it from the Sonder. To the north, the 486-metre-high Sonnenstein rises above the village. In addition, the Graseforst is found there. The course of the Bode runs along the valley floor to the east. There is also a large spoil heap from potash mining, which is nearly as big as the adjacent mountains. Holungen lies 350 m above sea level. It is well protected from the easterly winds and other external influences by mountains. Its soil is formed from crystalline rocks, made of minerals such as quartz, feldspar and mica. The erosion of rocks forms sandy soil from quartz, and clay and loam from potash/feldspar-based rocks. History Early history According to documents found in the monastery at Gerode, Holungen was founded between 531 and 800. In the following centuries, there was much armed conflict near the village and in the surrounding area. In 933, Henry I beat the Magyars at the Unstrut river. Twenty-two years later, his son Otto the Great did the same at the Lechfelde, bringing peace to the area. Between 1118 and 1120 the Gerode Monastery was founded. In 1247, the Thuringian landgrave Heinrich Raspe died, bringing conflict back to the area. From 1236 to 1247, he was Landesherr (territorial lord) of part of the march of Tu-der-stede, modern-day Duderstadt. He was also brother-in-law to Elisabeth of Hungary. In 1246 he was elected counter-king to Conrad IV, son of Frederick II. Although his forces defeated Conrad's at the battle of Nidda, he died shortly afterwards, and after his death fighting broke out over the order of succession for the title Landgrave of Thuringia, during which Holungen was devastated. Many inhabitants fled to Duderstadt. Some evidence for this comes from deeds dating to 1266 and 1299. The documents of 1266 also give us the first mention of Holungen, under the name “Haldrungen”. Between 1350 and 1370, the village was rebuilt again and belonged to the county of Lohra. In 1370, Holungen became a part of the county of Honstein and in 1431, it became by exchange the monastery village of the monastery at Gerode. In 1525, Holungen was destroyed during the course of the German Peasants' War. The period until the German Empire The Thirty Years' War arrived and reached Holungen, and in 1626, much devastation was caused by the army of Duke Christian of Brunswick. In 1701, Prussia became a kingdom, but Eichsfeld and Holungen remained subordinate