Ilsenburg

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Coordinates: 51°52′0″N 10°41′0″E / 51.86667, 10.68333

Ilsenburg
Ilsenburg about 1900
Ilsenburg about 1900
Coat of arms Location
Coat of arms of Ilsenburg
Ilsenburg (Germany)
Ilsenburg
Administration
Country Flag of Germany Germany
State Saxony-Anhalt
District Harz
Municipal assoc. Ilsenburg (Harz)
Town subdivisions 4
Mayor Wilfried Obermüller (SPD)
Basic statistics
Area 42.47 km² (16.4 sq mi)
Elevation 267 m  (876 ft)
Population 6,242  (31/12/2006)
 - Density 147 /km² (381 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate HZ
Postal codes 38865–38871
Area code 039452

Ilsenburg is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. It is situated under the north foot of the Harz Mountains, at the entrance to the Ilsetal valley of the small Ilse river, a tributary of the Oker. About six 6 miles north-west of the town of Wernigerode Ilsenburg is the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft ("collective municipality") Ilsenburg. It received town privileges in 1959. Owing to its surrounding of forests and mountains as well as its position on the edge of the Harz National Park, Ilsenburg is a popular tourist resort.

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[edit] History

The old castle, Schloss Ilsenburg, lying on a high crag above the town, was originally an imperial stronghold and probably built by King Henry I. In 995 Emperor Otto III resided in Elysynaburg, which Henry II bestowed in 1003 upon the Bishop of Halberstadt, who converted it into a Benedictine monastery. The school attached to it enjoyed a great reputation towards the end of the 11th century. The abbey was finally devastated during the Peasants' War in 1525.

After the Reformation the castle passed to the counts of Wernigerode, who restored it and made it their residence until 1710. Higher still, on the edge of the plateau rises the Ilsenstein, a granite peak standing about 500 ft above the valley, crowned by an iron cross erected by Count Anton von Stolberg-Wernigerode in memory of his friends who fell in the Napoleonic Wars of 1813-1815. Around this rock cluster numerous legends.

[edit] Transportation

Ilsenburg has access to the Bundesstraße 6 federal highway leading from Goslar and the Autobahn 395 to Halle and the Autobahn 14.

At the Ilsenburg railway station rail transport is available to Vienenburg and Hannover as well as to Halle and Berlin by RegionalExpress trains of the Deutsche Bahn and trains of Veolia Transportation.

[edit] Twin town

[edit] External links

[edit] References