Poised on the Agnesberg stands the fairytalelike castle of Wernigerode. From here one has a magnificent view of the half-timbered town, the Brocken-Hohne-Massif and the northern foreland of the Harz. Once a medieval fortress erected to protect the passageway of the German emperor on his hunting expeditions, the castle now manifests itself in new attire. After the devastating ravages of the 30 Years War (1618 -1648), the work of reconstructing the fortress as a Baroque residence castle began under the Count ERNST OF STOLBERG-WERNIGERODE (1716 -1778). The ascent of the Count OTTO ZU STOLBERG-WERNIGERODE (1837-1896) to the position of the first Chief Administrator of the Prussian province of Hanover in 1867, then to that of Ambassador in Vienna and ultimately to the rank of Vice-Chancellor under OTTO VON BISMARK (1815- 1890) resulted in an additional refurbishing of the castle from 1862 to 1885. The architect CARL FRÜHLING JR. realized the final castle ensemble as it stands today, a building complex with portions that have been open to the public since 1930. In the course of two different visitation tours, 50 rooms can be viewed. As building material for the castle ensemble, work stones from the region were used. Already as one ascends to the castle, beautiful stromatolithes can be viewed in the the northern wall of the pleasure garten - bowl-shaped limestone configurations, produced by colony building cyanobacteria in the sea of the Lower Buntsandstein mixed with rogenstein, i.e. oolithic limestones comprised of tiny spheres which recall fish eggs. The gateway entrance house to the castle has a façade of yellow rogenstein which- frequently often in red varieties- along with reddish sandstones of the Buntsandstein constitute the principal building materials for the castle. For the circular walls, and somewhat less often for the towers as well as for ascending walls of the buildings, use was made of dark greywackes of the Agnesberg and black volcanic stone of the bedrocks of the Harz mountains. The relative age of the building can be identified on the basis of the surface finishing of the natural freestones. In the early building phases, banked sandstone and limestone were the material primarily used, stones which were “split” in accordance with their banking and stacked vertically to their stratification, so that they display fracture-raw surfaces. In contrast, the rebuilt structures or portions of the building from the 19th century can be recognized through by the presence of sawed freestones with flat surfaces – especially in the employment of yellowish calcareous sandstone and, at certain locations, of rogenstein for bay windows, door and window frames, or for staircases. Less frequently- for example on the wall, of the large castle terrace to both sides of the porter’s tower- sawed stones from the freestone benches of the Muschelkalk formation were also used. On occasion, foreign freestones were employed, for example, the Belgium marble for the fireplace of the reception hall and the French limestone for the pulpit and altar of the castle church.

Schloß Wernigerode GmbH
(00493943) 553030 Fax: 553055
May - Oct. daily 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Nov. - Apr. Tue. - Fr. 10 a.m - 4 p.m.
Sa., So., Holidays 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
www.schloss-wernigerode.de

Since 1955, the building at Klint 10, constructed in 1821 as a private residence, has housed a museum on its upper floor. The museum exhibition is divided over the two portions of the building into a natural science section and a section devoted to the history of the town. The Harz region is presented in the first portion of the permanent exhibition: fossils, minerals and rock samples document its geological development. The ores were the resources sought over thousands of years of mining operations, traces of which are still to be found at many locations in the region. The animal population of the Harz is very rich in its variety of species. In observance of principles of natural conservation, prepared examples of various animal species are presented in their respective life environments, and a map of nature reserves provides an overview of the location of areas of particular significance from an ecological standpoint. In the second portion of the exhibition, we find a profile of the history of Wernigerode extending all the way back to the 9th century. The development of handcrafts in the city, including that of the tin pourer and can manufacturer, is presented. In addition, the history and role of tourism in the city as well as the half-timbered architecture of Wernigerode are featured in the exhibition. In the garden before the Museum one can admire a particularly beautiful stromatolith. The Harz Library next door is one of the most important regional libraries in the area.

