Ballenstedt

Ballenstedt
Old town
Coat of arms
Ballenstedt
Location of Ballenstedt within Harz district
Coordinates: 51°43′12″N 11°14′15″E / 51.72000°N 11.23750°E / 51.72000; 11.23750Coordinates: 51°43′12″N 11°14′15″E / 51.72000°N 11.23750°E / 51.72000; 11.23750
Country	Germany
State	Saxony-Anhalt
District	Harz
Government
• Mayor	Dr. Michael Knoppik (CDU)
Area
• Total	86.61 km2 (33.44 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	9,130
• Density	110/km2 (270/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	06493
Dialling codes	039483
Vehicle registration	HZ
Website	www.ballenstedt.de

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

It is situated at the northern rim of the Harz mountain range, about 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Quedlinburg. The municipal area comprises the villages of Asmusstedt, Badeborn, Opperode, Radisleben, and Rieder. Ballenstedt ist a stop on the scenic Romanesque Road.

The Saxon count Esico of Ballenstedt (~1000-1059/60) was mentioned in a 1030 entry in the medieval chronicles of the Annalista Saxo and in a 1036 deed issued by Emperor Conrad II. He was a son of one Count Adalbert, who held the office of a Vogt of Nienburg Abbey, and Hidda, a daughter of Margrave Odo I of the Saxon Ostmark. Esico, whose sister Uta married Margrave Eckard II of Meissen is considered the progenitor of the House of Ascania. He had a collegiate church erected in Ballenstedt, dedicated to Saints Pancras and Abundius, in the presence of Emperor Henry III in 1046.

Ballenstedt itself was not mentioned before 1073, when King Henry IV of Germany certified the donation of the estates by Esico's son Count Adalbert II to Nienburg Abbey. In 1123 Adalbert's son Otto the Rich together with his son Albert the Bear, who would become the first ruler of Brandenburg, established a Benedictine monastery at the site. Albert and was buried at the crypt of the abbey church in 1070; a monument for him is located in the town's park. Albert's grandson Henry I became the first Prince of Anhalt in 1218.