Harz Villages
Nov 29th, 2006, 09:38 AM
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Harz Villages
My wife and I will be in Germany in May 2007.
We will be visiting the Harz region.Below is a list of the villages we think we would like to visit. I love the half-timbered small villages.
Please respond to my list and advise any you
would also recommend
Wernigerode; Sankt Andreasberg; Stolberg;
Bad Lauterberg; Quedlinburg; Goslar;
Bad Harzburg; Blankenburg; Elbingerode
Than maybe: Tanne; Ober Schulenberg;
Eland; Altenau; Osterode; Bad Sachsa; Thale;
and the Valley of the river Oker
Thank you so much I really anticipate your
suggestions
Norsky
We will be visiting the Harz region.Below is a list of the villages we think we would like to visit. I love the half-timbered small villages.
Please respond to my list and advise any you
would also recommend
Wernigerode; Sankt Andreasberg; Stolberg;
Bad Lauterberg; Quedlinburg; Goslar;
Bad Harzburg; Blankenburg; Elbingerode
Than maybe: Tanne; Ober Schulenberg;
Eland; Altenau; Osterode; Bad Sachsa; Thale;
and the Valley of the river Oker
Thank you so much I really anticipate your
suggestions
Norsky
Nov 29th, 2006, 11:07 AM
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I don't know many of your listed villages...but for cities Wernigerode is a lovely half-timbered village; Quedlingburg is a UNESCO World Heritage town- that's how exceptional it is; Goslar is a lovely lovely gem - but these are not villages in any stretch of the word.
Nov 29th, 2006, 01:37 PM
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Wernigerode, Quedlinburg and Goslar are definitely the "top 3".
Do the train trip up the Brocken from Wernigerode if, and only if, the weather is clear. The view is amazing, and the old steam train is really cute. I've been up there once on a clear winter day when we had a view of more than 120 km.
If you like half-timbered houses, you'll find them in abundance in Wernigerode and Quedlinburg (probably also Stolberg, not sure about that, as I haven't been) but not in those places that are situated up in the mountains. The architecture is a but different there, houses are either completely built of wood or covered with slate. So here are two more destinations that may be interesting for you: Wolfenbüttel and Duderstadt. Both are not exactly in the Harz but quite close.
Thale and the Bode valley. See the place where the witches dance (Hexentanzplatz).
"Elend" means misery, and there is another village named "Sorge" (worry) nearby. Inspiring...An old GDR joke tells that the Communist party had been planning to hold their next meeting up there, between worry and misery.
A wonderful Romanesque monastery church can be found at Gernrode.
Quite weird: the Norwegian style wooden church at Hahnenklee. Yes, it's just like the ones in Norway. I'm still wondering why people chose that style.
May is a bit early for roses, but the Rosarium at Sangerhausen may already be worth checking out. A HUGE rose garden with thousands of different roses, from very old species to the latest breeds.
Places like Altenau, the Oker valley, Torfhaus or Braunlage remind me of several more or less horrible school trips and countless weekend trips with my parents. So I'm probably not objective enough to discuss them seriously...
Do the train trip up the Brocken from Wernigerode if, and only if, the weather is clear. The view is amazing, and the old steam train is really cute. I've been up there once on a clear winter day when we had a view of more than 120 km.
If you like half-timbered houses, you'll find them in abundance in Wernigerode and Quedlinburg (probably also Stolberg, not sure about that, as I haven't been) but not in those places that are situated up in the mountains. The architecture is a but different there, houses are either completely built of wood or covered with slate. So here are two more destinations that may be interesting for you: Wolfenbüttel and Duderstadt. Both are not exactly in the Harz but quite close.
Thale and the Bode valley. See the place where the witches dance (Hexentanzplatz).
"Elend" means misery, and there is another village named "Sorge" (worry) nearby. Inspiring...An old GDR joke tells that the Communist party had been planning to hold their next meeting up there, between worry and misery.
A wonderful Romanesque monastery church can be found at Gernrode.
Quite weird: the Norwegian style wooden church at Hahnenklee. Yes, it's just like the ones in Norway. I'm still wondering why people chose that style.
May is a bit early for roses, but the Rosarium at Sangerhausen may already be worth checking out. A HUGE rose garden with thousands of different roses, from very old species to the latest breeds.
Places like Altenau, the Oker valley, Torfhaus or Braunlage remind me of several more or less horrible school trips and countless weekend trips with my parents. So I'm probably not objective enough to discuss them seriously...
Nov 29th, 2006, 03:13 PM
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We stayed in Goslar at the beautiful old world Kaiserworth hotel (reasonable rates, very nice interior & exterior but no elevator). Everyday we drove around to the various Harz villages/towns and beyond including Wolfenbuetel in the north. The town is flat but has a nice lively market with pictureque buildings wrapping around it.
