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County of Blankenburg (till 1707) Principality of Blankenburg (since 1707) Grafschaft Blankenburg (till 1707) Fürstentum Blankenburg (since 1707) | |||||||||
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1123–1815 | |||||||||
Status | County | ||||||||
Capital | Blankenburg (Harz) | ||||||||
Common languages | Eastphalian | ||||||||
Government | County | ||||||||
Historical era | Modern history | ||||||||
• Partitioned from Saxony | 1123 | ||||||||
1182 | |||||||||
• Joined Lower Saxon Circle | 1500 | ||||||||
1599 | |||||||||
1707 | |||||||||
1815 | |||||||||
• East-West division | 22 July 1945 | ||||||||
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The County of Blankenburg (German : Grafschaft Blankenburg) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Blankenburg, it was located in and near the Harz mountains.
About 1123 Lothair of Supplinburg, then Duke of Saxony, had Blankenburg Castle erected in the Eastphalian Harzgau region. His vassal Poppo I of Blankenburg, a relative of Lothair's wife Richenza of Northeim, is documented as count over the Eastern Harzgau since 1128. He later also appeared as a ministerialis of the Welf duke Henry the Lion. After Poppo's death around 1161, his sons divided their heritage: Conrad took his residence at Regenstein Castle, 4 km (2.5 mi) north of Blankenburg, and became the ancestor of the noble House of Regenstein, while his brother Siegfried I retained Blankenburg Castle.
In 1180 Henry the Lion was deposed by an intervention of his Hohenstaufen cousin Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, allied with many Saxon vassals and former supporters of Duke Henry. However, the then ruling Counts of Blankenburg, Henry and Siegfried II, remained true liensmen of their liege lord, until Prince-Bishop Dietrich of Halberstadt, newly raised to Imperial immediacy by the emperor, besieged Blankenburg Castle and defeated them with his troops in 1182. After swearing allegiance to Dietrich, the brothers could maintain their county, their descendants laid out the Blankenburg settlement beneath the castle about 1200. The estates remained under suzerainty of the Halberstadt prince-bishops, strongly contested by the Welf dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
In 1599 the comital family became extinct, and the fief was reverted to the Prince-Bishopric, which at that time was held by the Welf administrator Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick and Lunenburg. Even though the Bishopric was secularised as the Principality of Halberstadt and given to the "Great Elector" Frederick William of Brandenburg by the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, the Welfs kept the fief of Blankenburg, which became an eastern exclave of their Principality of Wolfenbüttel. In 1690, the county was given to the younger son of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Prince Louis Rudolph.
In 1707 Prince Louis Rudolph managed to betroth his daughter Elisabeth Christine to Charles VI of Habsburg and to get Charles' elder brother Emperor Joseph I to raise his county to an immediate principality, thus ending Halberstadt's mediate liege lordship. Since 1731 Prince Louis Rudolph of Blankenburg upon the death of his elder brother Augustus William also inherited the Principality of Wolfenbüttel, both principalities were ruled in personal union, however, the princes of Blankenburg moved to Wolfenbüttel, the capital of the inherited bigger principality.
After the defeat of Duke Charles William Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by Napoléon Bonaparte at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, the Principality of Blankenburg was annexed to the newly established Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, which in turn was dissolved after the Battle of Leipzig and Blankenburg was restituted. Charles William's son and successor, the "Black Duke" Frederick William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, returned from British exile and entered into fighting the French expansion in Europe, dying at the Battle of Quatre Bras in 1815.
In 1815 the principalities of Wolfenbüttel and Blankenburg were de jure united as Duchy of Brunswick, with the former Principality of Blankenburg becoming an administrative district within the new duchy. The duchy became the Free State of Brunswick after the abdication of the dukes in 1918. After the apportionment of assets and liabilities between the states of the Weimar Republic and the abdicated regnal houses in 1924 the ducal family maintained - among other estates - its castle in Blankenburg am Harz and Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick, and his family returned from their Austrian exile in 1930 in order to live there. In 1942 the District of Blankenburg, until then a Brunswickian exclave between the Free State of Anhalt and the Prussian provinces of Hanover and Saxony became territorially connected with mainland Brunswick in the course of a territorial redeployment between the Free State of Brunswick and the Free State of Prussia.
According to the London Protocol (September 1944) all of the Free State of Brunswick was supposed to become part of the future British zone of occupation in Germany. So after US forces had conquered the region in April 1945 the District of Blankenburg was handed over to the Britons on 1 July. However, on July 22 the Britons put into effect a territorial redeployment between their zone and the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, shortening the zonal border by assigning exclaves and salients along the border to the respective other zone (mostly) surrounding them. Thus the District of Blankenburg was divided at its narrowest section into a western third, remaining with the British zone and the eastern two thirds, including the eponymous capital, becoming part of the Soviet zone to the dismay of the population there. The British army helped the ducal family to evacuate their chattels with 30 army trucks, a favour which other unfortunate families, not related to the British royal family, could not enjoy.
