Goslar
Goslar, city, Lower Saxony Land (state), north-central Germany. It lies at the northern foot of the Harz Mountains, south of Braunschweig. Founded in 922 to protect rich silver mines discovered in the Rammelsberg mountain, it became a favourite residence of the early Holy Roman emperors. The scene of frequent meetings of the Reichstag (legislative assembly) in the 11th and 12th centuries, it joined the Hanseatic League in the 13th century. After obtaining an imperial provostship in 1290, it was a free imperial city until annexed by Prussia in 1802. It passed to Westphalia in 1807, to Prussia in 1814, to Hanover in 1815, and, with the Hanoverian kingdom, back to Prussia in 1866. The German chancellor Adolf Hitler made it the headquarters of the Nazi agricultural organization in 1936. Undamaged during World War II, the city received many refugees from elsewhere in Germany.
Goslar is a tourist centre, and it is an important gateway for tourists to the Harz Mountains. In addition, it produces chemicals, synthetic materials, building materials, paper, glass, metal products, textiles, foodstuffs, and electrical products.
Parts of the old city walls remain, as do the 16th-century towers, particularly the Breites Tor (Broad Gate), Zwinger, and Achtermann. There are interesting stone and half-timbered buildings from the 13th–16th centuries and guildhalls belonging to the bakers’ and cloth merchants’ guilds; the latter (1494) is now the Kaiserworth Hotel. The Imperial Palace (c. 1040, restored late 19th century) was built by Emperor Henry III, whose tomb is in the St. Ulrich Chapel. The 12th-century town hall, later rebuilt, contains a unique homage chamber. The cathedral (consecrated 1050) was demolished in 1819, but surviving medieval monastery and parish churches include the Neuwerkkirche, St. James’s, the Market Church, and the Frankenberg Church. The Rammelsberg mine and Goslar’s historic city centre were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992. There are museums of natural science, art, music and puppetry, and cultural history. Pop. (2003 est.) 43,727.