the Lutheran church parishes in the former county. Until the separation of church and state in 1919 it was directly subordinate to the imperial lord (Standesherr), the Count or Prince of Stolberg-Stolberg and indirectly to the governor (Oberpräsident) of the Province of Saxony. At the end of 1944 the Evangelical High Consistory (Evangelischer Oberkirchenrat) (the headquarters of the state church) moved its seat from the endangered city of Berlin to the consistorial building at Stolberg. On 5 November 1947 the Consistory of Stolberg-Stolberg was merged with the "old" Princely Consistory of Stolberg-Roßla, whose seat was in Roßla, to form a consistorial district, whereby the "new" Evangelical-Lutheran Consistory of Stolberg-Roßla had its seat in Stolberg. "The governing body of the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony has [...] on 28 October 2005 decided consultation with the district synod of the church parish of Eisleben to disband the Evangelical-Lutheran Consistory of Stolberg-Roßla." In 1833, Stolberg had 2,392 inhabitants. At the beginning of the 20th century, Stolberg became a tourist town. In 1923, a railway to Berga–Kelbra was opened. The town has been a health resort since 1946. In early 1946, "14 youths aged from 15 to 18" (two were 19 and 20 years old) were arrested by an operational group of the Soviet Security Service, the NKWD, on allegations of being involved in Werwolf, the Nazi plan to form a commando force. They were sentenced by a military tribunal to death (3 youths, carried out in two cases) or to lengthy terms in prison of up to 25 years. The majority of the youths did not survive captivity in the Soviet special camps. In 1995 the group was cleared by the Attorney General of the Russian Federation. On 1 September 2010, Stolberg was incorporated into the municipality of Südharz ("South Harz"). Politics Mayor The major (Ortsbürgermeister) of Stolberg is Ulrich Franke, elected on 28 May 2000. Coat of arms The town coat of arms has been re-designed by the herald, utz Döring. Twinning Stolberg, Saxony-Anhalt is twinned with: Stolberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Hardegsen, Lower Saxony, Germany Hodonín, South Moravia, Czech Republic Culture and sights Structures Stolberg Castle (Schloss Stolberg). The castle stands on a hill that drops steeply on 3 sides. The oldest part of the castle, its round tower, dates to around 1200, although its most recent elements were built in the Renaissance style between 1539 and 1547. In