Stolberg is a district of the municipality of Südharz in the district
of Mansfeld-Südharz in Saxony-Anhalt. The place is nicknamed Thomas
Müntzer City and Historical Europe City. The former goes back to the
theologian and reformer who was born here in 1468; the town has had the
latter since 1993 due to its historic building structure: here are
half-timbered houses from four centuries. The place is still a
recognized climatic health resort.
In Stolberg you feel
transported back to the Middle Ages, as the entire townscape is
characterized by old half-timbered houses from the 15th to 18th
centuries. These crowd completely surrounded by forests in some narrow
valleys of the southern Harz. In 1993, Stolberg was given the title of
"historic European city" because of its old building structure. The city
is less suitable for shopping and going out, it is more for those
looking for relaxation and nature lovers with ambitions to travel back
in time.
The place originated around the year 1000 as a miners'
settlement, although mining has been documented in the area since 796.
Iron, copper, silver, tin and gold were mined here in ancient times. In
the 13th century Stolberg was granted city rights. The current town was
soon the residence of the Counts of Stolberg-Wernigerode. Juliana zu
Stolberg-Wernigerode was born at their castle in 1506. Her first
marriage was to Count Philip II of Hanau- Münzenberg, who died in 1529,
and her second marriage, from 1531, to the widowed Count Wilhelm "The
Rich" of Nassau-Dillenburg Willem-Alexander is currently the king of the
Netherlands because of the eldest son from his second marriage, William
of Orange (1533-1584), who, as William I of Orange-Nassau, liberated the
Netherlands from Spanish rule.
Under the peasant leader Thomas
Müntzer, who was born here, Stolberg was the site of several battles
during the German Peasants' War. On May 2, 1525, rebellious peasants
invaded the city and forced the count to accept their demands (24
Stolberg Articles), who, however, quickly reversed them after the
peasants had been defeated.
Coins have been minted in the city
since the 12th century, and handicrafts flourished in the 16th century.
However, mining ceased in the 17th century. In 1815 the town became part
of Prussia, and in 1833 Stolberg already had 2,392 inhabitants. At the
beginning of the 20th century, Stolberg became a tourist resort, in 1923
a railway to Berga-Kelbra was opened, and since 1946 the town has
finally been a spa town.
Worth seeing is Stolberg Castle, which stands on a hill that slopes
down on three sides and whose oldest component, the round tower, dates
from around 1200, but whose newer parts were built in the Renaissance
style between 1539 and 1547. In the south-east wing is the classical
large reception room, the Red Hall, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel.
The castle got its current appearance through modifications between 1690
and 1700. Until the expropriation in 1945, the castle was owned by the
Prince of Stolberg-Stolberg family. It is currently being extensively
restored and renovated by the German Foundation for Monument Protection.
The town hall from 1454 is an architectural curiosity because it has
no staircase. Access to the upper floors can only be reached via an
outer staircase, which also leads up to the late Gothic St. Martini
Church. On April 21, 1525, Martin Luther preached against the peasant
revolt in this church. The restoration of the three-nave basilica from
the 13th century is very expensive because of its hillside location. In
addition to other donors, the German Foundation for Monument Protection
has also been involved here twice. Northwest of the church is the
Marienkapelle. A Müntzer monument created by the sculptor Messerschmidt
was erected directly in front of the town hall to commemorate Thomas
Müntzer's birthday in 1989.
The Saigerturm is located opposite
the town hall. It dates from the 13th century; the upper part was
renewed at the beginning of the 19th century. It got its name from the
Saiger smelting works that stood next to it in the Middle Ages. The
house where Thomas Müntzer was born, which was partially burned out in
1851, is on Niedergasse, today's Thomas Müntzer House. Also on
Niedergasse is the Saint George Chapel and the Old Mint, which houses
the local history museum. At the western end of the Rittergasse is the
Rittertor, the only surviving medieval city gate in the city. To the
west of the gate is the Chalet Waldfrieden, built in 1810, near which
the Chapel of the Holy Cross stood until 1818. The Luther beech,
reminiscent of Martin Luther, is located on a mountain slope southwest
above the city. Below the beech on the banks of the Lude is the bell
fountain. In the forest north-west of the city is the deer monument.
The Großer Auerberg (579 m) rises not far from Stolberg. On it is
the 38 meter high lookout tower called Josephskreuz. It is the largest
double iron cross in the world.
