The Saxony-Anhalt city of Thale is located on the northern edge
of the Harz Mountains. Thale is known for the spectacular transition
of the Bodetal from the Harz Mountains to the foreland with the
rocky cliffs Hexentanzplatz and Roßtrappe.
Thale lies in an
impressive landscape at the foot of the Harz Mountains on both sides
of the Bode, which rise directly from the foreland on its northern
edge with a height difference of several hundred meters. The city
with today almost 20,000 inhabitants (with incorporations) benefited
from its location on the Bode, which comes from the Harz with a
steep slope in a canyon-like deep valley. It has been able to supply
ironworks with energy since the Middle Ages and gave the city a
landscape that had been discovered since the Romantic era. Thale has
been a much-visited resort and industrial city since the 19th
century. Before the First World War, the ironworks were the world's
largest producer of enamel goods.
As a result of
incorporation, the towns of Allrode, Altenbrak, Friedrichsbrunn,
Neinstedt, Stecklenberg, Treseburg, Warnstedt, Weddersleben and
Westerhausen, which are partly in the Harz Mountains and partly in
the foreland, are administratively part of Thale.
Thale has 3 Christian churches:
Herz-Jesu-Kirche (built in 1913),
Walther-Rathenau-Straße 2, 06502 Thale. Main church of the Roman
Catholic community, von Thale.
St. Petri Church Thale (built
1904-1906), Hubertusstraße 2, 06502 Thale. Main church of the
evangelical parish of Thale. Worship services every 2nd and 4th Sunday
of the month at 9.30 am.
Sankt Andreas Church (built in 1550,
renovated in 1788), Kirchstraße 3A, 06502 Thale. Church of the
evangelical community in the "lower village" of Thale. Worship services
every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month at 9.30 a.m.
The spectacular natural beauties of Thale include the rock outcrops
of the Rosstrappe and the Hexentanzplatz on both sides of the Bodetal.
Both are equally visitor magnets and overrun on nice weekend days. Both
can be reached from Thale by cable car or chairlift, on foot and, with a
detour, by car.
witch dance place. Rocky plateau with a view over
the Bodetal and far into the Harz foothills. According to legend, one of
the meeting points of the witches on the way to the Blocksberg. Open:
24/7. Price: freely accessible (the place is free, not necessarily
getting there.
You can get there by: Hexentanzplatz cable car,
Goetheweg 1, 06502 Thale (valley station). Phone: +49-(0)3947-2500, fax:
+49-(0)3947-2645, e-mail: info@seilbahnen-thale.de. A wonderful view of
the rugged, rocky Bodetal from the cable car cabins. 10 of the 21 cabins
of the brand new cable car even have a glass floor. Open: Easter to the
end of October 09300 to 1900, shortened or completely closed in winter.
Price: €5 one way, €7 return.
Arrival by car directly to the
plateau: The Hexentanzplatz can also be approached directly by car from
above. The journey is via the bumpy country road Thale -
Friedrichsbrunn. If you are coming from the south (=Harz) via the
eastern Harz plateau, this is the best way to get there. Above there is
the large Hexentanzplatz car park, which is subject to a fee, which
generally has quite high fees for a tourist parking facility, but above
all quite high parking fees for short periods in the hour range: Tariff
for a car as of May 2018: "Basic parking fee" €3.50 + 0 €.50 per half
hour or part thereof. Escape within the first 15 minutes is free of
charge. From the car park, depending on the parking space, it is only
about 400 to 500m past the hotel to the viewing gallery.
Hike to the
Hexentanzplatz - A hike over the Hexenstieg to the Hexentanzplatz is
also recommended. The climb takes about 1.5 hours. Sweaty, free and
rewarding. The view is a nice reward for the effort.
In addition
to excursion restaurants, there is also a zoo, a summer toboggan run and
the Harzer Bergtheater open-air stage on the plateau.
Zoo
Hexentanzplatz. Open: all year round from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
depending on the season. Price: €7.
horse bustard. The Rock is the northern counterpart to the more
well-known Hexentanzplatz. From here you also have a beautiful view of
the Bodetal, the Harz foreland with Thale and of course across to the
Hexentanzplatz. Open: 24/7. Price: freely accessible (the place is free,
not necessarily getting there.
Hoof print: according to legend,
the beautiful princess Brunhilde was fleeing from the giant Bodo, who
wanted to marry her against her will. She fled on a white horse.
