (Harzburg Racing Week).
- The Wandelhalle (Pump Room) is the historic centre of the spa resort. Built in 1898 on the site of the former saline well, the hall today is also used for recitals and lectures. On the other side of the Badepark stands the former Badehaus, which now houses a casino.
- The Protestant Lutherkirche parish church of 1903 has paintings by Adolf Quensen and a Sauer pipe organ.
- East of Bad Harzburg stands an Ostlandkreuz ("Kreuz des deutschen Ostens") in remembrance of the expulsion of Germans after World War II. Erected in 2000 at an elevation of 555 m (1,821 ft) on the Uhlenklippen mountain, the nowadays 18 m (59 ft) tall intending cross replaces an earlier memorial from 1950, which was destroyed by a storm.
[edit] Politics
Timber framed house in typical 19th century "fretsaw style"
[edit] Town council
2006 local elections:
- SPD: 13 seats (38,5%)
- CDU: 12 seats (34,8%)
- Green: 3 seats (8,5%)
- FDP: 2 seats (6,9%)
- Offensive D: 2 seats (6,6%)
- WTD: 2 seats (4,8%)
[edit] Twin towns
[edit] Transportation
The Bundesstraße 4 federal highway runs through Bad Harzburg, connecting the town with the Autobahn 395 to Braunschweig in the north and with Nordhausen and Erfurt in the south. In the east-west direction the Bundesstraße 6 leads to the Autobahn 14 at Bernburg and to Hannover.
Rail transport is available at the Bad Harzburg train station by RegionalExpress and RegionalBahn trains of the Deutsche Bahn running to Hannover, Braunschweig, Holzminden and Halle.
[edit] Persons
[edit] Honorary citizen
[edit] People from Bad Harzburg
- Waldemar Koch, politician, born September 25, 1880, died May 15, 1963 in Berlin
- Frithjof Schmidt, politician, born April 17, 1953
- Karl Peters, colonizer, lived in Bad Harzburg from 1914 until his death on September 10, 1918
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
[edit] References
Germany
Port-Louis, France, 1993
Szklarska Poręba (Schreiberhau), Poland
