Blankenburg (Harz)

Blankenburg (Harz) is a town and health resort in the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, lying on the northern edge of the Harz mountains at a height of about 234 metres, west of Quedlinburg, south of Halberstadt and east of Wernigerode. The first recorded mention of the place goes back to 1123, when the Saxon duke Lothair of Supplinburg installed Poppo as count at the castle that gave the town its name. It later passed to the dukes of Brunswick-Luneburg, who made it a secondary residence, and in 1707 the county was raised to an imperial principality. The town was largely rebuilt after a fire in 1836 and keeps a castle on the hill of Blankenstein, a Baroque Little Castle with terraced gardens, an old town hall and churches. Tourism and spa and health facilities are its main economic factors. On 1 January 2010 it absorbed six neighbouring municipalities, and it is linked to the region by the A 36 motorway and a rail line to Halberstadt.