Monday we took our
first trip into the Harz Mountains. The journey had beautiful
countryside. We went via Duderstadt, Herzberg and Osterode as far as
Goslar. Goslar is a medieval town that looks as if it has been pulled out of a Grimm,s fairy tale. The Marktplats is really beautiful as are the half-timbered houses.
The Kaiserringhaus has a glockenspiel and automatons . The figures act out scenes from Goslar's mining past at 9am, midday, 3pm and 6pm. We were there at 10am and they were working!
A fountain with a bronze eagle stands in the centre of the square.
This sculpture depicts a narrow head pierced through by about 12
large nails, with its mouth open in a [painful grimace. One explanation is that the nails represent the stubbornness of the townspeople and the pained expression reporesents the difficult decisions that town managers have to make. Another explanation is that the sculpture is a monument against terror and narrow-mindedness.
This is Market Church St. Cosmos and Damien.
Witches play a large role in Germany's medieval history. Legends tell of blue flames igniting above buried treasure, of women on broomsticks and the ghostly wild hunt pursuing the goddess Walpurga through snowstorms and hail. Tourists are reminded of this throughout the Harz region with figures of witches outside shops and souvenir witches to be bought.
I never discovered why wood is used as the base of this canal.
We had a leisurely lunch and returned via Langelsheim passing by Innerstestausee where we stopped to look at the lake and have a bit of a walk.
Then we went on to Seesen, back to Clausthal where there
is a huge blue church and back home in time to get to the
supermarket.
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