The design of the public space in Stolberg is unique in Germany. At the entrances to the city there is a sign for a 30 km/h speed limit and a no-parking zone (with a parking disc you can park for one hour in marked areas). Otherwise there will be no traffic signs in town. Although there is a clear separation between the sidewalk and the street, this can be seen as an early form of the shared space approach.
Memorial from 1969 in the "Tyrahöhe" culture park for eleven concentration camp prisoners who were murdered by SS men during a death march in spring 1945.
On January 1st of each year, the annual medal is struck in the ALTE
MÜNZE Museum - the only completely preserved historical mint workshop
from the 18th century in Europe.
At the beginning of February every
year, usually on the second Sunday of the month, the winter festival
takes place at the Josephskreuz, the largest iron double cross in the
world - a festival with games and fun in the snow for the whole family.
On Holy Saturday evening, a traditional Easter bonfire is lit on the
festival site at the Knight's Gate.
The Great Walpurgis Festival at
the Josephskreuz on the Großer Auerberg takes place on April 30th with
theater performances, musicians, herbalists, broom makers, witches and
devils and a large final fireworks display. Concerts at the Josephskreuz
are also on Ascension Day and Whitsunday.
On the weekend after
Ascension Day, the shooting festival of the Stolberg shooting guild from
1421 with shooting of the kings and people of the kings and a parade on
Sunday morning.
The museum festival takes place in the old coin on a
weekend in mid-June.
On the last weekend in June there is a shooting
festival of the Stolberg archers on the fairground at the Rittertor,
with shooting with the historical crossbow and flutter shooting for the
children.
On the penultimate Sunday in July, a traditional forest
festival is held at the Josephskreuz with Harz customs and folklore,
specialities, musicians and traders.
The second weekend in August is
followed by the Stolberg Lerchenfest, a historic city festival with
traders, craftsmen, jugglers and musicians.
On the second weekend in
September, the Europastadtfest invites you to celebrate with friends
from Europe. Every year a different European city with which Stolberg
has friendly connections is invited. Cultural and culinary delights from
a European country, as well as tourist information, special souvenir
offers, etc., are offered specifically for the invited city and country.
On October 3rd there will be a celebratory event on the Day of German
Unity with the twin towns of Stolberg (Rhineland) and Hardegsen
(Solling).
At the beginning of November, the annual conference of the
Johann-Gottfried-Schnabel-Gesellschaft e. V. a literary-scientific
society for research on the life and work of the important writer of the
18th century.
On the 1st of Advent there will be an Advent concert in
the St. Martini Church and a fairytale Advent in the streets of the
city.
On the 2nd or 3rd of Advent, the Stolberg Christmas market
opens in the historic Jägerhof.
The AndersweltTheater am Markt offers
literary, musical and culinary evenings with theater performances and
concerts.
In summer, festivals take place on the forest stage in
Stolberg. The play about the son of the city, Thomas Müntzer, is also on
the schedule of events, as are productions by the AndersweltTheater,
concerts and the like.
Miscellaneous
Hunrodeiche, more than
1000-year-old oak tree, breast-height circumference 6.65 m (2015),
directly to the east of Hainfeld, a district of Stolberg
By train
The nearest train station is Berga-Kelbra on the railway
line between Halle (Saale) and Kassel. Since 2011, the only way to get
there is by bus. A taxi can be reached on 034654 579.
By bus
Intercity buses usually head for the train station, which is about a
15-minute walk south of the city center. Some buses also stop directly
on the market square.
Long-distance buses do not operate in
Stolberg.
On the street
Stolberg can be reached by car via the
following routes:
From the west to Göttingen or on the A7 to the
Drammetal triangle, continue on the A38 in the direction of
Nordhausen/Leipzig to the Berga exit, then on the L236 to Rottleberode
and continue on the K2354 to Stolberg.
From the east, on the A38
towards Göttingen to the Berga exit, then as described above.
The
German half-timbered road runs through the town.
By plane
The
nearest major airport is Leipzig Halle Airport, use the train or car
from there.
Stolberg can be easily explored on foot, as it is also the best way to get around the mostly narrow and winding streets.
There is a small general store (former drugstore) on the market square, where you can buy a selection of everyday items and decorative items. Furthermore, Stolberg has several souvenir and magazine shops to offer.
