months are June to August with average temperatures of 16.0 to 18.3 °C and the coldest are December to February at 1.1 to 2.1 °C. The most rain falls in July, on average 54 millimetres, the least in February, with 30 millimetres on average. The climate, more precisely the amounts of precipitation and temperatures, are influenced by the orographic rainfall caused by the Harz Mountains. Because the town lies in the rain shadow (leeward side) of the Harz, less precipitation falls here than in similar temperate regions without the protection of a mountain range. In addition the occasional föhn winds that occur result in an increase in temperatures. Wernigerode has a snow load class of 3 according to the German industrial standard, DIN 1055. History 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 within the Soviet occupation zone (relaunched in October 1949 as the German Democratic Republic/East Germany). During the Communist years, 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. Emergence of the town There are no written sources confirming exactly when the town was established. According to the latest research – for example, by Eduard Jacobs and Walther Grosse – there were no early relations with the Abbey at Corvey (Weser) and the abbot there, Warin, instead the town name suggests it was a protected clearance settlement. The first area to be settle was the Klint, where there was a lowland castle, the so-called Schnakenburg. In 1805 the ruins of this castle site were demolished. The only part remaining is Haus Gadenstedt at Oberpfarrkirchhof 12 which dates to the year 1582. At the time of the first settlelement there was still ancient forest, typical of the Harz, on the heights of the Klint, which had first to be cleared, hence the suffix -rode in the town name which means "clearing". The town was first mentioned in the records in 1121 in connexion with Count Adalbert of Haimar who had moved here from the region near Hildesheim and henceforth was titled the Count of Wernigerode. On 17 April 1229 the settlement was granted town