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{{more citations needed|date=February 2023}}
{{for|the municipality in Lower Saxony|Elbingerode, Lower Saxony}}
{{Infobox German location
|type        = Ortsteil
|Town        = [[Oberharz am Brocken]]
|image_photo = Elbingerode.jpg
|image_coa   = Wappen_Elbingerode_(Harz).png
|coordinates = {{coord|51|46|10|N|10|48|11|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan  = Elbingerode in Oberharz am Brocken.svg
|plantext    = Elbingerode within Oberharz am Brocken
|state       = Sachsen-Anhalt
|district    = Harz
|elevation   = 500
|area        = 80.74
|population  = 3101
|Stand       = 2021-12-31
|postal_code = 38875
|area_code   = 039454
|website     = [http://www.elbingerode.de www.elbingerode.de]
}}
'''Elbingerode''' ({{IPA|de|ɛlbɪŋəˈʁoːdə|-|De-Elbingerode.ogg}}) is an ''[[Ortsteil]]'' of [[Oberharz am Brocken]] in the [[Harz (district)|Harz district]], in the [[Germany|German]] state of [[Saxony-Anhalt]]. The former town was incorporated into the newly established municipality on 1 January 2010. Its population is 3,101 (2021).<ref>[https://www.volksstimme.de/lokal/wernigerode/im-oberharz-wachst-nur-elend-3326512 Immer weniger Einwohner im Oberharz - nur ein Ort verzeichnet ein Plus], ''Volksstimme'', 26 January 2022.</ref>

==Geography==
Elbingerode is situated in the eastern [[Harz]] mountain range, approximately {{convert|8|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of neighbouring [[Wernigerode]]. The former municipal area comprised Elbingerode proper as well as the villages of [[Königshütte (Harz)|Königshütte]] and [[Rübeland]]. The surrounding mountains were the site of numerous [[iron ore|ore]] mines and [[ironworks]], today the [[Drei Kronen & Ehrt]] mine and the [[Büchenberg Pit]], run as [[show mine]]s, are popular tourist destinations.

Cargo train service to several surrounding [[limestone]] pits is provided on the standard gauge [[Rübeland Railway]] link to [[Blankenburg am Harz|Blankenburg]], opened in 1886; the former continuation to [[Drei Annen Hohne station]] and the [[Harz Railway]] line was closed in 1965.

There is a large open-cast limestone mine, the ''Tagebau Felswerke'', on the edge of the town. From checkpoint 39 on the [[Harzer Wandernadel]] hiking network, there is a good view over the mine.<ref>[http://www.harzer-wandernadel.de/stempelstellen/uebersichtskarte/stempelstelle-39-tagebau-%20felswerke/ ''Stempelstelle 39 / Tagebau Felswerke''] at www.harzer-wandernadel.de. Retrieved 1 Nov 2017.</ref>

==History==
The lands around Elbingerode had been a feudal hunting ground since the [[Middle Ages]], when it was part of the ''[[Harzgau]]'' territory within the [[Duchy of Saxony]]. King [[Henry the Fowler]] stayed several times at [[Bodfeld]], a royal hunting lodge or ''[[Königspfalz]]'', demonstrably in 935, as did his successors of the [[Ottonian dynasty|Ottonian]] and [[Salian dynasty]]. In 1056 Emperor [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry III]] died here on {{death date|1056|10|5|df=yes}} on a hunting excursion with [[Pope Victor II]].

The settlement itself was first mentioned as ''Alvelingeroth'' in a 1206 deed, when [[Pope Innocent III]] granted the estates to the canonesses of [[Gandersheim Abbey]]. In 1422 Abbess [[Agnes of Brunswick-Grubenhagen|Agnes of Brunswick]] ceded Elbingerode to her father, the [[House of Welf|Welf]] duke [[Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen|Eric I of Brunswick-Grubenhagen]], who vested Count [[Bodo VII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode|Bodo VII of Stolberg]] with the Elbingerode mines and ''[[Wildbannforst]]'' hunting grounds five years later. Nevertheless, Bodo chose to give the remote estates in pawn to his brothers-in-law, the [[House of Schwarzburg|Counts of Schwarzburg]], in 1438. His descendants, deep in debt, were not able to redeem the pledge.
[[File:Elbingerrode-1654-Merian.jpg|thumb|left|270px|Elbingerode, engraving by [[Matthäus Merian the Elder|Matthäus Merian]] (about 1650)]]
Finally in 1564, the Brunswick dukes of [[Principality of Calenberg|Calenberg]] seized the fief and granted [[town privileges]] to the citizens of Elbingerode, which became the seat of a local ''[[Amt (country subdivision)|Amt]]'' administration. The [[House of Stolberg|Stolberg]] counts had vainly attempted to regain the estates; their claims were finally rejected by Duke [[George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg|George of Brunswick-Calenberg]] in 1635. With the Calenberg principality, Elbingerode became part of the newly established [[Electorate of Hanover]] in 1705. Temporarily part of the Napoleonic [[Kingdom of Westphalia]], the ''Amt'' passed to the Welf [[Kingdom of Hanover]] in 1814. Annexed by [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] after the [[Austro-Prussian War]] of 1866, it was incorporated into the [[Province of Hanover]].

In 1932 Elbingerode passed to the [[Ilfeld]] district in the Prussian [[Province of Saxony]]; it became part of the [[Soviet occupation zone]] and [[East Germany]] after [[World War II]]. In 2010, Elbingerode, with Rübeland and Königshütte, merged with the neighbouring towns of [[Benneckenstein]] and [[Hasselfelde]] as well as the municipalities of [[Elend, Saxony-Anhalt|Elend]], [[Sorge, Saxony-Anhalt|Sorge]], [[Stiege]], and [[Tanne, Saxony-Anhalt|Tanne]] into the town of Oberharz am Brocken.

==Notable people==
*[[Andreas Werckmeister]] (1645–1706), organist and music theorist, worked in Elbingerode from 1674 to 1696
*[[Paul Ernst (German writer)|Paul Ernst]] (1866–1933), author
*[[Norbert Hahn]] (born 1954), luger

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}
Elbingerode is [[town twinning|twinned]] with:
* {{flagicon|GER}} [[Altenau]], Germany
* {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Chambourcy]], [[France]]
* {{flagicon|GER}} [[Elbingerode, Lower Saxony]], Germany
* {{flagicon|GER}} [[Gehrden]], Germany
* {{flagicon|GER}} Hoheneggelsen, [[Söhlde]], Germany
* {{flagicon|DEN}} [[Purhus Municipality|Purhus]], [[Denmark]]
* {{flagicon|CZE}} [[Velké Opatovice]], [[Blansko District]], [[Czech Republic]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Elbingerode (Harz)}}
{{Oberharz am Brocken div}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt]]
[[Category:Oberharz am Brocken]]
[[Category:Towns in the Harz]]