Sankt Andreasberg () is a former independent city in the district of Goslar, in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, Germany. Since 1 November 2011, it has formed part of the town Braunlage. It is situated in the

Harz The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, 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'' der ...

, approximately west of Braunlage proper, and east of

Osterode am Harz Osterode am Harz (, ), often simply called Osterode (Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Ostroe''), is a town in south-eastern Lower Saxony in central Germany on the south-western edge of the Harz mountains. It was the seat of government of the ...

History

Sankt Andreasberg was founded in the 1480s. It was first mentioned in a letter from the Count Heinrich zu Stolberg to Dietrich von Witzlebenon on 3 November 1487. The establishment of the village took place around the market. The first silver mines are assumed to be the St. Andrews Cross Mine () at the foot of the ''Beerberg'' and the St. Andrews Mine (''Grube St. Andreas'') by the market. In 1521, St. Andreasberg received the right to mine from Counts Heinrich and Ernst von Hohenstein. It was proclaimed in Mansfelder Land and in the mining areas of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

and miners were invited to dig for silver and other metals.

Natural monuments

The area around Sankt Andreasberg is especially rich in habitats worthy of protection in within the

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

, but also around the town in the form of

Upper Harz The Upper Harz (, ) is 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, the term Upper Harz cover ...

mountain meadows. In the national park north-northwest of Sankt Andreasberg are the ''Dreibrodesteine'' (at ca. ;Harzer Wandernadel
Stempelstelle 154 – ''Dreibrodestein''
auf harzer-wandernadel.de ; ND GS 43), three outsize blocks of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

that have been formed by spheroidal weathering. According to legend they originated as the three loaves of bread of a heartless woman who would not help a starving miner. With the words ("I'd rather my three loaves became stones") she spurned the miner, whereupon the loaves grew into giant stones and squashed the woman into the mossy earth. The granite blocks were considered a warning against heartlessness. At the ''Dreibrodesteine'' is checkpoint no. 154 (''Dreibrodestein'') in the

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

hiking system and a memorial to the

forester A forester is a person who practises forest management and forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Fores ...

s and officials of the Andreasberg Forestry Office who fell in the two

world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s. Other natural monuments are a group of chestnuts on the market square (ND GS 42) and the

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-gra ...

deposit in the village of Silberhütte (ND GS 45).

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

researched in 1783 the Hohe Klippen rocks (ND GS 146) on the Rehberg mountain above the present-day Goethe Place on the Rehberger Graben (ditch), because he believed he would find evidence there for his assumptions about the earth's history. The boundary between the geological platform made of

greywacke Greywacke or graywacke ( ) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness (6–7 on Mohs scale), dark color, and Sorting (sediment), poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or sand-size Lith ...

hornfels Hornfels is the group name for a set of Metamorphism#Contact .28thermal.29, contact metamorphic rocks that have been baked and hardened by the heat of Intrusive rock, intrusive igneous masses and have been rendered massive, hard, splintery, and in ...

and the underlying fine-grained

from

Brocken The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is a mountain near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, between the rivers Weser River, Weser and Elbe. The highest peak in the Harz mountain range, and in Northern Germany, ...

runs by the Hohe Klippen.

Religion

The population of Sankt Andreasberg is mostly Protestant.

Sport

As a result of their elevation, Sankt Andreasberg () and Sonnenberg () still have fairly guaranteed snow. Sankt Andreasberg is an ''Alpine Ski Centre of the Harz'', with three T-bar lifts on the Sonnenberg as well as two double

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers. They are the primary on-hill tran ...

s and three T-bars at the Matthias Schmidt Mountain Centre. In the Teichtal there is the first snow tubing track in the Harz. The cross-country skiing trail network around Sankt Andreasberg has of tracks and is linked from the Sonnenberg to Oderbrück / Torfhaus and to the Ackerloipe / Altenau networks. On Matthias Schmidt Mountain a summer toboggan is open during the summer.

Nordic walking Nordic walking is a Finland, Finnish-origin total-body version of walking that can be done both by non-athletes as a health-promoting physical activity and by athletes as a sport. The activity is performed with specially designed walking poles sim ...

, hiking,

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

and

trekking Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on one's back while hiking for more than a day. It is often an extended journey and may involve camping outdoors. In North America, tenting is common, where simple shelters and mountain hu ...

are popular summer activities in the peaceful surroundings of the Sankt Andreasberg mountain town. In the spa park there is a

ropes course A ropes course is a challenging outdoor personal development and team building activity which usually consists of high elements, low elements, or some combination of the two. #Low course, Low elements take place on the ground or above the ground. ...

and climbing park. The southern part of the Oderteich reservoir in the

is open to swimmers in the summer. Coming from Torfhaus and Oderteich, the Brocken bypass section of the nearly long Harzer Hexenstieg hiking trail passes through the town and heads for Braunlage and

Thale Thale () is a town in the Harz (district), 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 ...

. Mountain rescue services are provided by the local Harz Mountain Rescue Club. Several Sankt Andreasberg sports clubs enjoy a long tradition. These include the Sankt Andreasberg Shooting Club (1522) and the Sankt Andreasberg Gymnastics and Sports Club (1861). Following the success of the 1st Winterfest in 1896 the

Ski Club was founded on the Brocken; it is now called the St. Andreasberg Ski Club 1896.

Famous people

* Wilhelm Trute (1836–1889), breeder of the Harz Roller canary breed and a local miner

References

External links

{{Authority control Towns in Lower Saxony Goslar (district) Towns in the Harz Natural monuments in Lower Saxony Mining communities in Germany