Osterwieck ( pronunciation ) is a historic town in the Harz district , in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt .
6-511: The municipal area stretches along the river Ilse , north of Wernigerode and the Harz mountain range. The town Osterwieck consists of the following Ortschaften or municipal divisions: The Altstadt (Old Town) with St. Stephen's Church is a stop on the scenic German Timber-Frame Road and on the Romanesque Road . The settlement was first mentioned about 780 when Charlemagne in course of
12-545: Is commonly regarded as the date of the town's foundation. The name Osterwieck was first mentioned in a 1073 letter by Archbishop Liemar of Bremen to Bishop Burchard II of Halberstadt . Destroyed by a blaze in 1511, the town was rebuilt and today features an ensemble of about 400 Fachwerk buildings. The nave of the St. Stephen Church erected in the 16th century is one of the oldest Protestant church buildings, while its Romanesque twin steeples date back to 1100. On 1 January 2010
18-564: The Saxon Wars crossed the Oker river and had a church dedicated to Saint Stephen erected at a place then called Salingenstede . This church became a centre of the Christian mission among the pagan Saxons , overseen by Hildegrim of Châlons , and the origin of the later Bishopric of Halberstadt . On 1 April 974, Emperor Otto II issued a deed granting market and mint rights to Seligenstadt , this
24-633: The Harz Foreland, flows through Veckenstedt , Wasserleben , Osterwieck and Hornburg and discharges into the Oker near Börßum together with the Schiffgraben from the Großes Bruch . Its total length is around 40 kilometres (25 mi). Local folklore personifies the river as the beautiful Princess Ilse , who has her home in the rocks of the Ilsestein. The Ilse is mentioned in literary works such as
30-494: The former municipalities Aue-Fallstein , Berßel , Bühne , Lüttgenrode , Rhoden , Schauen , and Wülperode were merged into Osterwieck. The Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Osterwieck-Fallstein was disbanded at the same time. Seats in the town's council ( Stadtrat ) as of 2014 local elections: Osterwieck is twinned with: Ilse (Oker) The Ilse is a river of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony , Germany . It rises at about 900 metres (3,000 ft) above sea level on
36-592: The northern slopes of the Brocken . During its first few kilometres it flows as a narrow brook, almost invisible to the observer, down the side of the Brocken. Known here as the Verdeckte Ilse ("hidden Ilse") it gurgles its way under blocks of granite that hide the stream bed from above. The Ilse then rushes through the narrow Ilse valley , hemmed in to the east by the rugged, cross-topped Ilsestein, passes by Ilsenburg into
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