Wernigerode Land Saxony Anhalt District Harz STAGE 11 WERNIGHERODE HASSELFELDE km24 + 631-530 race E Wernigerode is a town of Saxony Anhalt with 34.413 inhabitants in the district of Harz on the river Holtemme, 240 m above sea level, at the foot of the Harzt Mountains north of the highest mountain of this region, the Brocken, the town is situated on the Federal motorways B6 and B244 and on the railway connecting Halle with Hannover. Wernigerode boasts several fine gothic buildings, among them a set of steps with a wooden façade dated 1498, and some of the picturesque houses that over the centuries have escaped several fires are richly ornate with wooden sculptures. A narrow gauge railway leading from Wernigerode to the top of the Broken (1141 m) and on to Nordhausen, south of the Harz, is another attraction of this beautiful town. The Castle (Schloss Wernigerode) of the princes of Stolberg towers above the town. It was originally built in the 12th century, but the present was rebuilt between 1862 and 1893 by Karl Fruhling and retains some of its medieval structures W 1
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Wernigerode Hasselfelde 3
Upon arriving in Wernigerode we leave behind the plain having gained very gradually a higher altitude, and from now on we shall gain an even greater altitude gradually up to the plateau at the foot of the Brocken, still below the 500 m of altitude. This means that our uphill progress will be barely perceived. We begin to walk along the valley along the left slope of the Zillerbach, a tributary of the Holtemme, still through the forest, which will accompany us for this whole stage. We leave the town along the Marktstrasse, we turn left on the Johann Sebastian Strasse, on the right we take Noschenroder Strasse and will continue along the Muhlental which we leave 500 m on. We turn left on the Am Vogeisang, and finally on the right on the Pisseckeweg; on for about 5 km where we leave the river and the footpath to cross the 244 4
Here we take the Voigtstieg which on passing from a river to another, we follow for over 3 km; being very watchful about crossroads on the right and left we arrive at the crossroad with the K1347, 5
which we cross keeping the same direction, but after 200 m we shall turn right on the path that first skirts the wood, then crosses the meadows and fields, goes over a stream and we arrive at Elbingerode, part of the municipality of Oberharz am Brocken, 500 m above sea level. We are now on the Harz plateau 6
and enter the village walking along the Bleichenkopf, we follow the Wolfshagen, and over the Rohrbachstrasse we turn on to the Markt or 244, across the Wasserstrasse or 27 and at the next crossroad we turn right on the Karl-Marx-strasse which leads first left and then right, on the Sussenburgerstrasse 7
Here we turn left and follow this direction for 500 m. At the crossroad we turn left and keep the same direction for 500 m. At the crossroad we continue straight on uphill to the top of the hill (here, on our right, we will find one of the largest stone quarries in Germany). Through the quarries area, we turn right, then left and we will be on a cart track in open countryside 8
and enter a woodland, then we arrive in the valley of the river Bode, precisely at a point where there is a dam which we cross and turn right along the road that skirts the reservoir up to the village of Konigshutte 466 516 9
Before entering the village we turn left along the road that first skirts the forest, then for more than 6 km of meadow, after a gentle hill we descend and approach a second artificial reservoir on the river Bode meadow and here we gradually descend approaching a second reservoir on the river Bode, on the right, then left 10
As we arrive at the dam we cross and turn right, then immediately left and return to walk through forests and meadows, first going gently uphill, then downhill until we arrive at a road junction coming from the right. This takes us to the end of the stage Hasselfeld, 500 m above sea level, in 2 km. Here we enter by the Hagenstrasse, then on the left the Breite Strasse. 11
Hasselfelde 12