Opening hours:
Mo. – Sa. (incl. Holidays) 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.,
(00493943) 654454
www.wernigerode.de

Also worth visiting is the monument marking the end of the most southern pleistocene moraine in Wernigerode, a granite pillar south of the large parking place “Am Anger” at the corner of Rimbecker Street/Lindenallee (N51°50.231’; EO10°47.686’). It marks the so-called “Flint Line". The inland glaciers transported flint as we know it from the Baltic Sea up to this point, the end of the moraine.

Under the motto “Experience Harz Views” the State Garden Exhibition of 2006 in Wernigerode created landscapes newly formed for this purpose. Amongst other features, a former waste depository between the “Kurtsteich” and the “Schreiberteich” was reshaped, including a “Mineral Canyon” which cuts through the area. Over the length of 48 meters, it contains a “geological window” with rocks and minerals that would be made manifest in a subterranean cut with a profile 15 kilometers long from the Lustberg near Schmatzfeld northwards over the Schlossberg Wernigerode, past the mining museums “Büchenberg” and “Drei Kronen und Ehrt” (Landmark 13) all the way to the Hahnekopf in the Bodetal by Rübeland to the south. This “window” provides us insights into the relationships of landscape forms, stones and geological structure as we consult the documentation on information panels while regarding the respective stone fragments ordered to the geological cut in each section of the “Mineral Canyon”. The first of the 24 sections contain the rocks of the northern Harz foreland: sandstone and marl from the Subhercynian Cretaceous Basin and those geological sediments of the Triassic and Permian which have been uplifted by the tectonic movements of the Harznordrand Fault into their present vertical stance. In section 7, the Lower Carboniferous Kulm greywackes of the Harz basement border the Zechstein gypsum rocks of the foreland at the reconstructed Harznordrand Fault. These rocks are followed by the Devonian and Carboniferous slates, greywackes and limestones of the Wernigerode formation with the typical alternation of slate and sedimentation structures in the individual tectonic blocks. The sections 15-23 contain typical vulcanites, ores and limestones of the Elbingerode Complex. Built into these are volcanic rocks from the Middle Harz veins which have broken their way through the Harz basement in Lower Permian Rotliegend. The facing portion of the wall contains two sections with rocks of the Brocken granite massif.

Already before the year 1306, the counts of Wernigerode erected the Stapelburg as a defence and customs control point on the royal road connecting their home castle with the important imperial city and mining metropolis of Goslar 3. This fortress was pawned on numerous occasions and was then purchased by the diocese of Halberstadt. After a number of further changes in possession, the fortress landed once again as an inheritance in the Halberstadt diocese. It was not until the rule of Count CHRISTIAN ERNST OF STOLBERG-WERNIGERODE (1691 -1771) that, through negotiation of the Berlin Agreement, the fortress was acquired anew from the Halberstadt diocese as property in possession of the county of Wernigerode. A good five years later, King FRIEDRICH WILHELM I. OF PRUSSIA (1688-1740) reinstated through a final annulment of remaining territorial claims of the Halberstadt diocese (which in the meantime had become Prussian) the original connection of the Stapelburg with the county of Wernigerode. Today the Stapelburg ruins tower impressively over the town of the same name, which is well worth a visit. We can drive there via the old or the new B6 up to the church of Stapelburg. A short walk takes us up to the fortress hill with its beautiful fruit orchard meadows and a majestic lime tree, in whose shadow a bench invites the visitor to rest in the shade. The ruins are built with Upper Cretaceous limestones, marly rocks, sandstones, rogenstein and other rocks from the surroundings. (see Geopoint 1 ) During the years of divided Germany, Stapelburg was situated in the so-called “protective belt” of the inner German border. This border ran through the middle of the mountain stream Ecker. It was here in the fall of 1989 that a passageway through the wall was opened to enable a large majority of the population in the East Harz to make their first visit to the West Harz.

The map will assist you in planning your own personal georoute around the "Schloß Wernigerode". Tours under competent guidance can also be booked (contact: Dr. Steiger, Managing Director of the team of the Harz Mountains regional association’s geoguides, (00493944) 369085 or e-mail: T_Steiger@gmx.de). “Regionalverband Harz e.V.” wishes you relaxing holidays and interesting insights into the geology and history of that part of Nature- and Geopark Harz which you have just been introduced to.

