The seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft is in Ilfeld (part of Harztor).
Thereupon Count Ernst of Hohnstein, as patron of the abbey, laid a complaint before Charles V.
The jurisdiction of the district court of Nordhausen includes the core city of Nordhausen, Ellrich and Bleicherode, the management communities of Goldene Aue and Hohnstein/Südharz, the unified communities of Werther and Hohenstein, and the community of Sollstedt.
In 1504, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilien I, having vanquished the Prince-elector, Philipp, in the war of succession of Bavaria, confiscated the castle from the cousins Hans and Stephan von Wangen for the count Tiestein, who himself gave it to the Archbishop of Strasbourg, Wilhelm III von Hohnstein, in 1516.
The Stolberg lands, which were located mostly east of the Harz, included Stolberg, Hayn, the lower County of Hohnstein (1417), as well as Kelbra and Heringen (1413/17), the two latter territories being ruled alongside the House of Schwarzburg.