Dec 4th, 2006, 09:34 AM
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The Brocken has an interesting story. At 3750', it is the highest mountain in northern Germany. It's northern latitude puts the top above the timberline, so it is "bald". It is often surrounded in mist, and the sun through the mist causes what appears to be a ghostly apparition. Not surprising, the mountain became associated with witches and the devil. People used to believe that on the night of April 30/May 1, witches went up to the mountain to dance with the devil. It was the scene of Walpurgisnacht in Goethe's Faust and the inspiration for Moussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain.
Dec 4th, 2006, 11:54 AM
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I think it is the first time I post a real question here. In 2 weeks I'm going to Goslar (on business) and will probably have half a day free. I assume it is nice enough just to spend it in Goslar (any opinion on the Christmas market?), or should I take the next train to Wernigerode? Or any other place within 1 h by train?
Dec 4th, 2006, 12:59 PM
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Goslar IMO is as nice or nicer than any city within an hour by train - Quedlingberg as noted is a UNESCO World Heritage town - i have not been there and it may be a tad more than an hour but it could be the top.
Goslar, being in old West Germany, is thoroughly spruced up - Wernigerode and others in old DDR have too but still show some warts IMO.
Goslar, being in old West Germany, is thoroughly spruced up - Wernigerode and others in old DDR have too but still show some warts IMO.
Dec 4th, 2006, 02:03 PM
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Altamiro: Goslar is very compact, you can easily see it while you're working. The most attractive building is the Kaiserworth hotel that used to be a trade guild house. The DDR towns are more spread out for exploring and has more of a hidden jewel impression.
Wernigerode has a nice hilltop castle above the oldtown with gorgeous views. There is a lot more colorful timber houses(Fachwerkhaeuser)in Wernigerode & Quedlinburg than in Goslar, so they are very different in character. Wernigerode has always been very well renovated even under the DDR because it was used as the "show off" town in Harz to visiting dignitaries.
Quedlinburg has the perfect hilltop setting with the church on top and the colorful town spreads downward like a wedding cake. It draws a lot of charm from the leaning & colorful wooden buildings as they are stagggered in rows along the sloping,curvy streets. It's quite unique. Unfortunately it's not as easily reached by train as Wernigerode is from Goslar.
Wernigerode has a nice hilltop castle above the oldtown with gorgeous views. There is a lot more colorful timber houses(Fachwerkhaeuser)in Wernigerode & Quedlinburg than in Goslar, so they are very different in character. Wernigerode has always been very well renovated even under the DDR because it was used as the "show off" town in Harz to visiting dignitaries.
Quedlinburg has the perfect hilltop setting with the church on top and the colorful town spreads downward like a wedding cake. It draws a lot of charm from the leaning & colorful wooden buildings as they are stagggered in rows along the sloping,curvy streets. It's quite unique. Unfortunately it's not as easily reached by train as Wernigerode is from Goslar.
Dec 5th, 2006, 10:36 AM
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>Goslar IMO is as nice or nicer than any city within an hour by train - Quedlingberg as noted is a UNESCO World Heritage town - i have not been there and it may be a tad more than an hour but it could be the top.
Thanks a lot! I have looked at a trip to Quedlinburg, but with almost 3hour one way (including a part where the train is for now replaced by bus) - it is altogether too long for half a day.
>Goslar, being in old West Germany, is thoroughly spruced up - Wernigerode and others in old DDR have too but still show some warts IMO.
Good to know - the big cities in the Neufünfland have been re-done to death, but it has seemingly not reached the smaller villages.
>Altamiro: Goslar is very compact, you can easily see it while you're working. The most attractive building is the Kaiserworth hotel that used to be a trade guild house. The DDR towns are more spread out for exploring and has more of a hidden jewel impression.
In case my visit there is successful it can very well be that I would have far more time to visit the small towns in the northern Harz... or at least I hope so.
Thanks a lot! I have looked at a trip to Quedlinburg, but with almost 3hour one way (including a part where the train is for now replaced by bus) - it is altogether too long for half a day.
>Goslar, being in old West Germany, is thoroughly spruced up - Wernigerode and others in old DDR have too but still show some warts IMO.
Good to know - the big cities in the Neufünfland have been re-done to death, but it has seemingly not reached the smaller villages.
>Altamiro: Goslar is very compact, you can easily see it while you're working. The most attractive building is the Kaiserworth hotel that used to be a trade guild house. The DDR towns are more spread out for exploring and has more of a hidden jewel impression.
In case my visit there is successful it can very well be that I would have far more time to visit the small towns in the northern Harz... or at least I hope so.
