Nordhausen, Thuringia

Nordhausen is a city^[1] of about 45,000 people at the southern border of the Harz mountains, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Nordhausen. It was once known for its tobacco industry, and is still known for its eponymous brandy, Nordhäuser Doppelkorn.

The city is first attested in a 13 May 927 document of Henry the Fowler, but an earlier settlement on the site dates back to around 785. In 1220, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor made it an Imperial Free City, and in 1430 Nordhausen joined the Hanseatic League. From around 1500 the city began producing brandy, which became famous under the name Nordhäuser Doppelkorn. In 1523, a year in which Thomas Müntzer spent some time in the city, the Reformation came to Nordhausen.

In 1866 the railway connected Nordhausen to Halle, Saxony-Anhalt.

On 3rd and 4th April 1945 three-quarters of the town was destroyed by bombing raids of the Royal Air Force, in which around 8,800 people died. On 11 April the Americans occupied the city, and on 2 July the Red Army took over. It has since been rebuilt, and, primarily since German reunification, had its ancient city center restored.

Sights

A 17th-century statue of Roland, at the outer wall of the Town Hall. It is considered a symbol of the town.
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Dom Zum Heiligen Kreuz). It dates back to a church built in the mid-10th century. In 1220 the church was converted to a cathedral. The building has a Late Gothic nave, while the towers, crypt and cloisters are in Romanesque style.
The Frauenberger Kirche (St. Maria auf dem Berg), a Romanesque church.
The Petriturm (St. Peter's Tower), the remaining tower of a 14th-century church destroyed in 1945.
The Kunsthaus Meyenburg, an early 20th-century Jugendstil villa which houses a small museum of contemporary art.
The theater, built in 1917.

Notes

^ The city name Nordhausen is sometimes incorrectly used when referring to the nearby WW II concentration camp of Mittelbau-Dora. This concentration camp, which included the Mittelwerk underground city in the Kohnstein mountain (production site of the V-2 rockets), was indeed close to the city of Nordhausen, but the names Dora or Mittelbau-Dora are more accurate designations for the said concentration camp (now a memorial site).

External links

Official homepage of the city of Nordhausen
The Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp memorial

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