View source for Harzgerode

{{Infobox German place
|type               = Stadt
|image_photo       = Harzgerode Markt.JPG
|image_caption     = Town hall and St Mary's Church
|image_coa            = DEU Harzgerode COA.svg
|coordinates       = {{coord|51|38|32|N|11|8|39|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan = Harzgerode in HZ.png
|state        = Sachsen-Anhalt
|district         = Harz
|elevation              = 400
|area            = 164.68
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 15085145
|postal_code               = 06493
|area_code           = 039484
|licence               = HZ 
|website           = [https://www.harzgerode.de/ www.harzgerode.de]
|mayor             = Marcus Weise<ref>[https://wahlergebnisse.sachsen-anhalt.de/wahlen/bmbm/index.html Bürgermeisterwahlen in den Gemeinden, Endgültige Ergebnisse], [[Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt]]. Retrieved 12 June 2024.</ref>
|leader_term       = 2023&ndash;30
|party             = CDU
}}

'''Harzgerode''' ({{IPA|de|haːɐ̯tsɡəˈʁoːdə|-|De-Harzgerode.ogg}}) is a town in the [[Harz (district)|district of Harz]] in [[Saxony-Anhalt]], [[Germany]].

==Geography==
Harzgerode lies in the lower eastern part of the [[Harz]] mountain range on the [[Selke (river)|Selke]] River, south of [[Quedlinburg]]. It is connected to [[Gernrode]] and Quedlinburg via [[Alexisbad]] by a [[narrow gauge railway]] called the [[Selke Valley Railway]] (''Selketalbahn'').

The municipal area comprises the following 8 localities (''Ortschaften''), some of which consist of several divisions (''Ortsteile''):<ref name=Hauptsatzung>[https://daten.verwaltungsportal.de/dateien/legalframework/2/7/1/0/7/Hauptsatzung_2019.pdf Hauptsatzung der Stadt Harzgerode], August 2019.</ref>
*[[Dankerode]] 
*[[Güntersberge]] (incl. Bärenrode and Friedrichshöhe)
*Harzgerode (incl. [[Alexisbad]], [[Mägdesprung]] and [[Silberhütte (Harzgerode)|Silberhütte]])
*[[Königerode]]
*[[Neudorf, Saxony-Anhalt|Neudorf]]
*[[Schielo]] 
*[[Siptenfelde]]
*[[Straßberg, Saxony-Anhalt|Straßberg]]

On 1 August 2009 the towns of [[Güntersberge]] and Harzgerode together with the municipalities of [[Dankerode]], [[Königerode]], [[Schielo]], [[Siptenfelde]] and [[Straßberg, Saxony-Anhalt|Straßberg]] became part of the new town of Harzgerode.<ref>[https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Laender-Regionen/Regionales/Gemeindeverzeichnis/Namens-Grenz-Aenderung/2009-januar-dezmber.html Gebietsänderungen vom 02. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2009], [[Statistisches Bundesamt]]</ref> On 1 September 2010 [[Neudorf, Saxony-Anhalt|Neudorf]] was also incorporated.<ref>[https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Laender-Regionen/Regionales/Gemeindeverzeichnis/Namens-Grenz-Aenderung/2010.html Gebietsänderungen vom 01. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2010], [[Statistisches Bundesamt]]</ref>

==History==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
The settlement in the medieval [[Duchy of Saxony]] was first mentioned in connection with the [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine]] abbey of ''Hagenenrod'' in the Selke valley founded in 975, to which King [[Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto III]] granted market, minting and customs rights in 993. The following year the place was mentioned as ''Hazacanroth'', when the king granted the citizens of Quedlinburg [[Market town|market rights]].

About 1000, the local [[Schwabengau]] counts of [[Ballenstedt]], progenitors of the noble [[House of Ascania]], served as ''[[Vogt]]'' protectors of the Hagenrode monastery dedicated to [[Saint John the Baptist]]. The abbey already lost its minting rights in 1035, when Emperor [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]] had the mint relocated to [[Nienburg, Saxony-Anhalt|Nienburg]] and though its estates were placed under protection by [[Pope Alexander III]] in 1179, the monks later left for the episcopal town of [[Naumburg]]. Devastated during the [[German Peasants' War]] in 1525, the monastery's local possessions fell to the Ascanian [[Principality of Anhalt|Princes of Anhalt]] while the abbey's buildings decayed.
[[File:Harzgerode Schloss.JPG|thumb|left|Harzgerode Castle, courtyard]]
Upon a 1252 division of the [[Principality of Anhalt]], Harzgerode had become part of the [[Anhalt-Bernburg]] principality. The Harzgerode [[town privileges]] were renewed in 1338. Due to its protected location, the town did not suffer from many military conflicts, but it was repeatedly devastated by fire. Before 1503 there was a great fire; in 1635 (on Midsummer's Day) every building in the town was razed with the exception of seven houses. On 30 June 1722 again 42 houses burned down; on 23 October 1817 52 houses were razed.

Temporarily given in pawn to the [[County of Stolberg|Counts of Stolberg]], the rule was again assumed by the Anhalt princes in 1535. Harzgerode became the administrative centre of the double ''[[Amt (country subdivision)|Amt]]'' of Harzgerode and Güntersberge, both vested with town privileges. In 1635 Prince [[Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode|Frederick]] made Harzgerode Castle, built in the mid 16th century, the residence of his [[Anhalt-Harzgerode]] principality.

