District of Blankenburg
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| County seat | Blankenburg |
| surface | 475 km² (1939) |
| Residents | 40,674 (1939) |
| Population density | 85.6 inhabitants / km² (1939) |
| Communities | 24 (1939) |
 |
|
| The Braunschweig-Harz area with pre-war borders and the later zone border |
|
The district of Blankenburg was a district in the east of the duchy and later Free State of Braunschweig and consisted of the offices of Blankenburg, Hasselfelde and Walkenried . The district was divided between the British and the Soviet occupation zone in 1945 and was later partly in the FRG and the GDR. In 1950 the eastern part was incorporated into the GDR districts of Quedlinburg and Wernigerode . The western part belonged as the district of Blankenburg with the district town of Braunlage to Lower Saxony , until it was divided into the districts of Goslar and Osterode am Harz on July 1, 1972 .
geography
The district stretched from the northern Harz foreland near Blankenburg to the Upper Harz near Braunlage and the southern Harz near Walkenried . The Wurmberg was located in the northwest of the district .
economy
The district was characterized by metallurgy and mining . Even the tourism plays a formative role, there were several spa and resorts. There were some very well-known companies in the district, such as the Harz factories in Rübeland and Zorge (later in Blankenburg) and the Tanner Hütte in Tanne. Numerous quarries also existed in the district. A special feature was the "Hercynia" lignite mine near Wienrode on the northern edge of the Harz.
traffic
The district was opened up, among other things, by the Harz cog railway Blankenburg - Rübeland - Tanne (Harz) (built 1885–1886). From 1899, the western part of the district was opened up by the also private Südharz-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (SHE) with the narrow-gauge railway Walkenried – Braunlage / Tanne . In addition, the Harzhochstrasse ran through the district and connected the places Stiege, Hasselfelde, Trautenstein, Tanne and Braunlage with each other.
history
The district of Blankenburg consisted of parts of the original Braunschweig Harz region and the former county of Blankenburg , which fell to Braunschweig in 1599 after the counts there died out. The House of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel was confirmed in possession of the Principality of Blankenburg in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna .
As early as January 1814, a civil administration in Brunswick had been set up, whereby the structure found from the Westphalian era with the three cantons of Blankenburg, Hasselfelde and Walkenried was taken over, but the cantons were renamed district courts. By ordinance of February 24, 1814, the duchy was divided into 6 districts, whose administration was headed by "chiefs". For the Principality of Blankenburg and the Walkenried Abbey, a separate Blankenburg district was arranged, with district courts in the three places mentioned above. In 1825 the district courts were renamed district offices; On January 1, 1833, the Blankenburg district was finally renamed the Blankenburg district directorate, with the short form circle soon prevailing. From January 1, 1939, the lower administrative authorities - outside Prussia - were consistently referred to as rural districts (or urban districts).
When Germany was divided into zones of occupation in 1945, the district of Blankenburg was initially assigned to the British zone of occupation according to the London Protocol of 1944 , since the larger eastern part of the district is only accessible by a road (today's B 242 ) and a railway line of the Südharz Railway with the rest of the British zone was connected corrected the demarcation in July 1945 and west of the county at its narrowest point of concern tier: the larger eastern part of the circle with the county town of Blankenburg was Soviet zone of occupation and later the GDR and the land of Saxony-Anhalt assigned , the smaller western part with the city of Braunlage and the communities Hohegeiß , Neuhof , Walkenried , Wieda and Zorge came to the British Zone and thus to Lower Saxony . In this context, the town of Bad Sachsa , located in the Thuringian district of Nordhausen , with its later district of Tettenborn, came into the British Zone.
This western German district of Blankenburg (with the current district town of Braunlage) was dissolved in 1972 with the Lower Saxony regional reform and assigned to the districts of Goslar and Osterode .
The eastern part of the old district of Blankenburg continued to exist as an independent district (excluding Braunlage and the communities in Lower Saxony) until June 30, 1950, and was then divided between the districts of Quedlinburg and Wernigerode. Since 1990, the former county of Blankenburg, with the exception of Allrode and Timmenrode , which were only added in 1994, belonged entirely to the district of Wernigerode , which became part of the Harz district in 2007. Part of the records of the Blankenburg district from 1830 until the division of Germany is in the Dessau department of the Saxony-Anhalt State Archives .
Population development
| year | Residents | source |
|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 26,430 | |
| 1900 | 34,095 | |
| 1910 | 35,989 | |
| 1925 | 37.114 | |
| 1939 | 40,674 | |
| 1946 | 39,744 |
cities and communes
The towns and municipalities of the Blankenburg district, their population from 1939 and their whereabouts after the district was dissolved:
| local community | Residents | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|
| Allrode | 706 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| Altenbrak | 533 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| Gasoline electrode | 967 | 1950 to the district of Wernigerode |
| Blankenburg (Harz) , city | 13,195 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| Bornecke | 782 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| Braunlage , city | 4,049 | 1945 to the district of Blankenburg (Lower Saxony) |
| Cattenstedt | 949 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| Hasselfelde , city | 2,951 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| Heimburg | 1,171 | 1950 to the district of Wernigerode |
| Hohegeiß | 971 | 1945 to the district of Blankenburg (Lower Saxony) |
| Hüttenrode | 1,788 | 1950 to the district of Wernigerode |
| Michaelstein | 1,024 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| Neuhof | 430 | 1945 to the district of Blankenburg (Lower Saxony) |
| Neuwerk | 524 | 1950 to the district of Wernigerode |
| Rübeland | 1,283 | 1950 to the district of Wernigerode |
| Stairs | 1,518 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| fir | 861 | 1950 to the district of Wernigerode |
| Timmenrode | 1,410 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| Trautenstein | 631 | 1950 to the district of Wernigerode |
| Treseburg | 253 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| Walkenried | 1,548 | 1945 to the district of Blankenburg (Lower Saxony) |
| Again | 1,393 | 1945 to the district of Blankenburg (Lower Saxony) |
| Wienrode | 752 | 1950 to the district of Quedlinburg |
| Concern | 1,116 | 1945 to the district of Blankenburg (Lower Saxony) |
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Michael Rademacher: German administrative history from the unification of the empire in 1871 to the reunification in 1990. Blankenburg district. (Online material for the dissertation, Osnabrück 2006).
- ↑ 1946 census
- ↑ Municipal directory 1910: Blankenburg district
- ^ Territorial.de: District of Blankenburg
