Lonau is a small village with a population of about 345 situated at an elevation of about 400m in the

Harz Mountains 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 ...

of Northern

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 ...

. Besides the clean air and lush forests, it is famous for the

capercaillie ''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse. Taxonomy The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ...

. It belongs to the city of Herzberg am Harz which is about 4 km to the south. The rivers Große Lonau and Kleine Lonau join here.

History

The village of Lonau goes back to a settlement that was established here as a consequence of the setting up of iron ore mines and iron smelting huts at the beginning of the 16th century.''Lonau''
at www.herzberg.de. Accessed on 2 Nov 2010. Lonau was first mentioned in the records in ducal tax documents from 1615, although a smithy in Lonau had been named in 1525.

Geography

Lonau lies in the South Harz, in the middle 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 I ...

at a height of 355 to 430 m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

and has 350 inhabitants (as at 1 January 2011). The village is divided into three areas: Unterdorf, Kirchtal and Mariental. The Church of St. Michael is roughly in the centre of the village at the junction of all three districts. The Kleine Lonau stream flows through Mariental and the Große Lonau through Kirchtal. After merging in the village centre the river Große Lonau flows down to Herzberg. Surrounding hills include the

Heuer Heuer is a surname that comes from the German word "Heu" meaning "hay." The name is occupational in origin, especially so, when it serves as an element in a compound. Heumaier would refer to the officer who oversaw the delivery of the hay harvest. ...

to the southwest, the Braakberg to the west and north, the Kargeskopf to the north, the Franzosenkopf and the Großer Mittelberg to the northeast, the Langfast to the east, the

Hirtenberg Hirtenberg is a town of approx. 2,500 inhabitants near Baden bei Wien in Lower Austria, Austria. The river Triesting is located at the south border of the town. Coming from the Vienna Woods, the valley of Triesting joins the Vienna Basin here. ...

to the southeast and the Großer Teichtalskopf to the south.Topographische Karte 1:25,000, No. 4328 Bad Lauterberg im Harz

Tourism and sights

Lonau is mainly visited in summer by holiday walkers and in winter by cross country skiers. The main sights in and around Lonau are the capercaillie enclosure (''Auerhahngehege''), the mountain inn of Hanskühnenburg, the surrounding beech woods, the parish church and the Lonau Waterfall, which is actually in Herzberg. For holidaymakers there are several restaurants, a campsite, the spa park, a lido and a minigolf course. At least five checkpoints in 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 are easily reached on foot from Lonau: ''Kastanienplatz'' (no. 149), ''

Köte am Schindelkopf The Schindelkopf () in the Harz Mountains of central Germany is a southwestern outlier of the mountain ridge known as Auf dem Acker (865.1 m). It is located near the town of Osterode am Harz within the unincorporated area of Harz which is in t ...

'' (no. 143), Hanskühnenburg (no. 144), ''Waidmannsruhe'' (no. 148) and the

Großer Knollen The Großer Knollen (also the Groß Knollen; colloquially referred to as the Knollen, historically the ''Grosze Knolle'') is a mountain in the southwestern part of the Harz in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography The Großer Knollen is located nor ...

(no. 150). ''References'': Towns in Lower Saxony {{Göttingen-geo-stub