Wernigerode (Template:IPA-de) is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode^{[citation needed]}. Its population was 35,500 in 1999.

Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely situated on the Holtemme river, on the north slopes of the Harz Mountains. Wernigerode is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road.

Wernigerode was the capital of the medieval County of Wernigerode and Stolberg-Wernigerode. In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, it became part of the Prussian Province of Saxony. The Hasseröder brewery was founded in Wernigerode in 1872.

After World War II, Wernigerode was included in the new state Saxony-Anhalt. During the time of Communist East Germany, the town was very close to the inner German border. Wernigerode became part of the restored state of Saxony-Anhalt in 1990 after German reunification.

The town lies at about 250 metres above sea level (NN) on the northeastern flank of the Harz Mountains in central Germany, at the foot of their highest peak, the Brocken, on the B 6 and B 244 federal highways and on the railway line from Halberstadt to Vienenburg that links the cities of Halle (Saale) and Hanover.

The River Holtemme flows through the town and, not far from its western gate, it is joined by the Zillierbach stream, which is also known as the Flutrenne near its mouth. North of the town the Barrenbach flows through several ponds and empties into the Holtemme in the village of Minsleben. The historic town centre consists of an old town and a new town (Altstadt and Neustadt). The town's borough includes Hasserode, Nöschenrode, the residential estates of Stadtfeld, Burgbreite and Harzblick as well as the villages of Benzingerode, Minsleben, Silstedt, Schierke and Reddeber.

The borough measures 9.5 km from west to east and 6 km from north to south. Its highest point is the Brocken, at 1,141 metres above NN, and its lowest is at 215 metres.

The town lies on the German-Dutch holiday road known as the Orange Route.

The Northern Harz Boundary Fault crosses the borough along which the watershed between the Weser and Elbe runs. To the north precipitation flows into the Weser, to the southeast, later northeast, waters flow into the Elbe. This fault line runs through the quarter of Hasserode. It can be made out in the east of the town at the Schloßberg.

Wernigerode contains several interesting Gothic buildings, including a fine town hall with a timber facade from 1498. Some of the quaint old houses which have escaped the numerous fires through the years are elaborately adorned with wood-carving. The Gerhart-Hauptmann Gymnasium,^[2] occupying a modern Gothic building, is the successor to an ancient grammar school in existence until 1825. Brandy, Hasseröder lager, cigars and dyes are among the products manufactured in Wernigerode. The castle (Schloß Wernigerode) of the princes of Stolberg-Wernigerode rises above the town. The original was built in the 12th century but the present castle was built between 1862 and 1893 by Karl Frühling and includes parts of the medieval building.

The Harzer Schmalspurbahn is a narrow gauge railway that leads from Wernigerode to the Brocken (1141 m), the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, and then goes to Nordhausen to the south of the Harz mountains. The second highest peak, Wurmberg (971 m), is accessible by cable car from Braunlage which is connected by bus to Wernigerode. Wernigerode has numerous museums, galleries, libraries, monuments and parks.^[specify]

Wernigerode is the home of the choir Rundfunk-Jugendchor Wernigerode.

Wernigerode is famous for a legendary July 1998 performance by The Honkey Sandwich, playing as The Big Foot High School Jazz Band.

Wernigerode hosts the Brocken Marathon each October.

• Nils Petersen, Bayern Munich player

Wernigerode is twinned with:

• Carpi, Emilia-Romagna (Italy), since 1964
• Cisnădie, (Romania), since 2002
• Neustadt an der Weinstraße (Germany), since 1998

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

• Municipal website