Altenbrak is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz

Harz (district)

- History :The district was established by merging the former districts of Halberstadt, Wernigerode and Quedlinburg as well as the city of Falkenstein as part of the reform of 2007.-Towns and municipalities:...

, in Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Geography

The village is strung out for about 1.6 kilometres along the River Bode in an east-west valley. It is 3 kilometres from the Wendefurth Reservoir, which is part of the Rappbode Reservoir. From its shape and nature, Altenbrak is very much a Straßendorf or ribbon development.

In front of the dam is the hamlet of Wendefurth

Wendefurth

Wendefurth is a hamlet in central Germany that, since 1 July 2009, has been part of the borough of Thale district of Harz. Previously it belonged to the municipality of Altenbrak which was incorporated into Thale.- Geographical location :...

 that used to belong to this parish. Altenbrak's neighbouring communities are
Allrode

Allrode

Allrode is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Thale....

, Blankenburg (Harz), Cattenstedt

Cattenstedt

Cattenstedt is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Blankenburg am Harz....

, Friedrichsbrunn

Friedrichsbrunn

Friedrichsbrunn is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 23 November 2009, it is part of the town Thale.-History:...

, Hasselfelde

Hasselfelde

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...

, Treseburg

Treseburg

Treseburg is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Thale.- Geography :...

, Wendefurth and Wienrode

Wienrode

Wienrode is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Blankenburg am Harz....

.
Within the local area are the forest inn of Todtenrode and the Jagdschloss Windenhütte

Jagdschloss Windenhütte

The Jagdschloss Windenhütte is an historic former hunting lodge now serving as an hotel and daytripper's restaurant in the Harz Mountains of central Germany.- Location :...

 which are also checkpoints 65 and 59 in the Harzer Wandernadel

Harzer Wandernadel

The Harzer Wandernadel is a network of checkpoints for walkers in the Harz mountains in North Germany. It includes a system whereby the hiker can earn badges at different levels by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and recording them...

 hiking network.

History

Altenbrak was first mentioned in 1448 as a smelting

Smelting

Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...

 site. The establishment of the village probably goes back further to 1227. After the last ironworks

Ironworks

An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...

 was closed in 1867 the population became poverty-stricken. Later, tourism developed, encouraged by the sheltered situation of the village.

Ther has been a private post office (Postagentur) in Altenbrak since 1891. Its post agents were Heinrich Fessel (1891-1902); Adolf Schomburg (1907); Fritz Steffen (1908-09); and Georg Hoffmann (1910-16).

In 1884 Theodor Fontane

Theodor Fontane

Theodor Fontane was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.-Youth:Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He became an...

 spent some time in Altenbrak. The Gasthaus zum Rodenstein and other places he visited during his excursion into the Bode Gorge

Bode Gorge

The Bode Gorge is a long, ravine that forms part of the Bode valley between Treseburg and Thale in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. The German term, Bodetal , is also used in a wider sense to refer to the valleys of the Warme and Kalte Bode rivers that feed the River Bode.At the Bode Gorge,...

 are mentioned in his novel, Cécile

Cécile

Cécile or Cecile is a female given name or surname:* Cécile Aubry , retired French film actress and television screenwriter and director* Cécile Brunschvicg , French feminist politician...

. Since 1949 Altenbrak has been a climatic spa (Luftkurort).

Since 1 July 2009, it has been part of the borough of Thale

Thale

Thale is a town in the Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany.-Geography:It is situated on the river Bode, approximately 8 km west of Quedlinburg. It is the terminus of the Magdeburg–Thale railway.- History :...

.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was approved by the county on 10 July 2008.

Blazon

Blazon

In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...

: "Divided vertically gold and green, left a green spruce, right a silver half-waterwheel, in the blue wavy base a silver trout" (Gespalten von Gold und Grün, vorn eine ausgerissene grüne Fichte, hinten ein halbes silbernes Wassermühlrad am Spalt, im blauen Wellenschildfuß eine silberne Forelle.")

The colours of the old parish are the colours green and gold (based on the tincture of the coat of arms).

The coat of arms was created by the Magdeburg herald, Jörg Mantzsch.

Flag

The flag has two stripes: the left-hand stripe is green and the right is yellow. On horizontal flags the upper striper is green and the lower one yellow. The coat of arms is placed in the centre.

Culture and places of interest

The Harzer Hexenstieg

Harzer Hexenstieg

The Harzer Hexenstieg is a footpath, just under 100 km long, in Germany that runs from Osterode through the Harz mountains and over its highest peak, the Brocken, to Thale...

, a hiking trail just under 100 km long, running from Osterode

Osterode am Harz

For the town in East Prussia formerly called Osterode, see Ostróda.Osterode am Harz often simply called Osterode, is a town in south-eastern Niedersachsen on the south-western edge of the Harz mountains. It is the seat of government of the district of Osterode. The town is twinned with Scarborough,...

 to Thale

Thale

Thale is a town in the Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany.-Geography:It is situated on the river Bode, approximately 8 km west of Quedlinburg. It is the terminus of the Magdeburg–Thale railway.- History :...

 passes through Altenbrak. Every year on the first weekend in September the Harz Yodelling Competition takes place in Altenbrak. Plays and concerts take place on the forest stage in Altenbrak in the summer. It has seating for 1300.

Born in the village

• Herbert Krebs, born 19 June 1901 in the Todtenrode Forester's House (Forsthaus Todtenrode); died 13 November 1980 in Rechtmehring
  Rechtmehring
  Rechtmehring is a municipality in the district of Mühldorf in Bavaria in Germany....
  
  , forester and hunting author (Vor und nach der Jägerprüfung)