Best Things To Do In Goslar

Goslar is under the northwestern hills of the Harz range in Lower Saxony. Rammelsberg has some of Europe’s oldest mining infrastructure, and its Medieval tunnels and chambers are revealed at a sensational museum. For two centuries that mineral wealth even put Goslar at the center of the Holy Roman Empire, and 1,000 years after it was built the Imperial Palace is an absolute must. Goslar hit its peak in the 15th and 16th centuries, and its merchants competed to build ever more fantastical homes that make up a romantic townscape today. Whenever you want to do the best things in Goslar then book delta airlines reservations.

Liebesbankweg

The Liebesbankweg has been declared the top walking path in Lower Saxony and the Harz range and is a 7.5-kilometer rollercoaster walk. Where the trail goes the extra mile is in its benches and decorative stations, all designed around the theme of romance and love. There’s a drinking water source and water playgrounds for little ones, while each of the 25 carved benches is unique and has a romantic poem carved into it or benefits from a view worth sharing with a loved one.

Siemens Haus

You’ll recognize the name of one of Goslar’s largest and most photogenic half-timbered houses. Constructed in 1693, this house was put up by an ancestor of the international technology and telecommunications brand. The Siemens Haus has been in the family ever since, apart from during a hiatus from 1778 to 1916, and today it has meeting rooms and the family archive. On the timber above the entrance, you can decipher the motto Ora et labora, pray and work. Check-in with the tourist office if you want to go inside. One of the curious things is the brewery, from the time when some 380 houses around the city were granted the right to make their own beer.

Breites Tor

Goslar’s prosperity in the late Medieval period attracted unwanted attention and the Free City took great effort to protect itself. The most vital of the city’s defenses were the Breites Tor in the east of the city as it protected the entrance on the road from the territory of the Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, hostile to Goslar in this period. The gate dates to 1443 and In the 16th century, it was reinforced into a small fortress with inner and outer towers. Some of this stronghold was lost once the Breites Tor had outlived its usefulness in the 18th and 19th centuries. But the tower of the inner gate, a former barracks, and the circular outer gate close by are testaments to less peaceful times.

Frankenberger Kirche

A couple of streets east of the Imperial Palace on the Frankenberg hill is a church first erected in the 12th century, now blending Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque styles. Something neat to remember about the Frankenberger Kirche is that its western towers were once defenses in the city walls. The vaulting inside was fashioned in the 1230s, while the choir and southern transept are Gothic and went up in the 14th and 15th centuries. The portal on the south side of the church has a Romanesque tympanum, showing Christ, Peter, and Paul, from 1200. The altar and pulpit are Baroque and were produced by a local sculptor in the mid-1670s. Also head to the western gallery, which has frescoes from the 13th century.

Monchehaus Museum

The Goslarer Kaiserring is a prestigious art prize presented since 1975 by the Golsar art association to leading contemporary artists. Among the former winners are Henry Moore, Joseph Beuys, Cy Twombly, Nam June Paik, Sigmar Polke, David Lynch, and Olafur Eliasson. When the association was set up it moved into the Mönchehaus, a half-timbered farmhouse from 1528, one of the city’s most beloved landmarks. There’s normally an exhibition by the prize-winner each year, as well for up-and-coming artists awarded a scholarship by the association. The museum also puts on a busy program of accompanying talks, workshops, and concerts.

Gustav Adolf Stave Church

Head southwest to the old spa resort of Hahnenklee, which was developed at the turn of the 20th century. Awaiting you is something you’d never expect to see in Lower Saxony: a Nordic-style stave church. This was built in just a year and consecrated in 1908. The architect came up with the design after a visit to Borgund in Norway. The timber is from spruce trees sourced from the Bocksberg mountain close by, and there are Viking-style interlace patterns on its ceiling. The church is on a scenic hillside over Hahnenklee and has a melodic carillon that chimes on the hour.

Zinnfigurenmuseum

Put together with a lot of love, this museum acts out Goslar’s 1,000-year history using hand-painted miniature figures made of tin. There are 50 highly detailed dioramas on the development of the city, key moments down the years, and the Rammelsberg Mine. Youngsters will be rapt by the 30 dioramas depicting fairytales. The museum has a small army of more than 10,000 figures in total, and you’ll even be invited to paint a tin figure of your own. The setting is delightful too, in a 500-year-old mill that once processed bark and roots for leather tanners.