Derenburg

Stadtteil of Blankenburg am Harz

Market square and St. Trinity Chruch

Coat of arms

Derenburg

Location of Derenburg within Harz district

Coordinates: 51°52′N 10°54′E / 51.867°N 10.900°ECoordinates: 51°52′N 10°54′E / 51.867°N 10.900°E

Country

Town

Area

• Total

37.25 km² (14.38 sq mi)

Elevation

164 m (538 ft)

Population (2006-12-31)

• Total

2,662

• Density

71/km² (190/sq mi)

CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)

38895

039453

Website

Derenburg is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it has been part of the Blankenburg am Harz municipality.

The settlement is situated in the northern foothills of the Harz mountain range on the Holtemme river, some 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) east of Wernigerode, and 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Halberstadt. It has access to the Bundesstraße 6n highway at the nearby Heimburg junction.

Derenburg is the site of a grave field dating back to the Linear Pottery culture about 5500–4500 BC. Archaeological excavations have revealed some ornaments made from Spondylus shells failry rare in this Northern region. Moreover, several large menhirs in the area denote a prehistoric settlement.

Derenburg was probably founded under the rule of King Henry the Fowler (d. 936 AD), who had a fortified Königspfalz erected; the Taremburch settlement was first mentioned in a 937 deed issued by his son and successor Otto I. Then part of the Eastphalian region of medieval Saxony, it was even the site of an Imperial Diet convened by Otto's daughter Abbess Matilda of Quedlinburg in 993, while her nephew King Otto III was on campaign in Italy. Derenburg Castle remained a preferred location of the Ottonian dynasty until in 1008 King Henry II ceded the estates to Gandersheim Abbey under his aunt Abbess Sophia. Subsequently, the comital House of Regenstein was enfoeffed with the lordship and the Pfalz of Derenburg lost its Imperial status.

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Wikipedia