Suddenly a deep abyss opened up in front of her. She jumped to the
opposite rock, losing her crown and leaving the hoofprint in the rock.
Her pursuer fell down and was turned into a dog who must guard the
princess's crown. The river was then named Bode, after the giant Bodo.
According to another theory, the supposed hoofprint is the remains of a
Germanic sacrificial basin.
You can arrive with
Rosstrappe
chairlift, Goetheweg 06502 Thale (valley station). Phone:
+49-(0)3947-2500, fax: +49-(0)3947-2645, e-mail:
info@seilbahnen-thale.de. Open: Easter to the end of October 09300 to
1900, shortened or completely closed in winter. Price: €3.50 one way,
€4.50 return.
Car - via the country road to Treseburg. Paid car park
Rosstrappe.
Hike The direct hiking trail from the Bodetal
"vertical" up to the Rosstrappe via the "Schurre" hiking trail has been
accessible again since May 2021. The route connects the Rosstrappe with
the valley floor of the Bode. Alternatively, there is a hiking trail
("President's Path") that starts near the valley station and roughly
follows the course of the country road (but not parallel to it).
Monastery Museum (Kloster Wendhusen, building from the time of the
Carolingian), Wendhusenstr. 7, 06502 Thale. Phone: +49(0)3947 778563,
email: KlosterWendhusen@aol.de. Year of foundation around 825, year of
dissolution 1540, then manor. Start and end station of the Harzer
Klosterwanderweg in Saxony-Anhalt. Oldest monastery building in
Saxony-Anhalt. Open: Saturday from 2 p.m.
Hüttenmuseum Thale.
Steelmaking Exhibition. A historic steam engine is part of the museum.
DDR Museum, Steinbachstraße A, 06502 Thale. Tel.: +49(0)3947 65633, fax:
+49(0)3947 61150. The museum shows the living and everyday culture in
the GDR from 1949-1989 on 2 floors. Open: Mon - Fri 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and
Sat from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Price: €5 for adults and €3 for children,
pensioners and students.
Clock Museum Treseburg, Ortsstrasse 11,
06502 Thale. Tel: (0)39456 56732. Open: Daily 9am - 5pm.
Cultural programs of the city of Thale. Depending on the time of year
and seasonal characteristics, the city of Thale offers numerous colorful
programs. Current information can be found on the city's website. The
activities range from the carnival procession, the Walpurgis market in
front of Thale town hall to club balls.
Harz Mountain Theater. One of
the oldest natural theaters in Germany.
Sports
Thale MTB
downhill route. The 2 km long route with 250 meters in altitude leads
from the Roßtrappe down into the valley. The ascent is via a chair lift
with bike transport. Price: €3.50.
summer toboggan run. Price: 3€.
Bauspielhaus, Otto-Schönermark-Strasse 1, 06502 Thale. Tel.: +49
(0)3947 77 88 99, email: info@spielhaus-thale.de. Indoor play world in
the city and very close to the shopping center at the town hall with
sufficient parking facilities. Open: Tue.-Thu. 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.,
weekends, public holidays and vacations (then also on Mondays) 10:00
a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Price: Children up to 3 years (crawling children free)
€4.00, children from 3 years €8.00, adults €8.00.
Fun park and fun
island (outdoor playground), Goetheweg 1 06502 Thale (m Bodetal near the
valley stations of the chair lift (to the Rosstrappe) and the suspension
railway (to the Hexentanzplatz)). Tel.: +49(0)3947 2500. To the left and
right of the Bode is a large outdoor playground, a miniature golf course
and a climbing forest that is around 800 meters long. Parking is not
possible here directly, but requires a few hundred meters walk. There is
ample parking on the parking lot next to the street "An der Hütte".
Open: Easter-Oct. daily 9.30 a.m. - 6 p.m. Price: variable with device
chip €1, 6 chips €5, minigolf: children €2.00 adults €3.00.
Parking lot (cable car valley stations), An der Hütte, 06502 Thale. 20 parking spaces for mobile homes (without supply and disposal of toilets). Quiet place, a back one is free. Good starting point for all kinds of activities in Thale. Approx. 500 to the cable car or fun park.
By plane
The nearest airports are Leipzig Halle Airport (IATA:
LEJ) and Hanover Airport (IATA: HAJ) . For the onward journey you should
estimate two and a half hours by car and three hours by train.
