Braunlage

Braunlage is located on the Warme Bode, a headstream of the Bode river, close to the border with Elend in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. The municipal area stretches along the southeastern rim of the Harz National Park from an elevation of 550 m (1,800 ft) up to 971 m (3,186 ft) at the Wurmberg summit. Other peaks in the vicinity include the Achtermannshöhe and the Hahnenklee Crags.

Braunlage ironworks, 1654 engraving by Matthäus Merian

First mentioned as Brunla in 1227, the town started out as a pit settlement in the Harz forests. It appeared as Brunenlo in a 1253 register of the Saxon counts of Regenstein and was revived, when their successors, the Counts of Blankenburg, established an ironworks here in 1561. With the extinction of the Blankenburg dynasty in 1599, Braunlage fell to the Dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

In the 17th century it was a small Brunswick market town located in the western part of the former Blankenburg lands. Tourism developed from the late 19th century onwards, other branches of business were forestry and a large granite quarry at the Wurmberg. Around 1910, one of the first interurban bus lines ran from Bad Harzburg up to Braunlage, served by Büssing vehicles. The Wurmberg Ski Jumps were erected in 1922 (demolished in 2014). In 1934 Braunlage received town privileges and municipal status as a health resort.

After World War II, Braunlage was located close to the fortified inner German border which ran through the Harz mountains. In 1963 it became the location of the Wurmberg Gondola Lift, today with a length of 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) and a height difference of 400 m (1,300 ft) to the summit station the longest in Northern Germany. On 7 May 1964 Gerhard Zucker demonstrated a flight of mail rockets on the Hasselkopf hill. One of these rockets exploded, killing two spectators.

Since German reunification in 1990, Braunlage again is located in the centre of the Harz touristic region, however, it had to cope with growing competition by the neighbouring resorts in Saxony-Anhalt.

Demographics

Population statistics

Year Inhabitants 1821 1,691 1848 2,473 1871 2,288 1885 2,489 1905 3,408 1925 4,520

Year Inhabitants 1933 4,893 1939 4,981 1946 9,489 1950 9,334 1956 7,523

Year Inhabitants 1961 7,163 1968 7,716 1970 7,249 1975 7,266 1980 7,140

Year Inhabitants 1985 6,776 1990 6,148 1995 5,998 2000 5,476 2005 5,142

A museum of local history covers Braunlage's tradition as a health resort and official venue of the International Ski Federation (FIS). The townscape includes extended spa gardens

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Braunlage.

• Braunlage travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Braunlage Tourism
• Braunlage at Curlie