Osterode am Harz, often simply called Osterode (; Eastphalian: ''Ostroe''), is a town in south-eastern

Niedersachsen Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

on the south-western edge of the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

mountains. It was the seat of government of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of Osterode. Osterode is located on the

German Timber-Frame Road The German Timber-Frame Road (German: ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'') is a German tourist route leading from the river Elbe in the north to the Black Forest and Lake Constance in the south. Numerous cities and towns each with examples of the vernacu ...

Geography

Water

The

Söse Söse is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the river Rhume and long. Geography The Söse rises on the plateau of ''Auf dem Acker'' in the district of Göttingen in the southwestern part of the Harz Mountains in Ger ...

river flows through the town from the

Söse Dam The Söse Dam is a dam in the Lower Saxon part of the Harz mountains near Osterode in the German state of Lower Saxony. It was the first modern dam and reservoir complex (German: ''Talsperre'') to be built in the Harz and was constructed by the ...

lake about 5 km upstream. The dam was built in 1931 and has a capacity of 25.5 million m³. The

Harzwasserwerke The Harzwasserwerke GmbH (; English: Harz Water Works Limited) is a major German water company and dam operator based in Hildesheim, located within the German federal state of Lower Saxony. Founded in 1928, the Harzwasserwerke were tasked with sup ...

water company pipes

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

as far away as

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Districts

The following districts (mainly surrounding villages) are part of the borough of Osterode am Harz, with populations in brackets (as of 1 July 2012): * Dorste (1,650) * Düna (140) * Förste (2,000) * Freiheit (2,100) * Kazenstein (1,200) * Lasfelde (1,300) * Lerbach (1,000) * Marke (150) * Nienstedt am Harz (440) * Osterode am Harz (11,500) * Petershütte (800) * Riefensbeek-Kamschlacken (350) * Schwiegershausen (1,800) * Ührde (100)

Political

Local council

The Gemeinderat or council of Osterode has 34 members: *

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

: 16 * CDU: 12 * Grüne: 3 * FDP: 3 and one Bürgermeister (mayor). (local

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

on 11 September 2016)

Mayor

Jens Augat (SPD) has been ''Bürgermeister'' (mayor) of Osterode since 1 November 2019.

Culture and attractions

Museums

The ''Museum im Ritterhaus'' displays documents from Osterode's history from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

to the recent past, as well as occasional temporary exhibitions. The

Lichtenstein Cave The Lichtenstein Cave, discovered in 1972, is an archaeological cave site near Dorste, Lower Saxony, Germany with a length of . The skeletal remains of 21 female humans and 19 males, dated to the Bronze Age, about 3,000 years ago were discovered. ...

is an archaeological site near Dorste, in the western part of the municipality. Two inhabitants of the village Nienstedt am Harz, 2 km north of the cave, have the same rare DNA pattern as that found in the skeletal material of a man whose bones were found in the Lichtenstein Cave dating to about 1000 BC.

Architecture

In the environs of Osterode there are several

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

, and Lichtenstein Castle between Dorste and Förste. The town

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animal ...

built between 1719 and 1722 is one of the most imposing buildings, built to supply the mining villages in the

Upper Harz The Upper Harz (german: Oberharz, ) refers to the northwestern and higher part of the Harz mountain range in Germany. The exact boundaries of this geographical region may be defined differently depending on the context. In its traditional sense, th ...

with grain. Today after a comprehensive renovation it has become the town hall.

Recreation

Osterode is the starting point of the 100 km long

Harzer Hexenstieg The Harz Witches' Trail (german: Harzer Hexenstieg) is a footpath, just under 100 km long, in Germany that runs from Osterode through the Harz mountains and over its highest peak, the Brocken, to Thale. It is a project by the Harz Transpo ...

, a

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trail to

Thale Thale () is a town in the Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany. Located at the steep northeastern rim of the Harz mountain range, it is known for the scenic Bode Gorge stretching above the town centre. Geography The town is situated ...

Transport

The B 243 federal route, built as a

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

, is the main western link between the northern and southern

area. B 241 and B 498 link

Solling The Solling () is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. Inside Lower Saxony it is the second largest range of hills ...

to the eastern Harz. Osterode lies on the Herzberg–

Seesen Seesen is a town and municipality in the Goslar (district), district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the northwestern edge of the Harz mountain range, approx. west of Goslar. History The Duchy of Saxony, Saxon settlement ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, with services to Brunswick. In November 2004 the town gained two new stations at a cost of about 1 million

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

, replacing two previous halts and providing a more central access to

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

Educational institutions

* Tilman-Riemenschneider-Gymnasium (high school), Osterode am Harz * Berufsbildende Schulen I des Landkreises Osterode am Harz * Berufsbildende Schulen II * Realschule Osterode * Hauptschule Neustädter Tor

Twin towns – sister cities

Osterode am Harz is twinned with: *

Armentières Armentières (; vls, Armentiers) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. The motto of the town is ''Pauvre mais fière'' (Poor but proud). Geogra ...

, France; one of the bridges over the Söse is called "Armentieres Bridge" *

Ostróda Ostróda (; Old Prussian: ''Austrāti'') is a town in northern Poland, in the historic region of Masuria. It is the seat of the Ostróda County within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship and has approximately 33,191 inhabitants (2009). Ostróda is ...

, Poland; formerly known as "Osterode" in

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, United Kingdom

Notable people

Tilman Riemenschneider Tilman Riemenschneider (c. 1460 – 7 July 1531) was a German sculptor and woodcarver active in Würzburg from 1483. He was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of the transition period between late Gothic and Renaissance, a master i ...

(1460–1531), sculptor and artist * Andreas Cludius (1555–1624), legal scholar, professor * George William Alberti (1723–1758), essayist * Fritz Jorns (1837–1910), Reichstag delegate (1893–1907), owner of the Osteroder Kupferhammer * Paul Homeyer (1853–1908), concert organist *

Otto Wernicke Otto Karl Robert Wernicke (30 September 1893, Osterode am Harz – 7 November 1965) was a German actor. He is best known for his role as police inspector Karl Lohmann in the two Fritz Lang films '' M'' and ''The Testament of Dr. Mabuse''. Marrie ...

(1893–1965), actor * Renate Krößner (1945–2020), actress * Regina Seeringer (born 1949), politician (CDU) * Ulrich Schreiber (born 1956), geologist, professor and writer *

Petra Emmerich-Kopatsch Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to the mountain of Jab ...

(born 1960), politician (SPD) *

Marco Bode Marco Bode (born 23 July 1969) is a German former professional Association football, footballer. A list of one-club men in association football, one club man, Bode spent his entire professional career at SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen. He played ...

(born 1969), footballer

References

External links

*
Town history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterode Am Harz Towns in the Harz Göttingen (district)