Harz Mountains: Quedlinburg, Bodetal, Wernigerode

Saturday Bernd and Renate, friends from church, took us to see a World Heritage town on the edge of the Harz Mountains in the former East German side. Although living in flat Hannover is great for bicycling, it was nice for me to see some hills. We wandered through the quiet pedestrian-zone streets of the old town, enjoying the beautiful half-timbered buildings , slate and tile roofs, and flowers in  the window boxes.

Quedlinburg Rathaus (City Hall)

Slate Tile Patterns

and wound our way up to the hill with the castle and 10th century Romanesque church. Some wandering stone carvers from Lombardy (Italy) did the stone carving with fanciful animals which reminded me of the illustrations in the Book of Kells.

Book of Kells-style Stone Carvings in St. Servatius Church

Carved Stone Column with Stained Glass Windows, St. Servatius

There was a creepy exhibit about how this church was taken over by the Nazis to promote their Germanic heritage worship.



Afterwards, we toured the castle with a costumed guide and walked out to the castle gardens for wonderful views of the city. Everything is green and lush from the recent heavy rainfall.

View from Castle Hill Garden

Quedlinburg Rooftops

While wandering around the town, I saw this placard for advice on mushrooms:

Ad for Mushroom Advice



We then drove over to Thale to see the Grand Canyon of Germany, the Bodetal. We took a ski lift to the top of one of the hills, hiked along to an overlook, had a picnic supper, and then walked back down to our car. On the way, we saw this wonderful kletterpark (climbing playground), which I thought our kids would love. As soon as I saw it, I thought about how we could build such a park in our backyard. No problems with liability insurance here.

Waldkletterpark (Forest Climbing Park)





 Waldkletterpark 

When we got back in the car, Renate and I were astonished that the men had decided to still visit Wernigerode, another small town "on our way home" with half-timbered houses and a castle on a hill. It turned out that one of the reasons that the other two towns had felt like ghost towns was that everyone from miles around was at the Rathaus Fest in Wernigerode, celebrating 50 years of the town hall with multiple bands, food and craft stalls, and a medieval market. So crowded that it was hard to wedge ourselves through to see the band.

Axe Throwing: Could you even do this in the U.S.? Let kids throw axes without signing a disclaimer?

Medieval Market Musicians

Anyway, another full weekend, with a dinner party Friday night, a potluck at church and a long bike ride home along the canal on Sunday, and Sunday afternoon tea with neighbors here. Too tired to go to any free concerts on Sunday. Must be getting old.