1 Schindelbruch Nature Resort, Schindelbruch 1, 06536 Südharz OT
Stolberg. Tel.: (0)34654 808-0, email: info@schindelbruch.de. Large
wellness area available. Open: Restaurants: Silver lining: Fri-Tue
18:00-22:00; Restaurant Feuerfalter: Mon–Sun 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.;
Restaurant Waldteufel: Mon–Sun 12:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.; Restaurant
Holzeule: Wed–Sat 6:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.; Bar Federgeist: Mon–Sun from 6
p.m.; Restaurant Widderchen: Mon–Sun 12:00–21:00. Price: Overnight stay
from €97 per person.
2 Hotel-Restaurant Stolberger Hof, Markt 6,
06536 Südharz OT Stolberg. Tel.: (0)34654 320, e-mail:
info@stolberger-hof.de. In the wellness area there are u.a. a pool, two
saunas and massage rooms. Open: Restaurant Elschner Stuben: daily 8:00 -
10:00 (for breakfast), 12:00 - 14:30 (for lunch), 18:00 - 21:00 (for
dinner, Sunday evenings closed from 18:00) ; Beer garden: in the warm
season from 12:00 p.m.; Café: daily 12:00-18:00; Gothic vault: Fri, Sat
+ public holidays from 6 p.m. Check-in: 3:00 p.m. Check out: 11:00 am.
Price: Single room from €59, double room from €79.
3 Hotel FreiWerk,
Thyrahöhe 24, 06536 Südharz OT Stolberg. Tel.: (0)34654 8590-0, fax:
(0)34654 8590-199, e-mail: info@hotel-freiwerk.de. The hotel has a
restaurant, a mountain terrace and a bar. Check-in: 15:00. Check out:
11:00 am. Price: single room from €49, double room from €89 (each
including breakfast buffet); plus €2 tourist tax per person; Surcharges:
half-board as a 3-course daily menu or buffet €21 per person; Children
up to 5 years (in their parents' bed) free of charge; Children 6 - 14
years (extra bed) 20 € per night.
4 Hotel Zum Bürgergarten, Thyratal
1, 06536 Südharz OT Stolberg. Tel.: (0)34654 811-0, fax: (0)34654
811-100, e-mail: info@hotel-zum-buergergarten.de. The restaurant offers
specialties from the Harz region as well as international cuisine. Open:
Restaurant: Mon-Thu 15:00-22:00, Fri-Sun 11:00-23:00. Price: single room
€44, double room from €78, suite from €65 (each including breakfast
buffet); plus €2 tourist tax per person; Supplements: half board €18 per
person, candlelight dinner €20 per person; children up to 5 years free
of charge; children from 6 years 18€ per night; Sauna, whirlpool 9€ per
person.
5 Hotel Zum Kanzler, Markt 8, 06536 Südharz OT Stolberg.
Tel.: (0)34654 205, fax: (0)34654 315, e-mail: info@zum-kanzler.de.
Open: Restaurant: daily 7:00 - 00:00. Price: single room from €49,
double room from €79; Half board supplements from €16 per person;
children up to 3 years free; children up to 6 years €5; Children up to
12 years €15.
Apartments Juergen Krug. Mobile: (0)170 6615294, fax:
(0)180 54025258388, email: info@urlaub-in-stolberg.de. Contact:
Rubianusstr. 16, 99084 Erfurt.
The Stolberger Lerchen are not fried songbirds, but a hearty meal
with fried sausages and savoy cabbage.
The Friwi pastries are
legendary, tasty and a good idea to take home when visiting the city.
Sale at Niedergasse 21, Mon: 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Tue - Sat: 9:00 a.m.
- 6:00 p.m., Sun: 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m
1 Ristorante "Cava D'oro", Am
Markt 1, 06536 Südharz OT Stolberg. Tel: (0)34654 859994. Italian
cuisine. Open: Mon is a day off, Tue – Sun 11 a.m. – open end.
2 Café
Gusto, Niedergasse 72/74, 06547 Stolberg. Tel.: (0)34654 855840, email:
post@gusto-stolberg.de. Cafe, bar and restaurant.