By
train
The Thale train station (officially even Thale Hauptbahnhof) is
the end point of the Magdeburg-Thale connection via Halberstadt and is
served by regional trains every hour. During the day, there is a clock
hub in Halberstadt on the hour with connections to and from Halle,
Magdeburg and Goslar (with a transfer in the direction of Hanover).
Furthermore, the Harz-Berlin-Express offers a few train runs to and
from Berlin at the weekend, for which a special tariff applies.
By bus
Intercity buses drive to Thale from Wernigerode, Quedlinburg
or Ballenstedt. Long-distance buses do not operate in Thale.
By
car
Thale is connected to the national road network via the A36. From
the A 36 it is about 5 kilometers to Thale. A large Thale car park is
located on the former smelter site near the beginning of the Bodetal.
The front part is chargeable, the rear part with a longer footpath is
free.
on foot
Spectacular hiking trails lead through the
Bodetal to Thale.
In addition to a central shopping street (Karl-Marx-Straße) in the
city center, with many small retailers, the main shopping center
(including hardware store) is not far from this "promenade" and can be
easily managed on foot one after the other. There are also other
shopping facilities for daily needs on the periphery of the center.
1 REWE, Otto-Schönermark-Strasse 2, 06502 Thale. Tel.: +49 (0)3947
610736. Open: Mon–Fri 6 a.m.–10 p.m., Sat 6 a.m.–8 p.m.
2 Kaufland,
Blankenburger Strasse 37, 06502 Thale. Tel.: +49 (0)3947 7725190. Open:
Mon – Wed 7 a.m. – 8 p.m., Thu + Fri 7 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sat 7 a.m. – 8
p.m.
In the Bodetal you should not miss the excellently prepared brown
trout.
Gasthaus "Zum Wasserriesen", Hubertusstraße 9-11, 06502
Thale. Tel.: (0)3947 776613, fax: (0)3947 776699, e-mail:
info@ferienpark-bodetal.de. Consistently warm kitchen with regional and
seasonal dishes. Open: Daily 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. in the summer season until
10 p.m.
1 Restaurant "Grüne Tanne", Roßtrappenstraße 10, 06502 Thale.
Tel.: (0)3947 66818, e-mail: info@gruene-tanne-thale.de. The kitchen
offers German dishes, including horse meat. Open: Wed – Sun 11:30 a.m. –
2:00 p.m. + 5:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., Mon + Tues are days off.
2 Picco
La Romantica, Neinstedter Strasse 17, 06502 Thale. Tel: (0)3947 68417.
Italian cuisine. Open: Sun–Tue 5 p.m.–9 p.m., Wed 11 a.m.–2 p.m. + 5
p.m.–9 p.m., Thu is closed, Fri + Sat 5 p.m.–10 p.m.
3 Asia Bistro
Thale, Karl-Marx-Str. 19, 06502 Thale. Tel: (0)3947 941477 Email:
minh.thale@yahoo.com. Asian cuisine. Open: Mon–Sat 10 a.m.–8 p.m., Sun +
public holidays 5 p.m.–8 p.m.
4 Restaurant Athos,
Rudolf-Breitscheid-Strasse 22, 06502 Thale. Phone: (0)3947 2728, email:
info@athos-thale.de. Greek kitchen. Open: Mon is closed (except public
holidays), Tue–Thu 5.30 p.m.–11 p.m., Fri, Sat + public holidays 11.30
a.m.–2 p.m. + 5.30 p.m.–midnight, Sun 11.30 a.m.–2 p.m. + 5.30 p.m.–11
p.m.
5 Restaurant "OUZO", Karl-Marx-Strasse 3, 06502 Thale. Tel:
(0)3947 775866. Greek cuisine. Open: Wed-Mon 12.00-14.30 + 17.00-23.00,
Tue is closed.
6 To the old forester's lodge Todtenrode, Todtenrode
1, 06502 Thale. Phone: +49 (0)39456 56788, Fax: +49 (0)3 94 56 5 67 06,
Email: todtenrode1@gmail.com. Good plain cooking, new specialty: stewed
pork cheeks with red wine sauce. For hikers: stamp office HWN 65 nearby.
Open: = Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Fri.+Sat. 11 am - 9 pm, Sun. 11 am
- 7 pm.
Nightlife simmers once a year, namely during Walpurgis Night (April 30th - May 1st) on the Hexentanzplatz. https://www.bodetal.de/bodetalurlaub/veranstaltungen/walpurgisnacht/, http://www.walpurgismarkt-thale.de/ Arriving in good time is recommended, because then the whole town of Thale and of course the Hexentanzplatz in particular will be bursting at the seams .
