Altenau, Lower Saxony

Altenau is a formerly free mining town in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, and now a health resort in the Upper Harz. Altenau received city rights in 1617. The city is a member of Samtgemeinde Upper Harz.

• 3.1 religions
• 3.2 Population development

• 4.1 City Council

• 5.1 Regular events

• 7.1 company
• 7.2 traffic

• 8.1 Sons and daughters of the town
• 8.2 personalities who have worked on site

Geography

Geographical location

The place is centrally located in the Upper Harz. Clausthal- Zellerfeld in the West is about ten kilometers, Goslar about 15 miles and Osterode am Harz region around 25 km in the north to the southwest. To the east of the mountain city located in twelve kilometers from the summit of the Brocken, which can be seen from many places Altenaus from. Altenau is crossed from south to north of the river Oker. Other streams flow in the city area in the Oker and give Altenau a cityscape with numerous valleys and hilltops. The area is heavily forested.

Climate

Due to its altitude Altenau is a fairly cool place for Lower Saxony conditions. The mean annual temperature is 6.2 ° C. The sun shines throughout the year at 3.7 hours. The mean annual rainfall is 1252 mm, of which a considerable part of Lower Saxony conditions falls as snow.

Boroughs

To Altenau heard of about ten kilometers away, the district peat house. This is the highest point of the B 4 to about 800 m and consists mainly of tourism enterprises. Peat house is located in the Harz National Park.

In addition, the dam house, the cushion Taler Zechenhaus and Gemkenthal lying in the urban area.

Place name

Former place names of Altenau were altena in the years 1298 Altena Altena 1311, in the 16th century, in 1542 Altenau, 1587 Altenaw 1677 Altenau 1679 Altenauer way. The name Altenaus occurs in 1298, when the knight Burchard von Wildenstein the Civil Burchhard Ehrhaftig to Goslar a CASAM que dicitur Altena gave a fiefdom. The origin of Altena refers at our parent a, High German aha, acha, oh the word water. Already in Gothic it is ahva and is of the same origin the Latin aqua. The first part of the name refers to the Gothic Altenau alan what growing up means, and in turn is related to the Latin alere ( raise ). Taken together, therefore, denote the two parts of words Altenaus a river which is enhanced by inflows. Thus, the stream Altena, coming from the wolf waiting, fed by the Small Altena, the Lilierwasser and other tributaries, considerable quantities of water.

History

In the Middle Ages arose, the place won in times of mining (especially of silver mining ) in importance. The name of the town is Bach " Alte Aue " or " Altenah " which receives the present at Lilierkopf water and continues through the Tischlertal. Slightly below the car park in Tischlertal on the country road L504 takes the Altenau on the water of the cutting water and flows through the Schultal until they united on the market square with the Oker. 1606-1618 the silver hut was built below Altenau. The mining industry flourished, and soon operating Altenau 20 major works. One finds in Altenau many witnesses of the former mining in old mines and shafts, monuments, the origin of the Ore Mountains Harz and Erzgebirge their dialect.

Today Altenau is known for tourism, due to its idyllic location in the heart of the resin and its offerings of recreational opportunities, such as numerous footpaths and trails, many lakes that invite you for swimming in summer. Tourism began with the continuation of the railway Goslar-Clausthal/Zellerfeld to Altenau in 1913 From 1914 to 1970 the numbers of spa guests and the nights have grown steadily at. ; of which 30 % to 70% on spa houses and private accommodation. Since the early 1990s, the western Harz region is suffering from a decline in tourist numbers, which has many causes. Very high costs incurred by the Samtgemeinde Upper Harz each year by the operation of the building complex Aqua Polaris consisting of wave pool and ice rink, which was built in the 1970s and adapted to the high number of tourists in the 1970s and 1980s. He dodged in March 2007 the new building of the baths and saunas Crystal Hot chunks.

Religions

The Protestant majority of the population is organized in the parish of St. Nicholas, whose center is the St. Nicholas Church in the center Altenaus. The church is now part of the church district of Clausthal- Zellerfeld, to her, the St. Peter 's Chapel belongs in Schulenberg.

On the Glockenberg the Catholic Church of St. Oliver is from the year 1979. Today, the church belongs to the parish of St. Nicholas in Clausthal- Zellerfeld.

