Braunlage
Encyclopedia
Braunlage is a town and health resort in the Goslar
Goslar (district)
Goslar is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Osterode, Northeim, Hildesheim and Wolfenbüttel, the city of Salzgitter, and by the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia .-History:The history of the district is linked with the city of Goslar.The district of Goslar...

 district in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It lies within the Harz
Harz
The Harz is the highest mountain range in northern Germany and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart , latinized as Hercynia. The legendary Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz...

 mountain range, south of the Brocken.

Nowadays Braunlage's main business is tourism, particularly ski tourists. Good ski resorts nearby are the Sonnenberg and the slopes on the Wurmberg.

Geography

The town consists of three districts:
  • Braunlage
  • Hohegeiß
  • Sankt Andreasberg
    Sankt Andreasberg
    Sankt Andreasberg is a town and a former municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2011, it is part of the town Braunlage. It is situated in the Harz, approximately 7 km west of Braunlage proper, and 20 km east of Osterode am Harz.- History :Sankt...



Braunlage is situated at the Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...

n
B4
Bundesstraße 4
The Bundesstraße 4 is a German federal highway running in a northwesterly to southly direction from the state of Schleswig-Holstein to Bavaria...

 running from Braunschweig
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....

 to Nordhausen
Nordhausen
Nordhausen is a town at the southern edge of the Harz Mountains, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Nordhausen...

 and B27 from Blankenburg
Blankenburg am Harz
Blankenburg is a town and health resort in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, at the north foot of the Harz Mountains, southwest of Halberstadt....

 to Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...

.

History

Braunlage started out as a pit settlement in the forest first mentioned as brunenlohe in a 1253 deed, which was revived, when the Counts of Blankenburg
County of Blankenburg
The County of Blankenburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Blankenburg, it was located in and near the Harz mountains.-County of Blankenburg:...

 established an ironworks
Ironworks
An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...

 in 1561. With the County Braunlage fell to the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Brunswick-Lüneburg
The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , or more properly Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was an historical ducal state from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, in what is now northern Germany...

 in 1599. In the 17th century it was a small market town, finally in 1934 it received town privileges
Town privileges
Town privileges or city rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium.Judicially, a town was distinguished from the surrounding land by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws. Common privileges were related to trading...

 and the municipal status as a health resort.

In 1963 it became the location of the longest gondola lift
Gondola lift
A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...

 (of Northern Germany), with a length of 2.8 kilometers and a height difference of 400 meters to the mountain station on the Wurmberg
Wurmberg (Harz)
At the Wurmberg is the second highest mountain in the Harz and the highest in Lower Saxony .- Geography :The Wurmberg lies north of Braunlage, in the district of Goslar, and west of Schierke. Its summit is located due south of the Brocken and roughly 400 m south of the state border with...

 mountain, see Wurmberg Gondola Lift.

On 7 May 1964 Gerhard Zucker
Gerhard Zucker
Gerhard Zucker was a German businessman and rocket engineer. However, none of his machinations proved to be operational, ranging from outright fraud to total failure....

 demonstrated on the Hasselkopf
Hasselkopf
Hasselkopf is a mountain on the southern periphery of Braunlage, Germany. It is 612 m high.The hill is mostly covered in grass and undeveloped, but its northern slope has a short ski lift and can be used for downhill skiing in the winter months....

 hill a flight of mail rockets
Rocket mail
Rocket mail is the delivery of mail by rocket or missile. The rocket would land by deploying an internal parachute upon arrival. It has been attempted by various organizations in many different countries, with varying levels of success...

. One of these rockets exploded, killing three people.

Demographics

EWLINE
Year Inhabitants
1821 1,691
1848 2,473
1871 2,288
1885 2,489
1905 3,408
1925 4,520
Year Inhabitants
1933 4,893
1939 4,981
1946 9,489
1950 9,334
1956 7,523
Year Inhabitants 1961 7,163 1968 7,716 1970 7,249 1975 7,266 1980 7,140 Year Inhabitants 1985 6,776 1990 6,148 1995 5,998 2000 5,476 2005 5,142

Town council

2006 local elections:
  • CDU
    Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
    The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

    : 7 seats
  • SPD
    Social Democratic Party of Germany
    The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

    : 5 seats
  • Bürgerliste: 4 seats

Sports

The local hockey team Harzer Wölfe is an important part of the northern German Ice Hockey Culture.

There are several ski jumps on the Wurmberg
Wurmberg Ski Jumps
The Wurmberg ski jumps are a group of ski jumps in the Harz, near the town of Braunlage in Lower Saxony, central Germany.- Wurmberg Ski Jump :The Wurmberg Ski Jump is the largest jump in the Harz and is located at the summit of the Wurmberg....

 which host international competitions.

Sights

Towards Sankt Andreasberg the Silberteich
Silberteich
The Silberteich is a man-made pond and lies on the upper reaches of the Brunnenbach stream between Braunlage and Sankt Andreasberg in the Harz Mountains of Germany. Originally it was called the Andreasberger Teich or Brunnenbacher Teich, where Teich means 'pond'...

 and the Hahnenkleeklippen are worth visiting.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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