Alexisbad

Alexisbad
Alexisbad
	Borough of Harzgerode
	Former Reichsbahn recreation home
	Location of Alexisbad
	Alexisbad Alexisbad
	Coordinates: 51°38′58″N11°7′1″E / 51.64944°N 11.11694°E Coordinates: 51°38′58″N11°7′1″E / 51.64944°N 11.11694°E
Country	Germany
State	Saxony-Anhalt
District	Harz
Town	Harzgerode
Elevation	310 m (1,020 ft)
Population
• Total	52
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	06493
Dialling codes	039484
Vehicle registration	HZ, QLB

Last updated September 03, 2019

Alexisbad is a small spa town, part of Harzgerode in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa. Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word spa is derived from the name of Spa, a town in Belgium.

Harzgerode is a town in the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Harz is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Geography

Alexisbad is located about 2 km (1.2 mi) northwest of the Harzgerode town centre on the Bundesstrasse 185 road to Ballenstedt. It is situated in the valley of the Selke river and its Schwefelbach and Friedenstalbach tributaries, in the lower eastern outskirts of the Harz mountain range, about 310 m (1,020 ft) above sea level. The settlement is surrounded by the Harz/Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park.

Ballenstedt is a town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Selke (river) tributary of the River Bode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

The Selke is a river of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Schwefelbach is a river of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It flows into the Selke in Alexisbad.

In earlier years, the spa town was known for its medicinal waters, of which the Alexisbrunnen, an iron-rich spring, is used for drinking water, while the Selkebrunnen supplies the baths.^[1] It has its own station on the narrow gauge steam railway section from Gernrode to Harzgerode, which is part of the historic Selke Valley Railway network operated by the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways company.^{[ citation needed ]}

Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal, that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust.

Drinking water, also known as potable water, is water that is safe to drink or to use for food preparation. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, age, health-related issues, and environmental conditions. Americans, on average, drink one litre of water per day and 95% drink less than three litres per day. For those who work in a hot climate, up to 16 litres a day may be required. Liquid water, along with air pressure, nutrients, and solar energy, is essential for life.

Bathing is the washing of the body with a liquid, usually water or an aqueous solution, or the immersion of the body in water. It may be practiced for personal hygiene, religious ritual or therapeutic purposes. By analogy, especially as a recreational activity, the term is also applied to sun bathing and sea bathing.

History

The Selke valley is the site of the former Benedictine Hagenenrod Abbey, a filial monastery of Nienburg Abbey founded in 975. The Nienburg monks obtained market, minting and customs rights by King Otto III in 993. About 1000, the local Schwabengau counts of Ballenstedt, progenitors of the noble House of Ascania, served as Vogt protectors. Though the estates were placed under protection by Pope Alexander III in 1179, the monks later resettled to Naumburg and the premises, devastated during the German Peasants' War in 1525, decayed.

Nienburg Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Nienburg in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Otto III was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his early death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu.

The Schwabengau was an early medieval shire (Gau) in the Eastphalia region of the medieval Duchy of Saxony. Ruled by the House of Ascania, it became the nucleus of the later Principality of Anhalt, today part of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

When the Ascanian Princes of Anhalt had the region developed as a mining area, a gallery was excavated for pyrite in 1692. Mining was resumed under Prince Frederick Albert of Anhalt-Bernburg from 1759 onwards, and sulfur was produced by destillation. The healing properties of the waters were first examined in 1766, however, initial attempts to establish a medical care and spa business were not successful.

The Principality of Anhalt was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, located in Central Germany, in what is today part of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposit. These deposits form a mineralized package that is of economic interest to the miner.

The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula FeS₂ (iron(II) disulfide). Pyrite is considered the most common of the sulfide minerals.

In 1809 Prince Frederick Albert's successor Duke Alexius Frederick Christian Anhalt-Bernburg had the waters again analyzed by the physician Karl Ferdinand von Graefe, who stressed the content of iodine, fluorine, and iron. A spa town including a casino was laid out according to plans by Carl Friedrich Schinkel, who also designed a tea house for Alexius' consort Marie Friederike, which later was turned into a Protestant chapel at the behest of Duchess Friederike of Anhalt-Bernburg.

Alexius Frederick Christian of Anhalt-Bernburg, was a German prince of the House of Ascania. From 1796 until 1807 he was Reigning prince of the principality of Anhalt-Bernburg, and from 1807 until 1834 the first Duke of the Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg.

Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a lustrous, purple-black non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at 114 degrees Celsius, and boils to a violet gas at 184 degrees Celsius. The element was discovered by the French chemist Bernard Courtois in 1811. It was named two years later by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac from this property, after the Greek ἰώδης "violet-coloured".

Fluorine is a chemical element with the symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen and exists as a highly toxic pale yellow diatomic gas at standard conditions. As the most electronegative element, it is extremely reactive, as it reacts with almost all other elements, except for helium and neon.

Alexisbad soon became a fashionable health resort. Among the first guests was the composer Carl Maria von Weber in 1820. On 12 May 1856, the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (Association of German Engineers, VDI) was founded here during a vacation of several academics.