Population Development

( From 1968 Stand as of December 31 )

Policy

City ​​council

The City Council sat down after the municipal election held on September 10, 2006 as follows:

• SPD: 7 seats ( 54.16 %)
• CDU: 6 seats ( 45.84 %)

The City Council has been committed to the local elections on 11 September 2011 as follows:

• SPD: 6 seats ( 54.77 %)
• CDU: 5 seats ( 45.23 %)

Culture and sights

Altenau is a climatic health resort today. The city is old miner houses from the time when Altenau free mining town, was characterized. Typical of the region, the use of wood as construction material. In the village is the relatively small wooden church of St. Nicholas, built in the 17th century. The houses are well adjusted from time immemorial the harsh winters and have a typical architectural style for the resin. Pretty in the center is the imposing Protect cliff from which you can gain excellent visibility over the place.

2004, the largest herb farm in Germany was opened in Altenau. Many thousands of tourists annually visit the year-round well-maintained botanical garden, which shows a number of varieties. Additional points of interest can be reached by hiking trails on foot. So once you pass the Harz Witches to the dam ditch with the dam building as well as the cushion Berger Hubhaus. In addition, hiking trails lead to Kellwassertal at the pre-dam to Okertalsperre as well as peat house in the Harz National Park. The home office in Altenau offers a glimpse into the history of the Upper Harz. , An exhibition dedicated to the representation of the particular circumstances in the Upper Harz, which greatly by the mining industry and its dependent professions - were marked - metallurgy, forestry work, charcoal burning and Fuhrwesen. An important focus of the collection represents the life's work of the artist Karl Reinecke Altenau

Regular events

• Walpurgis Night (annually on 30 April )
• Hubertus Week ( mid-September)
• Torchlight hikes
• Altenauer local festival ( every 5 years)

Sports

In Altenau is held annually the Altenauer Nordic Walking Cross, an event for novices and advanced Nordic walking sport. Participants walken, distances exceeding 4.7 km to 18.7 km around Altenau. Even outside the annual event is the Nordic Walking possible on these routes.

Altenau is located directly on the Volksbank Arena Harz, a 1800 km and 62 routes comprehensive route network for off-road mountain biking. Here, annually sporting events Harz mountain bike event, the largest North German MTB event on the 3rd weekend in May (! ) MTB Enduro Race ( 2014 ) MTB Marathon ( since 2002) and the kids' school and Jugendcup instead ( since 2000).

Altenau also is the starting point for walks in the Harz Witches or in the Harz National Park. In the winter, can be found in Altenau and peat house ample opportunities for Alpine and Nordic winter sports as well as a toboggan run with lift.

On the grounds of the former wave pool is since 2007 the thermal brine and sauna " Hot chunks ".

Economy and infrastructure

Business

The Altenauer brewery, formerly Paul Kolberg GmbH & Co. KG, has been taken over with effect from August 1, 2012 by the Klostergutsbrauerei Wöltingerode GmbH. Its sole shareholder is the General Hanoverian Monastery Fund, represented by the monastery Hanover Chamber. The brewery currently has an output of approximately 7,000 hectoliters of beer a year, which is brewed in eight variants, and 3000 hectoliters of soft drinks.

Furthermore, there are numerous companies that can be attributed to tourism, such as hotels, guest houses, restaurants and the corresponding retail.

Traffic

Altenau is situated on the national highway 498, which runs from Goslar to Osterode. About an approximately eight kilometers long and up to nine percent steep road that " Steep wall ", obtained in peat house connection to the B 4

Buses RBB go to Clausthal -Zellerfeld and St. Andrew Berg. In addition, Altenau end of a bus route from Berlin, the so-called Bex - bus.

Until 1976 the station was Altenau endpoint of Innerstetal train, the other end of the track was in Langelsheim. In 1977, a last train sailed the route. For cost reasons, this line was shut down. The tracks are completely removed, the route serves as a cycle track and cross-country ski.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the town

• Wilhelm Knop (1817-1891), agricultural chemist and plant physiologist
• Adolph Knop (1828-1893), geologist and mineralogist, Privy Councillor, Professor and Director of the Polytechnic School in Karlsruhe
• Hermione hard life (1846-1919), educator and biographer
• Karl Fieke (1857-1945), printer, newspaper publisher and regional authors
• Karl Reinecke Altenau (1885-1943), artist and local poet, founder of the Upper Harz home state (1933 )
• Hartmut Ostermann ( born 1951 ), entrepreneur

Personalities who have worked on site

• Henning Calvör (1686-1766), theologian, teacher and scholar in the field of mining engineering and mechanics
• From 1842 to 1863, the poet Georg Schulze served as pastor in Altenau.