Holiday Park Bodetal, Hubertusstraße 9-1, 06502 Thale. Tel.: (0)3947
77660, fax: (0)3947 776699, e-mail: info@ferienpark-bodetal.de.de.
All-day warm kitchen with regional and seasonal dishes, home-baked cakes
and waffles. outdoor terrace. Open: Restaurant: daily 7:00 a.m. - 10:00
p.m. Price: Single room from €65, double room from €90, apartment from
€55.
1 AKZENT Berghotel Rosstrappe, Rosstrappe 1, 06502 Thale. Tel.:
(0)3947 3011, fax: (0)3947 7785895, e-mail: info@berghotel-rosstrappe.de
Cuisine with regional and seasonal dishes, home-made cakes from the
in-house pastry shop. Beer garden available. Open: Restaurant: daily
12:00-22:00. Price: Single room from €49, double room from €89.
2
Gasthaus Forelle, Karl-Marx-Strasse 84, 06502 Thale. Tel.: (0)3947
775022, e-mail: forelle-thale@freenet.de. German cuisine with (the name
says it all) many fish dishes. Open: Opening hours of the associated
restaurant: Mon–Fri from 5 p.m., Sat–Sun 11 a.m.–2 p.m. + from 5 p.m.
Check-in: 4:00 p.m. Check out: 10:30 am. Price: Single room from €35,
double room from €75, apartment from €80.
3 Hotel garni Haus
Sonneneck, Heimburgstr. 1a, 06502 Thale. Phone: (0)3947 772257, fax:
(0)3947 7729918, email: haus-sonneneck-thale@t-online.de. Feature:
Garni. Price: Single room from €45, double room from €65.
4 Hotel
Ristorante Piccolo, Rudolf Breitscheidstr. 15, 06502 Thale. Tel: (0)3947
772490, Fax: (0)3947 7724977, Email: madi_abdi@yahoo.com. The hotel has
a restaurant with Italian dishes. Price: Single room from €55, double
room from €85.
5 Hotel Villa Alice, Walpurgisstrasse 26, 06502 Thale.
Tel.: (0)3947 400640, Fax: (0)3947 4006422, E-Mail: info@hotel-alice.de
The kitchen offers German and regional dishes. The hotel is located at
the entrance to Thale and at the foot of the Hexentanzplatz. The center
and the city park can be reached in about 5 minutes on foot. Feature:
★★★. Open: Restaurants: Tue–Sun 5:30 p.m.–10:00 p.m., closed on Mondays.
Check in: 14:00. Check out: 11:00 am. Price: Single room from €59,
double room from €75, suite from €92, apartment from €102.
6
Stadt-gut-Hotel Hoffmann's guest house, Musestieg 4, 06502 Thale. Tel.:
(0)3947 41040, fax: (0)3947 410410, e-mail: info@thale-hotel.de. Beer
garden available. Price: Single room from €54, double room from €82.
7 Schlosshotel Stecklenberg, Stecklenberg Hauptstrasse 86, 06502 Thale
OT Stecklenberg. Tel.: (0)3947 779696, fax: (0)3947 779488, email:
schloss-stecklenberg@t-online.de. A wellness area with jacuzzi and sauna
is available. Open: Breakfast from 8:00 a.m. Price: double room from
€89, suite from €99.
8 Hotel Forelle, Ortsstrasse 28, 06502 Thale OT
Treseburg. Tel.: (0)39456 5640, Fax: (0)39456 56444, E-Mail:
info@hotel-forelle-harz.de German cuisine with (the name says it all)
lots of fish dishes. Price: single room from €60, double room from €75;
HB from €22 per person/day (3-course menu), use of the sauna €6 per day.
9 Hotel Zur Luppbode, Ortsstrasse 26, 06502 Thale OT Treseburg. Tel.:
(0)39456 56751, Fax: (0)39456 569999, Email: hotel@luppbode.eu. The
associated restaurant offers a large selection of German and Harz
typical dishes. Check in: 14:00 - 18:30. Check-out: 8:00 - 10:30. Price:
double room from 64€.
10 Hotel Weisses Roß, St. Ritter 19, 06502
Thale OT Altenbrak. Phone: (0)39456 56880, email:
hotelweissesross@t-online.de. Price: Single room from €35, double room
for single occupancy from €50, double room from €70.
