Wernigerode, a town of
Germany, in the province of [Prussian Saxony]
?, 13 m. by
rail S.W. of Halberstadt
?, picturesquely situated on the Holzemme
?, on the north
slopes of the [Harz Mountains]
?. Pop. (
1905) 13,137. It contains several
interesting Gothic buildings, including a fine town hall with a timber facade of
1498. Some of the quaint old houses which have escaped the numerous fires that
have visited the town are elaborately adorned with wood-carving. The gymnasium,
occupying a modern Gothic building, is the successor of an ancient
grammar-school, which existed until
1825. Brandy
?, cigar
?s and
dye-stuffs are
among the manufactures of the place. Above the town rises the chateau of the
prince of Stolberg-Wernigerode. A pavilion in the park contains the library of
117,000 volumes, the chief feature in which is the collection of over 3000
Bibles and over 5000 volumes of hymnology. Wernigerode is the chief town of the
county
(Grafschaft) of Stolberg-Wernigerode, which has an extent of 107
sq. m., and includes tlie Brocken within its limits.
The counts of Wernigerode, who can be traced back to the early 12th century,
were successively vassals of the margraves of Brandenburg (1268?), and the
archbishops of Magdeburg? (1381?). On the extinction of the family in 1429? the
county fell to the counts of Stolberg?, who founded tlie Stolberg-Wernigerode
branch in 1645?. The latter surrendered its military and fiscal independence to
Prussia in 1714?, but retained some of its sovereign rights till 1876. The counts
were raised to princely rank in 1890.
initial entry from a 1911 encyclopedia
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