At uniting the Free State of Brunswick, except of the seized eastern exclaves and salients, and further German states to become Lower Saxony in 1946, the western third of the former Principality or District of Blankenburg, respectively, became part of that state. Until 1 July 1972 it formed a district of its own, named District of Blankenburg (German : Kreis Blankenburg ), with the capital in Braunlage. Then - by an administrative redeployment - the western district was divided between the districts of Goslar and Osterode.
The eastern two thirds became first part of the Province of Saxony and then of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, founded in 1946. The eastern District of Blankenburg (German : Kreis Blankenburg ) was dissolved on 30 June 1950, with its territory divided between the districts of Quedlinburg and Wernigerode. Since 1 July 2007 its former territory is included in the new Hartz mountains district.
As of 1789, the Principality of Blankenburg was surrounded by (from the north clockwise): Brandenburg (County of Stolberg-Wernigerode and Principality of Halberstadt), Anhalt-Bernburg, Brandenburg (County of Hohnstein), and Brunswick-Grubenhagen. Cities were Blankenburg am Harz and Hasselfelde.
As of 1932, the District of Blankenburg was surrounded by (from north clockwise): Prussian Province of Saxony, Free State of Anhalt, Province of Saxony, Prussian Province of Hanover. Cities were Blankenburg am Harz, Braunlage and Hasselfelde.
The Province of Saxony, also known as Prussian Saxony, was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg.
Braunlage is a town and health resort in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony in Germany. Situated within the Harz mountain range, south of the Brocken massif, Braunlage's main business is tourism, particularly skiing. Nearby ski resorts include the Sonnenberg and the slopes on the Wurmberg.
The Principality of Grubenhagen was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruled by the Grubenhagen line of the House of Welf from 1291. It is also known as Brunswick-Grubenhagen. The principality fell to the Brunswick Principality of Lüneburg in 1617; from 1665 the territory was ruled by the Calenberg branch of the Welf dynasty.
Magnus I (1304–1369), called the Pious, was a notable German noble from the House of Welf, a powerful dynasty in medieval Germany. He was the ruler of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, a part of the larger Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Magnus was a key figure in the Welf dynasty’s efforts to consolidate their territorial holdings during a time of political fragmentation in the Holy Roman Empire.
The Diocese of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese from 804 until 1648. From 1180, the bishops or administrators of Halberstadt ruled a state within the Holy Roman Empire, the prince-bishopric of Halberstadt. The diocesan seat and secular capital was Halberstadt in present-day Saxony-Anhalt.
Blankenburg (Harz) is a town and health resort in the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, at the north foot of the Harz Mountains, 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Halberstadt.
Elbingerode is an Ortsteil of Oberharz am Brocken in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The former town was incorporated into the newly established municipality on 1 January 2010. Its population is 3,101 (2021).
Derenburg is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it has been part of the Blankenburg am Harz municipality. Its population is 2,466 (2021).
Calvörde is a municipality in the Börde district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Flechtingen.
The County of Regenstein was a mediaeval statelet of the Holy Roman Empire. It was ruled by the Saxon comital House of Regenstein, named after their residence at Regenstein Castle near Blankenburg north of the Harz mountain range.
The County of Wernigerode was a state of the Holy Roman Empire which arose in the Harzgau region of the former Duchy of Saxony, at the northern foot of the Harz mountain range. The comital residence was at Wernigerode, now part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The county was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg from 1429 until its mediatization to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1806. Nevertheless, the county remained in existence - with one short interruption - until the dissolution of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1918.
Oberharz am Brocken is a town in the Harz District, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2010 by the merger of the town of Elbingerode with the municipalities of the former Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Brocken-Hochharz.
Trautenstein is a village in the borough of Oberharz am Brocken in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Formerly an independent municipality, it was merged into the town Hasselfelde in 2002, which was merged into Oberharz am Brocken in 2010. Its population is 390 (2021).
Brunswick Land is a historical region in the Southeast of the German state of Lower Saxony, centred around the city of Braunschweig. It refers to the core territory of the historic Duchy of Brunswick and its successor, the Free State of Brunswick, which was disestablished in 1946.
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. Various dynastic lines of the House of Welf ruled Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. As a result of the Congress of Vienna, its successor state, the Duchy of Brunswick, was created in 1815.
Hessen, also Hessen am Fallstein, is a village in the Harz district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Formerly part of the Aue-Fallstein municipal association, it was merged into the Osterwieck municipality on 1 January 2010.
Regenstein Castle is a ruined castle that lies three kilometres north of Blankenburg in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is a popular tourist destination where, each year, a knight's tournament and a garrison festival are held.
Great Blankenburg Castle was built on the limestone hill of Blankenstein in the town of Blankenburg in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Nearby is the Little Castle with its Baroque garden, tea house and museum, the town wall, the pheasant garden, the castle park and the castle pond.
Hohegeiss is a health resort and winter sports village in the Harz mountains range in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 July 1972 Hohegeiss has been part of the town of Braunlage, in the district of Goslar.
Calvörde Castle is located in Calvörde in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Its existence was first recorded in the late 13th century. In the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period it was frequently fought over due to its location between the territories of Brandenburg, Magdeburg and Brunswick.