Kartografie Verwaltungs-Verlag München, Licence No. 07-08-110 Further city maps under www.stadtplan.net

The Derenburg glass manufacturer “Harzkristall” is one of the few glass blower workshops still in production in Germany. One of its concerns is the discovery of new means for communicating the secrets of glass production to visitors. The workshop itself, idyllically situated, has been in existence for over 60 years, but only recently has it become an attraction for tourists. Visitors are initiated here into the history of the workshop and of glass manufacture. The well-guarded secrets of the production of this material and how it is fashioned are communicated in a stimulating manner. In a tour of the factory, the guests experience glass making in direct contact with the processes involved. After being introduced to the history of glass making, the visitor wanders into the actual production environment of the glassmaker and witnesses examples of perfect handcrafting under the guidance of specialists who are themselves rooted in this art. On many occasions the guests can blow glass themselves, thereby experiencing how much craft is demanded of the glass blowers. In a shop exhibition, glass products can be viewed and purchased. While the children romp on the playground, there is time for a quick visit to a small floodplain strock rest station on the river Holtemme, for viewing grey herons on the fields along with Red and Black Kites that wing their way through the air or perch on their resting trees before Derenburg and for a tour through the newly planted, park-like grounds of the factory, complete with a waterfall.

Glasmanufaktur Harzkristall GmbH & Co. KG
Im Freien Felde 5, D-38895 Derenburg
Guides tours: daily between 10.30 a.m. - 3.30 p.m.
(00493 94 53) 680-0, Fax -25
www.harzkristall.de

We leave Wernigerode on the old B6 in the direction of Blankenburg. At the city exit we see to the left the remains of an old roadway defence tower on the Horstberg. On the left, one can turn onto a field road. Here we park the car. Along the path on the crest we discover an old quarry which has been left open and exposed. (N51°50.470’; E010°49.434). From the peak we have a glorious view over the Harz and into the Subhercyne Cretaceous Basin. The Horstberg manifests two linear hogback zones. The Terebratelbank of the Lower Muschelkalk well as the Trochitenkalk zone of the Upper Muschelkalk emerge as hogback structures. The sediment layers of Middle Muschelkalk positioned between the hogbacks consist of soft dolomitice limestones, which gave way more quickly to the forces of erosion and thus formed a depression. In the central portion of the quarry, the vertical position and overthrust of the strata in the Harznordrand Fault can be observed. Here the Schaumkalk limestone beds of the Wellenkalk formations have been won in the old quarry. On the slope to the south, one discerns in the soil under cultivation the red-gray, in part blue tones of the Upper Buntsandstein. Returning from our little excursion to our car, we can cross the street and proceed to the clay pit of the former brick factory called “Heuer”. Here clay from the Middle and the Lower Buntsandstein has been won. The harder stratum along of the top of the rogenstein is thereby exposed to view. Only 50 meters further to the south one already encounters rocks of the Harz Paleozoic.

To the east lies the settlement Wolfholz (N51°50.065; EO10°50.492’). The small “waterholes", as they now exist, often came about as sinkholes from the underlying Permian gypsum rocks. These are hollowed-out forms in the landscape, ranging in shape from basins to funnels, into which the surface strata above the collapsed former underground gypsum caves has broken off. We find ourselves situated on the spur of the so-called Benzingerode Ledge. Because the Harznordrand Fault does not run in a straight line, one calls the zigzag Harz projections in a northern direction “Zacken” (ledges), each followed by an indentation in a southern direction. Further ledges are the Schimmerwald Ledge between Stapelburg and Bad Harzburg (Landmark 3 ) and the Ermsleben Ledge (Landmark 15 ).

