Ilsenburg () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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 ...

. It is situated under the north foot 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, at the entrance to the

Ilse valley The Ilse valley (german: Ilsetal) is the ravine of the Ilse stream in the northern boundary of the Harz mountain range in Germany. Part of the Harz National Park, it runs from the town of Ilsenburg at the foot of the mountain range up to the sour ...

with its little river, the Ilse, a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Oker The Oker is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a left tributary of the River Aller, in length and runs in a generally northerly direction. Origin and meaning of the name The ...

, about six north-west of the town of

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

. It received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1959. Owing to its surrounding of

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s and

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

s as well as its position on the edge of the

Harz National Park Harz National Park is a nature reserve in the German federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises portions of the western Harz mountain range, extending from Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg at the southern edge to Bad Harzburg and ...

, Ilsenburg is a popular

tourist resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

. Since 2002, it is officially an air spa.

History

The old castle, ''Schloss Ilsenburg'', lying on a high crag above the town, was originally an imperial stronghold and probably built by King Henry I. In 995 Emperor Otto III resided in ''Elysynaburg'', which Henry II bestowed in 1003 upon the

Bishop of Halberstadt The Diocese of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese (german: Bistum Halberstadt) from 804 until 1648.

, who converted it into a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery. The school attached to it enjoyed a great reputation towards the end of the 11th century. The

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

was finally devastated during the German Peasants' War in 1525. After the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

the castle passed to the counts of Wernigerode, who restored it and made it their residence until 1710. Higher still, on the edge of the plateau rises the Ilsenstein, a granite peak standing about above the valley, crowned by an iron cross erected by Count Anton von Stolberg-Wernigerode in memory of his friends who fell in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

of 1813-1815. Around this rock cluster numerous legends.

Geography

Ilsenburg is between

(

) in the east and Bad Harzburg (

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 ...

) in the west through the Ilsetal. The Brocken is reachable through the ''Heinrich-Heine-Weg'', that goes along the ''Scharfenstein'' and ''Kleiner Brocken''. Ilsenburg is near the

. To the west, there is the ''Harzer Grenzweg'' at the ''Green Belt Germany'', which goes along the ''inner German border''.

Town divisions

The town Ilsenburg consists of Ilsenburg proper and the ''Ortschaften'' (municipal divisions)

Darlingerode Darlingerode is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. On 1 July 2009, it was incorporated into the town of Ilsenburg. Geography It is situated at the northern edge of the Harz mountain range on t ...

and

Drübeck Drübeck is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Ilsenburg. Abbey It is the site of a former monastery of nuns of the Order of Saint Benedict, first ...

.Hauptsatzung
Stadt Ilsenburg, May 2020. Darlingerode and Drübeck were independent municipalities until they were absorbed by Ilsenburg in July 2009.
Statistisches Bundesamt Other localities within the town are

Plessenburg Plessenburg is a village in the town of Ilsenburg in the Harz National Park, in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Location and establishment In the years 1775-76 Count Henry Ernest of Stolberg-Wernigerode had a grand h ...

(part of Ilsenburg proper) and

Oehrenfeld Oehrenfeld, also Öhrenfeld (), is a part of Ilsenburg in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography The ''Karrberg'' and Drübeck are located at the northern side of the village. In the east is the village of Darlingerode, also part of ''Ilsenburg''. On ...

(part of Drübeck).

Places of interest

* Am Kruzifix * Ilsenburg Abbey *

Ilsenburg House Ilsenburg House (german: Schloss Ilsenburg) stands in the town of Ilsenburg (Harz) in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and was given its present appearance in the 2nd half of the 19th century. The structure was built from 1860 onwards on the west ...

and

Princess Ilse Princess Ilse (german: Prinzess Ilse or ''Prinzeß Ilse'') is the name of a popular tourist destination in the Ilse valley near the town of Ilsenburg (Harz), Ilsenburg in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. The spot was named after the River Ils ...

Ilsestein The Ilsestein (formerly also called ''Ilsenstein'') is a prominent granite rock formation near the town of Ilsenburg in the Harz mountains of central Germany. Offering a scenic view over the Ilse valley to the Brocken massif, the highest mounta ...

Froschfelsen The Froschfelsen ("Frog Rocks", 545 m above NN), also called the Froschsteinklippe,Krug Bridge over the Ilse * former Ilsenburg Factory, today used as a residence * Bremen Hut, a checkpoint on 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 ...

and refuge hut in the Ilse valley

Transport

Ilsenburg has access to the

Bundesstraße 6 The Bundesstraße 6 (abbr. B6) is a German federal highway running from Bremerhaven on the North Sea coast in a southeasterly direction through the states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony to Görlitz on the Polish border. H ...

federal highway leading from

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 Mines ...

and the

Bundesautobahn 395 was an autobahn in Germany. It has been redesignated as a part of the A 36 as of January 1, 2019. Lower Saxon Department for Street Construction and TrafficUmbenennung der A 395 zwischen Braunschweig und dem Harz in A 36- Renaming of A 395 ...

to Halle and the Bundesautobahn 14. At the Ilsenburg

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing s ...

rail transport 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 p ...

is available to

Vienenburg Vienenburg is a borough of Goslar, capital of the Goslar district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The former independent municipality was incorporated in Goslar on 1 January 2014. Geography It is situated in the north of the Harz mountain range and eas ...

and

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 ...

as well as to Halle and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at ...

trains of the Deutsche Bahn and trains of

Veolia Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water management, waste management and energy services. It pr ...

Twin town

Bad Harzburg Bad Harzburg (; Eastphalian: ''Bad Harzborch'') is a spa town in central Germany, in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It lies on the northern edge of the Harz mountains and is a recognised saltwater spa and climatic health resort. Geogra ...

References

External links

Official siteIlsenburg Abbey
{{Authority control Towns in the Harz