NORDHAUSEN

'Nordhausen' is a city of about 45,000 inhabitants at the southern edge of the Harz mountains, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Nordhausen. It was once known for its tobacco industry, and is still known for its distilled spirit, ''Nordhäuser Doppelkorn''.

Contents

History

Main sights

Twin cities

External links

History

The city is first attested in a 13 May 927 document of King Henry the Fowler, but an earlier settlement on the site dates back to around 785. In 1220, Emperor Frederick II made it an Imperial Free City, and in 1430 Nordhausen joined the Hanseatic League. In 1500 it became part of the Lower Saxon Circle, and from around the same year the city began producing fermented grain liquor, which became famous under the name ''Nordhäuser Doppelkorn''. In 1523, a year in which Thomas Müntzer spent some time in the city, the Protestant Reformation came to Nordhausen.

After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, much of Nordhausen's surroundings became part of Brandenburg-Prussia, although the city itself remained independent. Amid the Napoleonic Wars, Prussian troops occupied Nordhausen on 2 August 1802; the city lost its status as an Imperial Free City during the German Mediatisation. It became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia created in 1807. Following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, Nordhausen was included in the Kingdom of Prussia's Province of Saxony created in 1816. Nordhausen was an urban district from 1882-1950.
In 1866 Nordhausen became connected by railway to Halle.
The Mittelbau-Dora Nazi concentration camp was located on the outskirts of town during World War II. On April 3 and 4 April 1945 three-quarters of the town was destroyed by bombing raids of the Royal Air Force, in which around 8,800 people died. On 11 April the Americans occupied the city, and on 2 July the Red Army took over.
Nordhausen was part of East Germany from 1949-1990 and was administered within Bezirk Erfurt. After the German reunification of 1990, Nordhausen was made part of the recreated state of Thuringia. Its ancient city center restored has since been rebuilt.

Main sights

★ A 17th-century Statue of Roland, at the outer wall of the Town Hall. It is considered a symbol of the town.

★ The Cathedral of the Holy Cross (''Dom „Zum Heiligen Kreuz“''). It dates back to a church built in the mid-10th century. In 1220 the church was converted to a cathedral. The building has a late Gothic nave, while the towers, crypt and cloisters are in Romanesque style.

★ The ''Frauenberger Kirche'' („St. Maria auf dem Berg“), a Romanesque church.

★ The ''Petriturm'' (St Peter's Tower), the remaining tower of a 14th-century church destroyed in 1945.

★ The ''Kunsthaus Meyenburg'', an early 20th-century Jugendstil villa that houses a small museum of contemporary art.

★ The Theater, built in 1917.

Twin cities

The city is twinned with

★ Bet Shemesh, Israel

★ Charleville-Mézières, France

★ Bochum, Germany

★ Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland

External links

★ Official homepage