1 Hirsch Pharmacy, Rittergasse 2, 06547 Stolberg. Tel: (0)34654 327.
1 Tourist Information Stolberg (Harz), Markt 2, 06547 Stolberg (on the central market square). Tel.: +49(0)346 54-454, fax: +49(0)34654-729, e-mail: info@stadt-stolberg.de. Open: Mon – Fri 9.00 a.m. – 12.30 p.m. + 1.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m.; other days 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. + 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
The place came into being around the year 1000 as a miners' settlement, although mining has been documented in the area since 794. Iron, copper, silver, tin and gold were mined here in ancient times. The first documented mention dates back to 1210 in connection with the family of counts who lived here. Before 1300 Stolberg was granted city rights.
Since the beginning of the city's history, the Stolberg has been the
seat of the Counts of Stolberg. These had their headquarters in Stolberg
Castle on a mountain spur north of the town in the Thyra Valley. The
Counts of Stolberg minted their own coins in the city since the High
Middle Ages. The craft had its heyday in the 16th century.
Under
the peasant leader Thomas Müntzer, who was born here, Stolberg was the
site of several battles during the German Peasants' War. On May 2, 1525,
rebellious peasants invaded the city and forced the ruling Count Botho
zu Stolberg to accept their demands (24 Stolberg Articles), which he
quickly reversed after the peasants' defeat.
In the middle of the
16th century, the Counts of Stolberg-Stolberg set up a consistory as the
head of the Lutheran church in the county, which had existed since 1658,
the establishment of its own church leadership in the county of
Stolberg-Wernigerode, which was separated in 1645, as a count's, from
1893 princely consistory of Stolberg -Stolberg traded.
Mining
ceased from the 17th century. The county of Stolberg was later divided
into the counties of S.-Stolberg and S.-Rossla. Both of them became more
and more indebted, so that the counts had to file for bankruptcy several
times in the 18th century. As a result, the counties came under foreign
administration by the Kingdom of Saxony.
In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, the previously Saxon city was
assigned to the new province of Saxony in the Kingdom of Prussia. Since
1821, the Lutheran parishes in the area of the former county belonged to
the ecclesiastical province of Saxony of the new, administratively
united Evangelical Church in Prussia. Today they belong to the
Evangelical Church in Central Germany, which was founded in 2009.
However, the consistory continued to exist with regional jurisdiction
over the Lutheran congregations in the former county. Until the
separation of church and state in 1919, it was directly subordinate to
the Count/Prince of Stolberg-Stolberg and indirectly to the President of
the Province of Saxony.
1833 Stolberg already had 2392
inhabitants. At the beginning of the 20th century Stolberg became a
tourist resort and in 1923 a railway to Berga-Kelbra was opened.
During World War II, Stolberg had 76 dead and ten missing. During the
British bombing raid on Nordhausen on April 3, 1945, seven residents of
Stolberg were also killed. 8 to 10 bombs fell on Stolberg, completely
destroying two properties, damaging 15 houses with varying degrees of
severity and tearing up streets.
At the end of 1944, the
Evangelical Higher Church Council (leadership of the regional church)
moved its headquarters from the endangered Berlin to the Stolberg
consistorial building.
At the beginning of 1946, 14 youths
between the ages of 15 and 18 (two were 19 and 20 years old) were
arrested by an operative group of the Soviet security service NKVD on
“werewolf” accusations and executed by a military tribunal to death
(three youths, in two cases enforced) or sentenced to high prison terms
of up to 25 years. Most of the young people did not survive the prison
conditions in the Soviet special camps. In 1995 the group was
rehabilitated by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian
Federation.
The city has been a health resort since 1946. In GDR times there was
a pioneer holiday camp called “Soja Kosmodemyanskaja” in Stolberg.
On November 5, 1947, the Stolberg-Stolberg consistory was combined
with the "old" Princely consistory Stolberg-Roßla, seat Roßla, to form a
consistory district, with the now "new" Evangelical-Lutheran consistory
Stolberg-Roßla having its seat in Stolberg. "The church leadership of
the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony [...] decided on
October 28, 2005 in agreement with the district synod of the Eisleben
church district to dissolve the Evangelical-Lutheran Consistory of
Stolberg-Roßla."
Stolberg was incorporated into the municipality of Südharz on
September 1, 2010.
On July 1, 2014, the new municipal
constitution law of the state of Saxony-Anhalt came into force. In its §
14 (2), the municipalities are given the opportunity to award this
designation to the districts that were cities before the incorporation.
The municipality of Südharz has made use of this regulation for the
district of Stolberg (Harz). Its new main articles of association came
into effect on January 1, 2017. In §§ 1 and 15 (1) the districts and
localities are listed with their official names.