Dec 5th, 2006, 12:19 PM
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I think Quedlinburg makes a better destination than the other two. That said, it looks like they have already renovated Quedlinburg extensively when I look at the recent internet pictures. So you may be a bit late if you're expecting to see the charm of old worn stucco & timber walls covered with ivy. It looks to me that they tore down quite a few buildings and built clean new structures since the late 90's. Those they kept have been renovated to to look like the Fallerhaeuschen. It's ashamed that that they tend to over renovate.
Dec 5th, 2006, 03:10 PM
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Having lived and worked in Bad Harzburg for 12 months in 1960/1961 I know the area intimately, but not from the point of view of a modern-day tourist.
One is inclined to overlook that in those days there was an invisible border slicing through the mountains from west of Ilsenburg, passing just east of the ski resort of Braunlage and emerging to the east of Bad Sachsa. While I was there, it was policed on the DDR side by intermittent armed border patrols by the Vopos, and it was not until when the Berlin wall went up in 1962 that these measures were stepped up by the construction of a line of watch towers and a barbed wire barricade.
So my memories generally encompass only those parts that were legally accessible, with one exception.
The somewhat elderly lady in the next room of my boarding-house had, like so many in town, close relatives across this border, and it was her custom to convey food parcels to them late at night on foot every couple of weeks, a hike of around an hour and a half each way.
When I had gained her confidence I volunteered to join her and double her capacity, which she accepted, and so I did a number of these trips with her, foolishly of course, because the risks of capture and imprisonment or worse were very real.
As you can see I did survive, and with a very special connection to this part of Germany, which I commemorate in my user name.
Harzer
One is inclined to overlook that in those days there was an invisible border slicing through the mountains from west of Ilsenburg, passing just east of the ski resort of Braunlage and emerging to the east of Bad Sachsa. While I was there, it was policed on the DDR side by intermittent armed border patrols by the Vopos, and it was not until when the Berlin wall went up in 1962 that these measures were stepped up by the construction of a line of watch towers and a barbed wire barricade.
So my memories generally encompass only those parts that were legally accessible, with one exception.
The somewhat elderly lady in the next room of my boarding-house had, like so many in town, close relatives across this border, and it was her custom to convey food parcels to them late at night on foot every couple of weeks, a hike of around an hour and a half each way.
When I had gained her confidence I volunteered to join her and double her capacity, which she accepted, and so I did a number of these trips with her, foolishly of course, because the risks of capture and imprisonment or worse were very real.
As you can see I did survive, and with a very special connection to this part of Germany, which I commemorate in my user name.
Harzer
Dec 5th, 2006, 08:28 PM
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Harzer: It's nice to read a personal recap of life on the Harz border. We really enjoyed driving through the area when we used to be able to note the invisible border as the road narrows and marked further by DDR ruins and small hamlets. They were already starting to disappear when we were there. As a teenager I've read similar border stories coming from that ski resort area though usually more about escapes.
Dec 8th, 2006, 11:38 PM
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Thanks for that endorsement of my recollections, DAX.
I guess that the readership here is generally too young to have any response to stories of the BRD/DDR standoff etc and of the ensuing human problems.
Harzer
I guess that the readership here is generally too young to have any response to stories of the BRD/DDR standoff etc and of the ensuing human problems.
Harzer
Oct 17th, 2007, 05:23 AM
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All of the "top 3" Harz towns Goslar, Wernigerode, and Quedlinburg will have Christmas Markets.
Quedlinburg would be my favorite. In addition to the regular market, they also have "christmas in the courtyards" on the weekends of December 7-9 and 14-16, where you will find music, arts & crafts, (and also glühwein, of course) in those hidden courtyards that are usually not accessible for the public.
As Quedlinburg is a very popular daytrip destination, especially in advent, you will get quite a lot of tourists on the weekend. If you want the town a bit more for yourself, it would be a good idea to stay Sunday-Monday on those dates.
Quedlinburg would be my favorite. In addition to the regular market, they also have "christmas in the courtyards" on the weekends of December 7-9 and 14-16, where you will find music, arts & crafts, (and also glühwein, of course) in those hidden courtyards that are usually not accessible for the public.
As Quedlinburg is a very popular daytrip destination, especially in advent, you will get quite a lot of tourists on the weekend. If you want the town a bit more for yourself, it would be a good idea to stay Sunday-Monday on those dates.
Nov 11th, 2007, 04:25 AM
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In Quedlinburg, I can recommend Hotel am Brühl - very atmospheric. Do not forget to book the nightwatchman's tour.
http://www.hotelambruehl.de/
In Wernigerode, the Gothisches Haus, is very recommendable.
http://www.travelcharme.com/gothisches-haus.html
Both hotels are 4-star, but still affordable.
In any case, use www.hrs.de
http://www.hotelambruehl.de/
In Wernigerode, the Gothisches Haus, is very recommendable.
http://www.travelcharme.com/gothisches-haus.html
Both hotels are 4-star, but still affordable.
In any case, use www.hrs.de
