The formerly free mining town (Bergstadt) ofLautenthal in Germany is a state-recognised, climaticspa with around 1,570 inhabitants^[1] and has been part of the borough ofLangelsheim since 1972.

Lautenthal lies in theInnerste valley betweenClausthal-Zellerfeld and Langelsheim in the northwesternUpper Harz. The town is located at a height of about300 m above sea level (NN) in a valley bowl, the surrounding mountains being up to620 m above NN. The two rivers of theInnerste and theLaute flow through the town. Towards Langelsheim the Innerste is impounded by theInnerste Dam.

Mining of copper, lead and silver in the area around Lautenthal started about 1225.^[2] In the middle of the 14th century, however, the Harz was depopulated because of plague and mining came to an end.

Mining in the Harz was started again in 1524. Lautenthal was founded in 1538 as a mining settlement on the river Laute, a small tributary of the Innerste, and had already been given the status of a town by 1580. Sixteen years later it became a freemining town. The town was enlarged in 1560 and a rectangular market place was laid out. A comparatively large town hall was built in 1570. The building was transformed into a hotel later. In 1626, the town was plundered by the troops ofJohann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly in theThirty Years' War. The Protestant town church was built 1649-59. In 1690, 28 mines were operated in and around Lautenthal. In 1821, the town had 2.006 inhabitants.^[3] The railway line to Lautenthal,Innerste Valley Railway, was inaugurated in 1875 and extended toAltenau in 1914. Railway bridges were built over the Laute and the Innerste. Tourism gradually developed creating more and more jobs. At the beginning of the 20th century, Lautenthal had 2.626 inhabitants.

As of 30 June 2018, Lautenthal had a population of 1,570.^[1]

With the closure of the mines in 1959 the town lost its significance and was incorporated into the borough of Langelsheim in 1972. In 1976 the railway line to Lautenthal was closed and the former railway station was transformed into a hotel.

• The former silver mineLautenthals Glück was transformed into a museum in 1975.
• Paul Gerhardt Church, a Protestant church in the old town centre, was built from 1649-59. Its altar and the organ date from 1719.^[4]
• Originally, Lautenthal did not have a real Market Place, but an oblong street market on both sides of the oldest streetHahnenkleer Straße, the high street. Several well-preserved half-timbered houses from the 18th and 19th centuries can be seen here.^[5]
• One of the half-timbered houses in Hahnenkleer Straße was a brewery calledZwergenbräu from 1660-1959. It was transformed into a brewery museum in 1960.
• The present Market Place (Marktplatz) was laid out in 1560. In the Middle Ages, many inhabitants of Lautenthal worked as charcoal-burners who lived in small wooden huts in the forest in summer. A small charcoal-burner's hut, rebuilt in a traditional style, can be seen in the middle of the Market Place. The former Town Hall was built in 1570 and transformed into a hotel in 1658. It was inhabited byGoethe in 1784 and by King George V. in 1862.
• The old clocktower was built in 1680 on a hill offering a scenic view of the town. Opposite, the former hospital is worth a look.
• One of the tourist attractions of Lautenthal is the smallest house of the western Harz Mountains which can be seen in the laneAn der Laute.
• The former railway station of Lautenthal was inaugurated in 1877. After the railway line had been closed in 1976, it was transformed into a hotel.

• Paul Ernst (1940),Das Glück von Lautenthal (in German), München: Albert Langen/Georg Müller

• Media related toLautenthal at Wikimedia Commons
• Official home page of the Fremdenverkehrsvereins Bergstadt Lautenthal e. V.
• Homepage of the former free mining town of Lautenthal im Oberharz

51°52′13″N10°17′27″E / 51.87028°N 10.29083°E /51.87028; 10.29083

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