Harz & Saxony-Anhalt

Quedlinburg is located north of the Harz on the Bode and boasts over 2100 half-timbered houses from eight centuries. Since 1994, the Old Town, Castle Hill with the Collegiate Church, and the Münzenberg are listed as an ensemble on the UNESCO World Heritage list.The town was first mentioned in 922; King Heinrich I. was buried here after his death in 936. Perched on Castle Hill is the Collegiate Church of St. Servatius with its cathedral treasure; in the town, the Lyonel Feininger Gallery, opened in 1986, exhibits works by the Bauhaus artist.

Wernigerode is located on the northeastern flank of the Harz, about 12 kilometers east-northeast of the Brocken. Since 1910, the town has borne the motto "The Colorful Town in the Harz", coined by Hermann Löns. Above the half-timbered lanes towers the Neo-Gothic castle, which was the residence of the Counts of Stolberg-Wernigerode until 1929.Here starts the Harz Narrow-Gauge Railway, which travels via Schierke to the Brocken. In the Old Town, you'll find the Town Hall with its half-timbered towers, alongside the smallest house in town on Kochstraße and the Schiefe Haus, a former mill.

At 1,141 meters, the Brocken is the highest mountain in the Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, and throughout North Germany. It lies within the Harz National Park and is one of Germany's most popular excursion destinations. With fog shrouding the summit over 300 days a year, many legends surround the mountain: First mentioned in 1540 as a witches' meeting place, Goethe even relocated his Faust's Walpurgis Night here.From August 1961 to December 3, 1989, the summit was a military exclusion zone. Today, the Brocken Railway of the Harz Narrow-Gauge Railways ascends from Wernigerode via Drei Annen Hohne and Schierke. During high forest fire risk, diesel locomotives temporarily replace steam locomotives between Drei Annen Hohne and the Brocken.

Weimar lies on a bend of the Ilm and has around 66,000 inhabitants, yet hardly any city of its size has shaped German culture so significantly. With Wieland, Goethe, Herder, and Schiller, it became the center of Weimar Classicism; since 1998, the "Classical Weimar" ensemble has been a UNESCO World Heritage site. In 1999, Weimar was the European Capital of Culture.In 1919, the Bauhaus was founded here; in the same year, the National Assembly convened in the city that gave its name to the first German Republic. Its history also includes the Buchenwald concentration camp on the Ettersberg, where more than 56,000 people were murdered by 1945.

Erfurt is located in the wide valley of the Gera and, with approximately 215,000 inhabitants, is the largest city and state capital of Thuringia. Landmarks include the ensemble of Mariendom and Severikirche on the Domberg, reachable via over 70 cathedral steps, and the Krämerbrücke, Europe's longest bridge continuously built with houses.Martin Luther studied here from 1501 to 1505. Since September 17, 2023, the city's Jewish-medieval heritage, with Alte Synagoge, Mikwe, and Steinernes Haus, has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage. Above the old town towers the baroque Petersberg Citadel.