with Seesen (Lower Saxony) on the northwest edge of the Harz and, since 1998, with the French town of Juvisy-sur-Orge, 18 km from Paris, as well as Tillabéri in Niger, northwest of the River Niger. Culture and places of interest Museums Wendhusen Abbey which specialises in the theme of "canoness chapters" (Kanonissenstifte) Thale Smelting Museum Walpurgis Hall Buildings The former Wendhusen Abbey, dating to the Carolingian period The Hotel Zehnpfund, built in 1863 and once the biggest summer hotel in Germany St. Peter's Church, completed in 1906 The Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart (Herz-Jesu-Kirche), completed in 1910 and 1911 The prominent windmill in the village of Warnstedt Other cultural sites Hexentanzplatz ("Witches' Dancefloor") Harz Mountain Theatre, Thale Wildlife park (Tierpark) Sommerrodelbahn Bau-Spiel-Haus Funpark Central Theater (cinema) Homburg Watchtower (Homburgswarte) Natural monuments Bode Gorge - Thale is the gateway to the Bode Gorge which is overlooked by the Hexentanzplatz ("Witches' Dancefloor"), accessible on the Bode Gorge Gondola Lift, and the Roßtrappe, to which a chair lift runs. At the Hexentanzplatz is a large open-air theatre and a zoo. Teufelsmauer - near the villages of Weddersleben and Warnstedt lies the Teufelsmauer, one of the oldest nature reserves in Germany. Harz Witches' Path - The Harz Witches' Path (Harzer Hexenstieg), a long-distance footpath, runs from Thale for just under 100 km across the Harz to Osterode, passing various sights along the way including the Brocken, Torfhaus, Dammgraben and the Upper Harz Ponds. Population history Media Thale is the setting of Theodor Fontane's novel Cécile. Fontane stayed in Thale a number of times between 1868 and 1884. Sons and daughters of the city Bernhard Rensch (1900–1990), evolutionary biologist, zoologist, behavioral researcher, neurophysiologist and philosopher Albrecht Becker (1906–2002), production designer, photographer and actor Harald Duschek (born 1956), ski jumper Volker Herold (born 1959), actor Personalities associated with Thale Friedrich Wilhelm Leopold Pfeil (1783–1859), forestry scholar, spent time relaxing and hunting in the forest near Thale Theodor Fontane (1819–1898) stayed in Thale 1868, 1877, 1881, 1882, 1883 and 1884, wrote the novel playing in Thale Cécile Karl Bonhoeffer (1868–1948), psychiatrist, neurologist, medical expert, married to Paula von Hase, had a summer house in Friedrichsbrunn since 1913 Hans Schemm (1891–1935), NSDAP-Gauleiter, directed the bacteriological-chemical laboratory Hubertusbad until 1921 Axel von dem Bussche (1919–1993), officer and resistance fighter, knight-owner in Thale Werner Oberländer (1921–2002), footballer at Stahl Thale and Eintracht Braunschweig, with both clubs he played