11 Pension &
Restaurant Zum Harzer Jodlermeister, Sankt Ritter 26 a, 06502 Thale / OT
Altenbrak. Tel.: (0)39456 5680, Fax: (0)39456 56850, Email:
info@jodlermeister.de. Feature: pension. Open: Restaurant: breakfast
buffet daily 8:00-10:00; daily from 11:00 a.m. lunch, coffee & cake and
dinner. Price: Single room from €49, double room from €71.
12 Pension
Wildstein, Ortsstrasse 2, 06502 Thale OT Treseburg. Phone: (0)39456
56080, Fax: (0)39456 56081, Email: die-wildsteins@web.de. Feature:
pension. Price: Single room from €25, double room from €36.
13 Little
Forest Cat, Little Forest Cat 1, 06502 Thale. Phone: (0)3947 2826, Fax:
(0)3947 2826, Email: info@klein-waldkater.de. Features: Pension, German
cuisine. Open: Restaurant: daily 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. (kitchen: 11:30
a.m. – 8:30 p.m.). Price: Single room from €36, double room from €56, HB
€10 per person per day.
14 Pension Schröder, Karl-Marx-Str. 10, 06502
Thale. Tel.: (0)3947 2463, fax: (0)3947 2615, e-mail:
info@pension-schroeder-thale.de. Feature: pension. Price: apartment for
1 person from €37 (3 nights or more with breakfast), apartment for 2
people from €49 (3 nights or more with breakfast).
15 Pension Thaler
Hof, Karlstrasse 1 06502 Thale. Phone: (0)3947 3351, Fax: (0)3947 3351,
Email: info@thaler-hof-thale.de. Feature: pension. Price: Single room
from €36, double room from €55, apartment from €32.50 per person (each
including breakfast buffet).
Berghotel Hexentanzplatz, Hexentanzplatz
1, 06502 Thale. Tel: (0)3947 4730, Fax: (0)3947 47338. The Berghotel has
a café-restaurant, a terrace and a beer garden. Price: high season
(April 1st – October 31st): single room from €45, double room for single
use from €55, double room from €75; Low season (01.11. - 31.03.): Single
room from €40, double room for single use from €50, double room from
€70.
Wellness and sports hotel Harzer Land, Teichstr. 28, 06502
Thale-Allrode. Tel.: (0)39487 74750, Fax: (0)39487 7475583. The house is
located in the Bodetal hiking paradise and has a large wellness area.
16 Thale Youth Hostel, Waldkater 1, 06502 Thale. Tel.: (0)3947 2881,
fax: (0)3947 91653, email: thale@jugendherberge.de. Price: Overnight
stay with breakfast from €19.50, HB from €25, FB from €30; Tourist tax:
children up to 5 years of age free, guests from 6 to 17 years of age
€1.25 per night, guests over 18 years of age €2.50 per night.
17 Zum
alten Forsthaus Todtenrode, Todtenrode 1 (in the middle of the forest
and therefore a bit off the beaten track). Phone: +49 (0)39456 56788,
Fax: +49 (0)3 94 56 5 67 06, Email: todtenrode1@gmail.com. Extra bed
possible and dogs allowed. Good plain cooking, new specialty: braised
pork cheeks with red wine sauce. For hikers: stamp office HWN 65 nearby.
Open: Mon–Thu 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Fri.+Sat. 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.,
Sun 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Price: SR from €45, DR €80, FW from €120.
1 Hubertus Pharmacy, Poststr. 14, 06502 Thale. Tel.: (0)3947 2325,
fax: (0)3947 3337, e-mail: hubertus-apotheke-thale@gmx.de. Open: Mon -
Fri 7 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.
2 Walpurgis pharmacy,
Musestieg, 06502 Thale. Tel.: (0)3947 5527, fax: (0)3947 941607, e-mail:
walpurgis-apotheke@t-online.de. Open: Mon 8am - 6pm, Tue 8am - 7pm, Wed
- Fri 8am - 6pm, Sat 8am - 12pm.
3 Pharmacy on the market,
Schleifenbachstrasse 2, 06502 Thale. Tel.: (0)3947 2637, fax: (0)3947
67307, e-mail: info@apotheke-thale.de. Open: Mon - Fri 8.30 a.m. - 6
p.m., Sat 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Deutsche Post branch, Karl-Marx-Strasse 16, 06502 Thale.
