Neudorf is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in

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 it th ...

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 betwe ...

. Since 1 September 2010, it is part of the town

Harzgerode Harzgerode is a town in the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Harzgerode lies in the lower eastern part of the Harz mountain range on the Selke River, south of Quedlinburg. It is connected to Gernrode and Quedlinburg via Ale ...

History

The village was established in 1530/31 in the district ('' Amt'') of Bärenrode by the

counts of Stolberg The County of Stolberg (german: Grafschaft Stolberg) was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz mountain range in present-day Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg. The town of Stolberg was pro ...

, but soon thereafter was transferred to the princes of Anhalt-Bernburg. The first village houses were erected on the present day Church Square (''Kirchplatz''). Farm workers were the first to settle here. They soon built a small church and, in 1542, received the first Evangelical priest. The

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

devastated the peaceful village. In 1806 there were 58 houses with 370 inhabitants who lived off farming, cattle breeding, coal transportation and woodcutting. Neudorf developed into a mineworkers' village (the best-known ore mines were the Meiseberg and Pfaffenberg pits). In 1887 the present brick church was built. A workers' hostel was built for the many craftsmen hired for the mines. Neudorf im Harz was known its mining and the mineral specimens of great beauty that were discovered here and which had become much sought after collectors' items by the 19th century (including specimens containing

galenite Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

siderite Siderite is a mineral composed of iron(II) carbonate (FeCO3). It takes its name from the Greek word σίδηρος ''sideros,'' "iron". It is a valuable iron mineral, since it is 48% iron and contains no sulfur or phosphorus. Zinc, magnesium and ...

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

, zinc blend and

bournonite Bournonite is a Sulfosalt minerals, sulfosalt mineral species, trithioantimoniate of lead and copper with the formula PbCuSbS3. It was first mentioned by Philip Rashleigh (1729–1811), Philip Rashleigh in 1797 as an ore of antimony and was mor ...

crystals). Specimens from this period may be viewed e.g. in the Zincken Collection in Bernburg Castle. Following the closure of the pits, tourism sprang up as a new source of income. The spring of ''Stahlquelle'' ("Steel Spring") was made accessible to visitors in 1931 and contributed to Neudorf's good reputation as a tourist destination. On 1 September 2010 Neudorf was incorporated into

.Gebietsänderungen vom 01. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2010
Statistisches Bundesamt

Tourism

There is a checkpoint (no. 193) for hikers by the ''Stahlquelle'' which is part of the

Harzer Wandernadel The Harzer Wandernadel is a system of hiking awards in the Harz mountains in central Germany. The hiker (or mountain biker) can earn awards at different levels of challenge by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and stamping his or ...

system.

References

Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Harzgerode Duchy of Anhalt {{Harz-geo-stub