For centuries, the surrounding Harz mountains were a significant [[mining]] area, mainly for [[fluorite]] and [[silver]], such as in the preserved [[Glasebach Pit]] near the village of Straßberg. Likewise, the [[Lower Harz Pond and Ditch System]] is a historic example of mining [[water resource management]], similar to the [[Upper Harz Water Regale]]. Harzgerode Castle, as well as [[Heinrichsberg Castle]] located near the town quarter of Mägdesprung, mark the historic significance of the region. Nearby are the ruins of [[Anhalt Castle]] which gave the entire state its name.
[[File:Bahnhof Harzgerode.JPG|thumb|Harzgerode station]]

==Climate==

{{Weather box	
| location = Harzgerode (1991–2020 normals)	
| metric first = Y	
| single line = Y	
|collapsed = Y
|Jan high C = 	2.2
|Feb high C = 	3.4
|Mar high C = 	7.0
|Apr high C = 	12.4
|May high C = 	16.5
|Jun high C = 	20.0
|Jul high C = 	22.5
|Aug high C = 	22.2
|Sep high C = 	17.5
|Oct high C = 	12.2
|Nov high C = 	6.5
|Dec high C = 	3.1
| year high C =	12.4
|Jan mean C = 	-0.4
|Feb mean C = 	0.2
|Mar mean C = 	2.9
|Apr mean C = 	7.3
|May mean C = 	11.4
|Jun mean C = 	14.7
|Jul mean C = 	16.8
|Aug mean C = 	16.6
|Sep mean C = 	12.8
|Oct mean C = 	8.0
|Nov mean C = 	4.0
|Dec mean C = 	0.7
|year mean C = 	8.1
|Jan low C = 	-3.0
|Feb low C = 	-3.1
|Mar low C = 	-1.1
|Apr low C = 	1.5
|May low C = 	5.3
|Jun low C = 	8.6
|Jul low C = 	10.8
|Aug low C = 	10.5
|Sep low C = 	7.4
|Oct low C = 	4.4
|Nov low C = 	0.8
|Dec low C = 	-1.9
| year low C =	3.5
| precipitation colour = green	
|Jan precipitation mm = 	46.9
|Feb precipitation mm = 	28.8
|Mar precipitation mm = 	41.7
|Apr precipitation mm = 	33.9
|May precipitation mm = 	62.5
|Jun precipitation mm = 	51.1
|Jul precipitation mm = 	68.5
|Aug precipitation mm = 	50.9
|Sep precipitation mm = 	56.6
|Oct precipitation mm = 	45.7
|Nov precipitation mm = 	47.8
|Dec precipitation mm = 	44.5
| year precipitation mm =	601.9
| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 	17.8
|Feb precipitation days = 	14.0
|Mar precipitation days = 	15.5
|Apr precipitation days = 	12.6
|May precipitation days = 	13.0
|Jun precipitation days = 	13.6
|Jul precipitation days = 	15.0
|Aug precipitation days = 	13.3
|Sep precipitation days = 	12.9
|Oct precipitation days = 	15.4
|Nov precipitation days = 	16.7
|Dec precipitation days = 	18.0
|year precipitation days = 	180.1
|Jan sun = 	49.0
|Feb sun = 	73.5
|Mar sun = 	137.6
|Apr sun = 	204.4
|May sun = 	250.8
|Jun sun = 	240.4
|Jul sun = 	247.5
|Aug sun = 	225.0
|Sep sun = 	156.4
|Oct sun = 	104.9
|Nov sun = 	51.3
|Dec sun = 	37.4
|year sun = 	1778.4
|Jan humidity = 	88.1
|Feb humidity = 	84.0
|Mar humidity = 	80.7
|Apr humidity = 	74.1
|May humidity = 	74.7
|Jun humidity = 	74.6
|Jul humidity = 	72.9
|Aug humidity = 	73.7
|Sep humidity = 	78.9
|Oct humidity = 	85.3
|Nov humidity = 	89.0
|Dec humidity = 	89.2
| source 1 = [[World Meteorological Organization]]<ref name=WMO>{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231012155645/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Germany/CSV/Harzgerode_10458.csv
| archive-date = 12 October 2023
| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Germany/CSV/Harzgerode_10458.csv
| title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020
| work = World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020)
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = 12 October 2023}}</ref>
}}

==Politics==
Seats in the municipal council (''Stadtrat'') as of 2014 local elections:
*[[Christian Democratic Union of Germany]] (CDU): 8
*[[Free Voters]]: 8
*[[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (SPD): 2
*[[The Left (Germany)|The Left]]: 2

==Twin towns==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}
Harzgerode is [[town twinning|twinned]] with:
*{{flagicon|France}} [[Leval, Nord]], France, since 1999
*{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Bockenem]], Germany (Güntersberge)
*{{flagicon|Germany}} Straßberg, [[Plauen]], Germany (Straßberg)

==Notable people==
*Prince [[John George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau|John George I of Anhalt-Dessau]] (1567–1618)
*[[Veronika Schmidt]] (born 1952), cross-country skier

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Harzgerode}}
*{{Official website}} {{in lang|de}}

{{Cities and towns in Harz (district)}}
{{Borough of Harzgerode}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Harzgerode| ]]