Further east on the northern rim of the Harz- in the valley carved out by the river Hellbach through the Muschelkalk banks- lies Benzingerode. The transition from the Harz foreland to the Harz mountains is much in evidence here with differences in height of up to 300 meters. From the center of town we wander to the Struvenburg, site of a walled fortress probably stemming from the time of the Franks. (N51°50.083’; EO10°52.247’) It is already situated within the boundries of the nature reserve “Ziegenberg bei Heimburg". Especially along the southern incline, the dominant feature of the landscape is an Gentiano- Koelerietum mesoxerophytic grassland. Small old quarries primarily reveal a steep incline of strata from the Triassic, dipping towards the North- for the most part Lower Muschelkalk but partially on to Middle Keuper. In the quarries, the Schaumkalk banks of the Wellenkalk formation were most frequently sought and won. We can hike through the nature reserve along the path on the crest and return on the southside to our point of departure. Depressions lying to the south of the nature reserve are sinkholes, or old caved-in mining shafts from which gypsum has been won.

Three giants once wanted to reach a decision through a competition of throwing stones as to which one of them was to receive a much courted farmgirl as his wife. But in the end, as they realized that the stones they had thrown were different in size, none of them could be declared the victor. The giants departed from one another in anger and left the region. What remained were the upright stone columns - the menhirs by Benzingerode. So much for the legend, but what is the true meaning of the stones, comprised of silificated Heimburg Sandstone and erected over 5,000 years ago? We do not know. In the course of archaeological excavations accompanying construction of the four-lane B6n, substantial evidence of a settlement in the Neolithic period was uncovered, included a hut for the dead in which ca. 40 people were buried in the time of the Bernburg Culture (3,400 to 2,800 b.c.). Travelling in either direction on the road B6n one can find information on these archaeological sites in the roadside rest stations “Regensteinblick” on both sides of the highway.

In the course of the construction of the B6n, one discovered in the Heimburg formation of the Upper Cretaceous spherically formed limestone concretions - calcareous sandstone concretions more resistant to erosive forces than the surrounding sandstone - which have now been stacked up along the B6n in large, conical piles.

Leaving Heimburg we drive in the direction of Elbingerode and follow the signs to a mine now opened to visitors as an underground museum, Büchenberg. From the parking lot to the entrance (N51°47.478’; EO10°49.085’) is but a short walk. Visitors with problems walking or guests in wheelchairs can drive up to the entrance in their car. At the end of the pathway, our attention is captured by an iron trellis mast. It is the “Support No. 1“, which reawakens memories of the longest industrial cable railway in Europe. Since 1989, a 600 meter long stretch of the first level between the cable railway and the shaft No. 1 (Rotenbergshaft) in the mine has been opened to the public. An exhibition in the foyer provides information on the geology of the area and the history of mining, ore extraction and smelting. The trip into the mine, accessible as well for wheelchair visitors, provides insights into the techniques of mining and ore winning from the last active period of the mine and offers glimpses of interesting types of ores in the foliated tuffs (Schalstein) which can be viewed on the tour around the shaft and in the orebody No. 5. Through activation of the starting mechanism of the industrial cable railway and a demonstration of the drills, overhead loader and a scraper at work, we are given a sense of the true atmosphere of the mine. Iron ore mining has been taking place in the proximity of Elbingerode since the 10th century, but, in matter of fact, it began at an even much earlier date. The primary metal ore won here was calcareous hematite. After the end of the war the Harz iron ore mines- Büchenberg and Braunesumpf - were an important source for GDR raw iron provisions. In the last period of mining, the most important ore minerals won here were magnetite, siderite and hematite with quartz additions. A mining information path, which guides visitors interested through the historical mining area, begins and ends at the museum mine. To the east of the museum we find a natural monument, the “Marmorpinge Hartenberg”, a mine hole where iron ore and limestone were won. Because of its cool and damp micro-climate, unusual ferns, moses and lichen continue to survive here. If one wishes, a combi-card for visitors can be purchased for a reduced price, permitting access to both the Rübeland dripstone caves (13) and the mining museum Büchenberg.

