Alter Stolberg
Encyclopedia
The Alter Stolberg is a wooded karst
KARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...

 plateau, up to high, in the South Harz in Central Germany. It lies in the districts of Nordhausen in the state of Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

 and Mansfeld-Südharz in the state of 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...

.

Geographical location

The ridge of the Alter Stolberg is part of the South Harz Zechstein
Zechstein
The Zechstein is a unit of sedimentary rock layers of Middle to Late Permian age located in the European Permian Basin which stretches from the east coast of England to northern Poland...

 belt and lies mainly in Thuringia; with its eastern foothills dropping into the valley of the Krebsbach
Krebsbach
Krebsbach is the name of the following places and geographical features:Settlements:* Krebsbach , village in der settlement of Barwies, municipality of Mieming, Tyrol, Austria...

 stream and Thyra
Thyra (river)
The Thyra is a 20 km long river in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz in the Harz Mountains of central Germany.- Course :The Thyra begins its course in the old quarter of Stolberg in the Harz Mountains at the confluence of three mountain streams - the Große Wilde, Kleine Wilde and Lude - and...

 river. To the north is the Harz; to the south the Goldene Aue
Goldene Aue
The Goldene Aue is a valley in eastern Germany, in the states Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated between the towns Nordhausen in the west, and Sangerhausen in the east. It is bordered by the mountain ranges Harz in the north, and Windleite and Kyffhäuser in the south...

 through which the River Helme flows.

The Alter Stolberg lies between the following parishes in clockwise order: Görsbach
Görsbach
Görsbach is a municipality in the district of Nordhausen, in Thuringia, Germany.-Notable people:Günter Parche lived in Görsbach....

 and Urbach to the south, Leimbach and Steigerthal to the west, Buchholz and Herrmannsacker
Herrmannsacker
Herrmannsacker is a municipality in the district of Nordhausen, in Thuringia, Germany....

 to northwest, Stempeda
Stempeda
Stempeda is a former municipality in the district of Nordhausen, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 December 2007, it is part of the town Nordhausen....

 and − on the other sides of that − Rodishain
Rodishain
Rodishain is a former municipality in the district of Nordhausen, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 December 2007, it is part of the town Nordhausen....

 to the north (all in Thuringia) and the Saxony-Anhalt villages of Rottleberode
Rottleberode
Rottleberode is a village and a former municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Südharz....

 and Uftrungen
Uftrungen
Uftrungen is a village and a former municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Südharz....

 to the east.

The highest hill in the Alter Stolberg is the Königskopf which rises in the northern part of the ridge. Another prominent hill is the Reesberg in the southeastern part.

Points of interest

The northern part of the heavily forested ridge is designated as the Alter Stolberg Nature Reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 and large parts of it as the Alter Stolberg Protected Landscape.

Near the Reesberg is the plaster cave, known as Heimkehle. In addition, the ridge is home to the ruins of the Grasburg
Grasburg (Rottleberode)
The Grasburg is a prehistoric refuge castle, in the form of a hillfort with a rampart and ditch system, near Rottleberode in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.- History :...

, a medieval refuge castle, which legend has it was the family castle of the Counts of Stolberg.
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