DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Freistaat Thüringen	Thuringia
Landkreis: Nordhausen

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Nordhausen is situated in the southern foothills of the Harz mountain region and is the largest town in northern Thuringia (about 100,000 inhabitants). The place was first mentioned in 927 AD. For almost 600 years, from 1220 until 1802, Nordhausen was a Free Imperial city. Between 1304/1306 and 1481 Nordhausen formed a union with Erfurt and Mühlhausen / Thüringen. In 1430 the three towns joined the strong Goslar union within the Hanse federation of trading towns. During the Reformation period it was one of the first German towns to become Protestant. In the 17th century it suffered heavily during the Thirty Years' War. In 1803 Nordhausen became Prussian, was occupied in 1807 by France and became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia, until becoming part of the Kingdom of Prussia again in 1813. During World War II the Nazis built the labour camp 'Dora' near Nordhausen in 1943, which was enlarged to the concentration camp 'Mittelbau' in 1944. An allied air raid destroyed about 70% of the historical old town and killed more than 8,000 people in April 1945. Restoration efforts started in 1990.

The Promenade park was laid out in 1850 after the old moats had been filled up. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal (monument for Emperor Wilhelm I) [left] shown on the glass was located near the southern end of the park. The monument does not exist any more today.