rights along the lines of that for Goslar. In 2004 Wernigerode celebrated the 775th anniversary of that occasion. As a result of the immigration of new townsfolk from the surrounding villages a new settlement, later called Neustadt, grew up on the northeastern edge of the old town. It was a farming settlement that lay outside the walls of the old town. St. John's Church was built as the parish church of Wernigerode's Neustadt in the last third of the 13th century in the Romanesque style. Early rulers The counts of Wernigerode, who can be traced back to the early 12th century, were successively vassals of the margraves of Brandenburg (1268), and the archbishops of Magdeburg (1381). On the extinction of the family in 1429 the county fell to the counts of Stolberg, who founded the Stolberg-Wernigerode branch in 1645. The latter surrendered its military and fiscal independence to Prussia in 1714, but retained some of its sovereign rights till 1876. The counts were raised to princely rank in 1890. Mayors Runden, c. 1640 Ludwig Gepel, 7 January 1921 to 6 January 1933 Ulrich von Fresenius (1 September 1888; died 12 November 1962), 10 January 1933 to 20 April 1945 Max Otto (1889–1969), SPD/SED, 20 April 1945 to 1951 Gustav Strahl, 1951 to 1962 Martin Kilian, SED, 24 October 1962 to 1990 Herbert Teubner, CDU, 1990 to 1991 Horst-Dieter Weyrauch, CDU, 1991 to 1994 Ludwig Hoffmann, SPD, 1994 to 31 July 2008 Peter Gaffert, independent, since 1 August 2008 Population statistics 1595: 2,500 1806: 3,700 1845: 5,00 1869: 7,000 1886: 9,000 1895: 10,662 1904: 12,000 1914: 18,000 1957: 33,353 1990: 37,000 2006: 33,871 2007: 34,413 2008: 35,041 2009: 34,673 Architecture 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, occupying a modern Gothic building, is the successor to an ancient grammar school that existed until 1825. 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. Economy Brandy, Hasseröder lager, cigars and dyes are among the products manufactured in Wernigerode. Education Wernigerode is site of the Harz University of