Braunlage
Description
Braunlage is a town and health resort in the Goslar district in Lower Saxony in Germany. It lies within the Harz mountain range, south of the Brocken. Nowadays Braunlage's main business is tourism, particularly ski tourists. Good ski resorts nearby are the Sonnenberg and the slopes on the Wurmberg.
Geography
The town consists of three districts:
- Braunlage
- Hohegeiß
- Sankt Andreasberg
History
Braunlage started out as a pit settlement in the forest first mentioned as brunenlohe in a 1253 deed, which was revived, when the Counts of Blankenburg established an ironworks in 1561. With the County Braunlage fell to the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1599. In the 17th century it was a small market town, finally in 1934 it received town privileges and the municipal status as a health resort.
In 1963 it became the location of the longest gondola lift (of Northern Germany), with a length of 2.8 kilometers and a height difference of 400 meters to the mountain station on the Wurmberg mountain, see Wurmberg Gondola Lift.
On 7 May 1964 Gerhard Zucker demonstrated on the Hasselkopf hill a flight of mail rockets. One of these rockets exploded, killing three people.
Culture and sights
Sights
Towards Sankt Andreasberg the Silberteich and the Hahnenkleeklippen are worth visiting.
The Dicke Tannen is a protected landscape of giant spruce trees near Hohegeiß.