Guided tours daily at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
or by appointment.
(004939454) 42 200
www.schaubergwerk-buechenberg.de

Flowing out of the limestone of the Braunesumpf anticline, a karst spring is located in Eggeröder Brunnen, also named Jasperode, a section of the town of Elbingerode. Unfortunately, the spring is enclosed in a building. Here, nevertheless, is the point of departure for a walking tour to three geopoints which are well worth visiting. We reach Jasperode by means of a forest road open to the public, which, northeast of Elbingerode, diverges from the road leading in the valley Drecktal to Heimburg at the “Drei-Herren-Stein". We look for a place to park the car and follow the hiking path in the direction of Blankenburg. At the fork in the path before the forest house, we take the valley trail leading to the left into the Klostergrund. After about 1 kilometer, to the left in the dark grey spilitic pillow lava, we suddenly encounter the open gallery mouth that provided a water conduit out of the former iron ore mines. (N51°47.147’; EO10°52.247’) Further down the valley we find a sign on an old spruce tree directing us into a side valley. It is only a few steps until we reach a vigorously bubbling karst spring, the “Volkmarsbrunnen". To the right, we discover in a limestone cliff after a short ascent the artificially enlarged cave “Volkmarskeller” (N51°47.287’; EO10°52.247’). The main room of this cave, today a dried-out etage in a system of caves, is situated on two parallel north-south running clefts, both dipping approximately 60 degrees westward. In the year 956 the cave was given to the imperial convent of Quedlinburg. In King OTTO’S document witnessing this donation there is mention of a "LUITBIRG", the woman who lived as a hermit in the cave around the year 850. A church “Michaelskirche” is also mentioned in connection with this site. Still to be found incised in the rock walls are two crosses of dedication. Later, a hermitage site for the legendary “Volksmar Brothers” (monks) was also located here. In 1146, the Zistensienser monks settled on the site. The foundations above the cave are probably the remains of this first cloister. Archaeological finds attest to the fact that already in this period iron ore was smelted in the bloomery furnaces at the Eggeröder Brunnen. Returning back into the Klostergrund valley, we continue to wander downhill. Approximately half the way to Cloister Michaelstein 9 we discover to our right an open drill hole (N51°47.925’; EO10°53.820) This hole came about in a test boring to determine where deposits of iron ore were to be found. The hole functions like an artesian well and periodically fills up with ground water rich in sulfur. We do not have much further to walk before arriving at the restaurant “Zum Klosterfischer” for a refreshing pause.

Zum Klosterfischer“
Blankenburg/Michaelstein
www.klosterfischer.de
Tel.: (003944) 351114

Hotel „Der Kräuterhof“
Drei Annen Hohne
www.hotel-kraeuterhof.de
Tel.: (0039455) 840

Waldgasthaus und Hotel
"Drei Annen"
Drei Annen-Hohne
www.drei-annen.de
Tel.: (0039455) 570-0

Hotel Blocksberg
Silstedt
www.hotel-blocksberg.de
Tel.: (003943) 54710

Hotel „Am Anger“
Wernigerode
www.hotel-am-anger.de
Tel.: (003943) 9232-0

Geopark „Harz . Braunschweiger Land . Ostfalen“ was founded in 2002. „Regionalverband Harz e.V.“ has assumed sponsorship for the Harz Mountains area. The general map tells you where to find Landmark 8 The Wernigerode Castle. This flyer, like all the others covering a total of 17 landmarks, will help you plan your next visit to the Nature and Geopark Harz.

Authors: Friedhart Knolle, Dr. Klaus George, Achim Groß, Guido Harnau, Silvia Lisowski, Dr. Dieter Mucke, Fritz Reinboth, Dr. Horst Scheffler & Dr. Rainer Schulz
Graphic: Dr. I. Rappsilber & Dr. M. Thomae (Landesamt für Geologie und Bergwesen Sachsen-Anhalt) Translation: Dr. Harriett Watts
Photos: Bandarau, Büchenberg, George, Mucke, Schauhöhlen- und Bergwerksbetrieb Rübeland
Editing: Dr. K. George, C. Linke