Stapelburg is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

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 ...

. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the

Nordharz Nordharz (, literally "North Harz") is a municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The municipal area consists of eight ''Ortschaften'' or municipal divisions: It is located at the northern foot of the

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 ...

mountain range and

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 ...

, about north of the town of

Ilsenburg Ilsenburg () is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. It is situated under the north foot of the Harz Mountains, at the entrance to the Ilse valley with its little river, the Ilse, a tributary of the Oker, about six nort ...

. The small

Ecker The Ecker is a , right-hand, southeast tributary of the Oker which runs mainly through the Harz mountains in the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony. Course From its source to Abbenrode the Ecker is a border river, today running b ...

river in the west, a tributary of the

Oker The Oker () is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a left tributary of the River Aller (Germany), Aller, in length and runs in a generally northerly direction. Origin and meanin ...

, forms the border with the town of

Bad Harzburg Bad Harzburg (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Bad Harzborch'') is a spa town in central Germany, in the Goslar (district), Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It lies on the northern edge of the Harz mountains and is a recognised saltwater spa ...

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 ...

. The settlement has access to the

Bundesstraße 6 The Bundesstraße 6 (abbr. B6) is a German federal highway running from Bremerhaven on the North Sea coast in a southeasterly direction through the states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony to Görlitz on the Polish border. H ...

federal highway running from the

Bundesautobahn 395 was an autobahn in Germany. It has been redesignated as a part of the A 36 as of January 1, 2019. Lower Saxon Department for Street Construction and TrafficUmbenennung der A 395 zwischen Braunschweig und dem Harz in A 36- Renaming of A 39 ...

near

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the Goslar (district), district of Goslar and is located on the northwestern wikt:slope, slopes of the Harz ...

to Halle and the

Bundesautobahn 14 is an autobahn in eastern Germany. The route comprises two disconnected sections: * The old A 241. A North–south route in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern which runs from Wismar to Schwerin. * The original A 14. A West–east route whi ...

. Stapelburg station is served by the

Vienenburg Vienenburg is a borough of Goslar, capital of the Goslar district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The former independent municipality was incorporated in Goslar on 1 January 2014. Geography It is situated in the north of the Harz mountain range and eas ...

Halberstadt Halberstadt (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany, the capital of Harz (district), Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town ...

railway line.

History

Stapelburg Castle The Stapelburg () is a ruined mediæeval castle built to guard the road on the northern edge of the Harz mountains at Stapelburg in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. History The Stapelburg was built before 1306 by the ...

was first mentioned in a 1306 deed as a property of the Counts of Wernigerode; it was meant to protect and control the trade route to the Imperial City of

near the border with the

Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel () was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, whose history was characterised by numerous divisions and reunifications. It had an area of 3,828 square kilometres in the mid 17th century. Va ...

. Prior to that an

Imperial castle An imperial castle or ''Reichsburg'' was a castle built by order of (or acquired by) the King of the Romans or the Holy Roman Emperor on land that was owned by the crown ''(Reichsgut)''. While in the early middle ages, in Francia, as well as in ...

, mentioned as Ahlsburg in the 14th century, was erected a few kilometres south-southwest in the Harz mountains on a spur high above the Ecker valley. The Stapelburg estates passed to the Prince-Bishops of Halberstadt in 1394 and were temporarily given in pawn to the

Counts of Stolberg The County of Stolberg () was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz mountain range in present-day Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg. The town of Stolberg was probably founded in the 12th c ...

. The settlement emerged in the second half of the 16th century from the outlying estate (''

Vorwerk Vorwerk may refer to: *Vorwerk, Lower Saxony, a municipality in the Rotenburg district, Lower Saxony *a locality of Altenmedingen, in the Uelzen district, Lower Saxony *a subdivision of Celle, Lower Saxony *a Vorwerk (fortification), an advanced f ...

'') of Bilenshausen or Bilashausen, that had been established by the former

councillor Heinrich von Bila (1535–1584) at the foot of medieval castle. After lengthy negotiations, castle and village were finally purchased by Count

Christian Ernest of Stolberg-Wernigerode Christian Ernest, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode, (2 April 1691, Gedern – 25 October 1771, Wernigerode) was a German politician and a member of the House of Stolberg. From 1710 to 1771 he governed County of Wernigerode in the Harz mountain ...

in 1722.

The meadows in the Ecker valley south of the village were the site of the '' Jungborn'' destination spa, founded in 1896 by

Adolf Just Adolf Just (born 8 August 1859, Lüthorst near Dassel, Kingdom of Hanover; died 20 January 1936, Blankenburg (Harz) was a German naturopath. He was the founder of the sanatorium Jungborn in Eckertal (resin). Life He began an apprenticeship ...

, which hosted notable guests like

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

in July 1912. As the Ecker formed part of 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 ...

after World War II, the facility was closed and finally demolished in 1964 to make space for border fortifications.

Notable people

* Manfred Zapf (born 1946), footballer *

Bernhard Glass Bernhard Glass (born 6 November 1957) is an East German former luger who competed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He won the gold medal in the men's singles event at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Glass also won a bronze ...

(born 1957), luger

References

External links

Municipal website

Jungborn Harz
{{authority control Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Nordharz Villages in the Harz