Germany, Wernigerode – The City At the Foor of the Highest Peak of the Harz Mountains

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Today we visit this unique German town that you can find in Sachsen-Anhalt.

Wernigerode is located at 250 meters above the foot of Mt Brocken (1141 meters asl). It is the highest peak of the Harz mountains. In this picturesque city the Holtemme river flows, and live about 32 thousand people.

We have stopped only for a couple of hours. Even such a short time was enough for us to start liking the city. Winding streets, half-timbered houses, beautiful castle or steam train. It is only a fragment of what this city located onGerman--Dutch road Oranier-Route can offer.

A short stop at Wernigerod we spent for a walk in the historic center, Old Town (Altstadt) and New Town (Neustadt). The administrative area of  Wernigerode includes districts of Hasserode, Nöschenrode, housing estates in Stadtfeld, Burgbreite and Harzblick. Also it includes districts of Silstedt, Benzingerode, Minsleben, Schierke and Reddeber.

The town of Wernigerode can boast with many tourist attractions. Among them is also a Neo-Gothic castle (Wernigeroder Schloss), proudly stands above the city. It is visible from a great distance. Even the environment around castle is romantic and impressive. Fans of trains will be interested in railroad Harzer Schmalspurbah. The railroad begins in these places. People who love nature enjoy a botanical garden. There are many interesting events held at the chateau annually. Among the most popular is „Schlossfestspiele". The highlight of these Castle games, organized by the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, are operas and operettas. The town is also a number of interesting museums and art galleries. One of them is the museum of airplanes , or interesting Gutsmühle mill located in Minsleben district. If you can spend a little more time in Wernigerode, more than we could, we strongly recommend a walk around the science-geological nature trail known as Aufgeklärtes Glück, which can be found in Hasserode district.

Among other interesting places you should not omit while in Wernigerode, is Marktplaz square. There you can see one of the most beautiful town halls in Europe. Well, see it by yourself! (on a picture below).

As well as in other cities, which we deliberately choose as stops while traveling around Europe, even here we can admire many beautiful churches, and architecturally interesting homes. Of course we also liked local specialties. For what it would be this trip worth if we had not tried at least some of the local specialties. We ate, for example, a delicious sweet Harzer Baumkuchen, that reminded us of our skalicky trdelnik. We also got some taste of Hasseröder Bier, produced in this area.

Time spent in the town of Wernigerode went very quickly. Unfortunately we did not manage to visit far from everything we had planned. After all, for example one trip train that pulls steam locomotive and which we exported to the Brocken must be a memorable experience. But even several hours of tasting the best that can offer Wernigerode, definitely worth it. We're excited by the idea that we will go here again.

GPS: 51°50'00.4"N 10°47'04.3"E

Text and photo: O. Maňáková