Goslar () is a district in

Lower Saxony 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 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

Northeim Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document ...

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

and

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest ...

, the city of Salzgitter, and by the states of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making i ...

(district of

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 ...

) and

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

( Nordhausen).

History

The history of the district is linked with the city of

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mi ...

. The district of Goslar was established in the 19th century by the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

n government. The city of Goslar did not belong to the district until 1972, when it was eventually incorporated into the district. Langelsheim merged 1 November 2021 with the three municipalities of the Samtgemeinde Lutter am Barenberge, which was abolished.

Geography

The region comprises the northwestern part of the

mountains. The Harz National Park is part of this district. The highest peak is the Wurmberg (971 m) near Braunlage, also being the highest elevation of Lower Saxony. Above the small town of Altenau there is the source of the Oker river, which runs through the picturesque Oker valley to leave the Harz at Vienenburg.

Coat of arms

The eagle is the heraldic animal of the city of Goslar, while the lion symbolises the municipality of Schladen. Schladen is not part of the district, but the lords of Schladen ruled over major parts of the district in the early Middle Ages.

Towns and municipalities

The district of Goslar consists of the following towns and municipalities:

Transport

; Road Several federal highways cross the rural district of Goslar. These include the B 4, B 6, B 6n, B 82, B 241, B 242 and B 498. The district roads ('' Kreisstraßen'') are: ; Rail The territory of the present rural district was joined to the railway network via the Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway as early as 1840. In 1856 the

Brunswick–Kreiensen railway The Brunswick Southern Railway (german: Braunschweigische Südbahn) was built by the Duchy of Brunswick State Railway as a link from its Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway to the Hanoverian Southern Railway. It ran through the northwestern Harz Fore ...

via Seesen was built and, in 1866, the Vienenburg–Goslar railway followed; both branching off the original line. In 1875, the Hildesheim–Goslar railway and the former Halberstadt–Vienenburg railway (to 1945, today it has a new route along the Heudeber-Danstedt–Vienenburg railway) formed part of the link from

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

via the North Harz to

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-An ...

. Later the lines from Seesen to Herzberg, Seesen to Goslar and Goslar to Bad Harzburg were added. The railway line via Clausthal-Zellerfeld to Altenau ( Innerste Valley Railway) and the railway branches to Braunlage ( South Harz Railway) and St. Andreasberg (

Oder Valley Railway The Oder Valley Railway (german: Odertalbahn) was a railway line from Scharzfeld via Bad Lauterberg to St. Andreasberg- Silberhütte. It follows the upper course of the river Oder in the West Harz mountains, and was commonly named after it. Geog ...

) have since been dismantled. Even the Derneburg–Seesen branch line is out of service. The former route from

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bomb ...

via Wasserleben, Vienenburg and Grauhof to Langelsheim served east–west through trains until 1945 but has also since disappeared. ; Scheduled buses Following the widespread closure of railways in the Harz the schedule bus services have gained great importance.

References

External links

Official website
(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Goslar (District)