NORDHAUSEN

city, Thuringia Land (state), central Germany, lying on the Zorge River, at the southern slopes of the Harz Mountains, in the fertile lowland known as the Goldene Aue (Golden Meadow). First mentioned in 927 as the site of a royal castle near the older Frankish settlement of Northusen (Nordhusa), it was made a free imperial city in 1290 and accepted the Reformation in 1522. It lost its independence in 1802, when it was annexed by Prussia, forming part of Prussian Saxony (except for the period 180713, when it was Westphalian) until 1945. It incorporated the neighbouring villages of Salza and Krimderode in 1950. Historic buildings that survived heavy air attacks in World War II include the 17th-century town hall with the oaken statue of Roland (1717), a symbol of civic liberty; the late Gothic cathedral with a Romanesque crypt; and the 13th-century Church of St. Blasius, which contains works by Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Younger. The city has a civic museum, a theatre, a teachers' training college, an institute of agricultural technology, and a sports school. Industries include brewing; distilling; the manufacture of chewing tobacco, machinery, clothing, chemicals, and wood products; and shaft-sinking processes. Pop. (1989 est.) 48,734.