Neighboring communities
Thale is a town in the Harz district and
borders on six towns and municipalities (clockwise, starting in the
northwest): Blankenburg (Harz), Halberstadt, Harsleben, Quedlinburg,
Harzgerode and Oberharz am Brocken.
The Thale settlement was probably built at the beginning of the
10th century. It was mentioned for the first time in 936 in
connection with the neighboring Wendhusen monastery, which was
founded as a canonical monastery before 840 as one of the first
monasteries on Saxon soil. The monastery came under the protection
of the monastery in Quedlinburg. The village was called Dat Dorp to
dem Dale from 1231 (whose sex was given in Latinized form, from 1288
with the place name de valle, from 1303 by Thale). The monastery was
destroyed in 1525 during the Peasants' War.
An ironworks can
be found in Thale since 1445. After being abandoned in the Thirty
Years' War, it was rebuilt in 1648 as the Berghaus zum Wilden Mann,
but completely destroyed in 1670. In 1686 a small hammer forge was
established, from which a new ironworks later developed, which was
particularly favored by the proximity to ore deposits and wood. It
existed until 1714. In 1740 another company was opened. The
ironworks was briefly owned by Frederick the Great. In 1755 Ernst
August von dem Bussche-Hünnefeld acquired the Thale manor with the
former Wendhusen monastery; Thale was run as the manor "Wendhusen
I", the monastery property that resulted from the monastery as
"Wendhusen II"; Both remained in the family's possession until
expropriation in 1945, as did the neighboring Stecklenberg estate.
In 1831 the first wrought-iron wagon axle, which had been built
in Germany to date, was manufactured in Thale. In 1835 the oldest
sheet metal enamelling plant in Europe was founded in Thale. After
the city was connected to the railroad in the direction of Berlin in
1862, the place and the number of workers grew: While
Eisenhüttenwerk Thale AG employed only 350 people in 1872, it was
4400 in 1905. Above all, enamel production contributed to Thale's
international reputation After all, at peak times 10% of global
production came from the largest European enamel factory. In 1910
Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg and Clara Zetkin spoke to Thalens
workers.
During the First World War, the German steel helmets
(M1916) were produced in the ironworks from 1916, the prototype of
which had been developed there in 1915. From 1934 the plant had a
monopoly on steel helmet production. During the GDR era, the plant
was converted into VEB Eisen- und Hüttenwerke Thale. For the 300th
anniversary in 1986, the Thale Hüttenmuseum was founded at the site
of the plant.
The long-term investment backlog almost led to
the end of the traditional company after the fall of the Wall. It
was finally privatized in 1993 when it was sold to the former Prime
Minister of Lower Saxony Ernst Albrecht and the businessman Hans
Henry Lamotte. However, there was no sustainable further development
during this time. It was not until the takeover by the Schunk Group
from Gießen (1997) that the various company areas were re-invested,
especially enamel processing.
Tourism has flourished since
the 19th century in connection with the water from the Hubertus
spring, which was later classified as containing radon, on the
Hubertus Island, which was opened up in 1836. Various writers such
as Heinrich Heine (Die Harzreise) and Theodor Fontane visited the
place and especially the Bodetal. In addition, Berlin tourists in
particular enjoyed the Thalens summer resort. This was made possible
by the connection of Thale to the railway from Wegeleben in 1862. In
1909 a branch line from Blankenburg (Harz) followed.
In 1922
the place received city rights.
After evacuation by remaining
German troops on April 20, 1945, Thale was occupied by US troops
largely without a fight. The ironworks also fell into their hands
undamaged. At the Thale cemetery there is a memorial stone for 21
unknown Wehrmacht soldiers. In the Warnstedt cemetery, a gravestone
shows 20 German soldiers buried there, two of whom are "unknown".
From the beginning of July 1945 Thale also became part of the
Soviet occupation zone and from 1949 of the GDR.
From June
12th to 14th, 2009, Thale was the venue for the Saxony-Anhalt Day
under the motto Thale legendary, which attracted around 200,000
visitors.
Warnstedt was incorporated in 2003. In 2009 a total of seven municipalities were incorporated at four different times. Westerhausen was added in 2010. Allrode became a district of Thale in 2011. The incorporation of Friedrichsbrunn and Stecklenberg was controversial, as the neighboring communities of Gernrode, Bad Suderode and Rieder had sought to form a unified community with them. The original incorporation on September 29, 2009 was thus postponed.