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

Harz Mountains The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a Mittelgebirge, 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 nam ...

of Northern

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 ...

. 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. Feathers from the bird were used to create the characteristic hat of the bersaglieri, an Italian ace infantry formation. ...

. It belongs to the city of

Herzberg am Harz Herzberg am Harz (Esperanto: ) is a town in the Göttingen (district), Göttingen district of Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Herzberg is situated on the southwestern rim of the Harz mountain range and the Harz National Park. Natural monument ...

which is about 4 km to the south. The rivers

Große Lonau Große Lonau is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany. Course The Große Lonau rises at an elevation of 730 m in the vicinity of the Hanskühnenburg on the ridge of Auf dem Acker. Then it flows mostly in a south-southwest direction to Lonau, where ...

and

Kleine Lonau Kleine Lonau is a tributary of the Große Lonau in Lower Saxony, Germany. It rises at a height of 650 metres and flows through the ''Mariental'' valley to Lonau, where it merges with the Große Lonau. It is about long. See also *List of riv ...

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 Germany, German federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises portions of the western Harz mountain range, extending from Herzberg am Harz, Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg at the southern ...

at a height of 355 to 430 m above

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

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

stream flows through Mariental and the

through Kirchtal. After merging in the village centre the river

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 The Langfast is a ridge in the district of Göttingen in North Germany. This ridge, with a height of , is located in the South Harz mountains between Herzberg am Harz Herzberg am Harz (Esperanto: ) is a town in the Göttingen (district), Götti ...

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. Ne ...

to the southeast and the

Großer Teichtalskopf Grosser or Großer is the masculine nominative singular form of the German adjective "gross", meaning "big", "great", "large", "tall", and the like. It is part of many placenames, especially of mountains. It is also a surname. People with that surn ...

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 Hanskühnenburg is a mountain hut () in the Harz mountains. It is located at a height of above sea level in fields known as ''Auf dem Acker'', or simply ''Acker'', in the middle of the Harz National Park and has its own observation tower. ...

, the surrounding beech woods, the parish church and the

Lonau Waterfall Lonau is a small village with a population of about 345 situated at an elevation of about 400m in the Harz Mountains of Northern Germany. Besides the clean air and lush forests, it is famous for the capercaillie. It belongs to the city of Herzberg ...

, 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. Hikers (or mountain bikers) can earn awards at different levels of challenge by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and stamping their ...

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),

(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