Bad Sachsa is a town in the district of Göttingen, 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 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The town was one of the few municipalities in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

that imported electric power from former

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. This was done via Neuhof Substation.

Geography

Bad Sachsa is situated in the southern

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 15 km south of Braunlage, and 25 km southeast 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

The oldest existing document in which Sachsa is mentioned was written in 1229. The settlement officially gained town status in 1525. Tourism started around 1860. After the town had been recognized as a health resort by the government in 1905 the name was changed to "Bad Sachsa" with "Bad" meaning ''spa''. Bad Sachsa is known for being the town where Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and his four siblings were sent by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

in 1944, following the failed

20 July plot The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...

. Their

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

was executed and their pregnant

mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

was interned in a concentration camp with two elders. The Stauffenberg children lived in Bad Sachsa during 1944-45. Other families of the executed officers were imprisoned here. All were left there without their parents and with changed names.

Winter Sports

Ravensberg Mountain (660 metres) offering a scenic view of the whole Harz is used for various winter sports.

Sights

* The Town Hall was built in a

Jugendstil (; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German and Austrian cou ...

style which was very popular in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. It has several oriels, a veranda and a pavilion. The conference hall represents the Jugendstil style in a very typical way.Josef Walz: ''Der Harz'',. Cologne 1995 The Town Hall which is surrounded by half-timbered mansions is in a small park. * St. Nikolai Church :The Protestant church was built on a small hill in the town center offering a scenic view of ''Marktstrasse'', the High Street of Bad Sachsa and the colourful Market Place. The Romanesque clock tower of the church was built in the middle of the 12th century. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

was added around 1300. The altar dating from 1595 was financed by Hansen Hartmann, the then mayor of Bad Sachsa. In 1691 a half-timbered aisle was added to the church the pulpit of which dates from 1711. *Römerstein Rocks :Near the suburb of Steina in the southwest of Bad Sachsa the Römerstein Rocks are worth a visit. The coralline rocks were formed about 250 million years ago. Relics of a settlement were found close by. They are estimated to be about 10,000 years old.Hans Pusen: ''Harz, Hannover, Lüneburger Heide'', p. 47. München 1972 *Sachsenburg Ruins :The ruins of Sachsenburg Castle can be visited in the southwest of the town. The castle was built in the 11th century and destroyed in 1074. The most impressive part is a tower with a diameter of more than ten metres. Excavations were carried out here in 1891-93. The castle can only be reached on a walking track starting from ''Blomberg'' street in the southeastern part of the town. It is in the forest near a railway track which must not be crossed by pedestrians. *Grenzland Museum :Grenzland Museum was founded in the suburb of Tettenborn in 1992 and is dedicated to the

Inner German border The inner German border ( or ''deutsch–deutsche Grenze''; initially also , zonal boundary) was the frontier between the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the West Germany, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West ...

which was less than one mile away from Bad Sachsa.

Traffic connections

Bad Sachsa is easily accessible by train as it has a railway station on the South Harz Railway. The neighbouring towns and villages can be reached by bus.

Sights

File:BadSachsaChurch.jpg, St. Nikolai Church File:BadSachsaTownHall.jpg, Town Hall File:BadSachsaRiver.jpg, River Uffe opposite the Town Hall File:BadSachsaHighSt.jpg, High Street File:BadSachsaMarket.jpg, Market Place File:BadSachsaCastle1.jpg, Sachsenburg Ruins

Notable people

* Klaus Bühler (born 1941), politician * Rolf Kalmuczak (1938–2007), writer, student of Pädagogium Bad Sachsa * Veruschka von Lehndorff (born 1939), actress, fashion model, painter and photographer; was interned as a child after the failed assassination attempt on 20 July 1944 on Adolf Hitler in Bad Sachsa, because her father was a participant of the plot *

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

(1942–1969), singer, spent often holidays in Bad Sachsa and was inspired by the Wilhelm Bobring song "My Friend the tree" (Mein Freund der Baum) * Hans-Heinrich Sander (1945–2017), FDP Minister of Environment and Member of Parliament in Lower Saxony * Lutz Hoffmann (1959–1997), gymnast and teacher

References

External links

{{Authority control Towns in Lower Saxony Towns in the Harz Spa towns in Germany