Tourism

The economy of the village is dominated by tourism. There are several hotels, pensions and restaurants. Hiking trails lead into the attractive local countryside. Typical destinations are:

The Betrothal Urn (Verlobungsurne) - a monument at a good viewing point above the town (checkpoint 177 in the Harzer Wandernadel hiking system).
The Luisentempel, a monopteros built in 1823 on a prominent rock above Alexisbad and named after Princess Luise of Anhalt-Bernburg (1799–1882)
The Köthen Hut (Köthener Hütte), checkpoint 195 in the Harzer Wandernadel hiking system. The hut may be reached on a steep zigzag path that runs from the B 185 road below where there is a small, unsigned, parking bay. Otherwise walkers need to start from Alexisbad, Harzgerode or Mägdesprung.

Notable people

The author Walter Kempowski (1929–2007) spent his summer holidays in Alexisbad in 1939. He perpetuated the resort as Sophienbad in his 1971 autobiographic novel Tadellöser & Wolff.

Related Research Articles

The Selke Valley Railway (Selketalbahn), Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway and the Anhalt Harz Railway were different names for the metre gauge railway in the Lower Harz, Germany, originally owned by the Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway Company.

Güntersberge Locality of Harzgerode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Güntersberge is a village and a former town in Harz District, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It holds the status of an officially recognized resort town since 2001. Güntersberge, together with the other municipalities of the former Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Unterharz, merged into the town of Harzgerode as of 1 August 2009.

Schielo is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 August 2009, it is part of the town of Harzgerode. Basket weaving was common until in the early 20th century logging took over. Today agriculture, a number of small businesses, a caring home specialising in residential and nursing dementia care, as well as tourism related activities dominate the area.

Hasselfelde is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Harz, approximately 17 km south of Wernigerode. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Oberharz am Brocken. As of 1 January 2010 Hasselfelde has 2,390 inhabitants.

Neudorf is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 September 2010, it is part of the town Harzgerode.

Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company transport company

The Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company or NWE was the second railway company to be founded in the Harz mountains in Germany, after the Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway Company. On 15 June 1896 the NWE was formed by the Vereinigten Eisenbahnbau- und Betriebs-Gesellschaft in Berlin, who also ran its operations. As early as 1896 the first section of this narrow gauge Harz Railway ('Harzquerbahn') was opened, followed by the Brocken Railway (Brockenbahnin) 1898, which was also narrow gauge. On 1 April 1908, the NWE took over operations from the Vereinigten Eisenbahnbau- und Betriebsgesellschaft.

Anhalt Castle is a ruined medieval fortification near the town of Harzgerode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Falkenstein Castle, also formerly called New Falkenstein Castle to distinguish it from Old Falkenstein Castle, is a German hill castle in the Harz Mittelgebirge, dating to the High Middle Ages. It is located in the town of Falkenstein between Aschersleben and Harzgerode.

Trautenstein is a village in the borough of Oberharz am Brocken in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Trautenstein has 493 inhabitants (1-1-2010).

Meisdorf House is a schloss in the village of Meisdorf in the borough of Falkenstein in the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, that is now used as a hotel. It was built in 1708 with a 12-hectare (30-acre) castle park.

Mägdesprung is a village in the municipality of Harzgerode in the district of Harz. It nestles in the Harz Mountains at a height of 295 m.

The Bremen Hut in the Harz Mountains is a refuge hut and shelter in that part of the Harz National Park lying within the borough of Ilsenburg (Harz) in Harz district in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

The Ackeburg, also called the Ackenburg, in the Harz Mountains of central Germany, is the site of a high medieval hill castle, 333.2 m above sea level (NN), in the borough of Falkenstein/Harz in Harz district in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. It was first mentioned in 1216 and was abandoned or destroyed in 1400. There was also a village associated with it, known as Akkeburg.

The Kapitelsberg in the Harz Mountains of Germany is a hill, 535.7 m above sea level (NN), near the village of Tanne in the county of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt.

The Elversstein in the Harz Mountains of Germany is a granite rock formation with a maximum elevation of 499 m above sea level (NN) on the Steinberg near Hasserode in the county of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt.

The Drei-Länder-Stein is a boundary stone at the tripoint of the German federal states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia near the Großer Ehrenberg mountain in the Harz.

Bergrat Müller Pond dam in Harz, Harz county, Saxony-Anhalt

The Bergrat Müller Pond, named after a former mining director, Müller, in the Harz mountains of central Germany is a storage pond laid out from 1737 to 1738. It has an area of about 1.3 ha and lies in the forested southern part of the borough of Quedlinburg in the county of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt.

The Scharfenstein is a 462.4 m above sea level (NN) high hill spur of the Eichberg-Süd in the Harz Mountains of Germany, near the town of Wernigerode in the county of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt.

References

↑ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alexisbad". Encyclopædia Britannica . 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 577.

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[EB1911-1] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alexisbad". Encyclopædia Britannica . 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 577.