I had no idea what was in store for me on my way to Wenigerode. Marcel had told me that he went to college there, but I had only heard bits and pieces. I was pleasantly surprised to find one of my favorite little towns I have yet to see in Germany. It is full of colorful buildings, namely it's Rathaus (town hall) which is absolutely gorgeous! Also, Wenigerode is home to the smallest house in Europe. (see below)
I get a tour of Marcel's university Harz Hochschule after we find his old Professor. It's a really great facility, with all sorts of fun things: motion capture studio, green screen room, sound editing room, labs for 3d animation of course...etc. We join him in the Menza (Cafeteria) and have typical student food. Not the best, but you sure can't beat the price.
Below: The town square morning Market
This town has a charm all its own, but it's exactly what you probably picture when you think of a German town. The half timbered houses side by side...painted all sorts of colors, with window boxes filled with flowers. There were little witches for sale in touristy shops everywhere. It turns out that this town holds legend to many a witch tale. In fact, the Harz is famed for its witch legends. The eve of May 1 is believed to be Walpurisnacht, the night of the witch's sabbath on the Brocken, the highest mountain in the region. This occasion is an episode in Goethe's famous play “Faust.”
Above: Hexen Kessel Restaurant (Witch's Kettle Restaurant)
I find a hotel to stay in – the Kartoffelhaus Hotel (the Potato House Hotel) has a room so I go for it. It's right in the heart of this wonderful village and I can smell the potatoes from the Gasthaus (German name for full service restaurant) downstairs. I try out a dish called “Hexenspieß” (Witch spices) and it's quite tasty.
I finally see the infamous “Rote Grütze” (above) on a menu too, so I have that for desert. I have read about this sweet/tart raspberry wonder but didn't have the chance until now to try it. Oh and it's worth the wait!
I wake up and am pleased to find that there's a market in the town square. I buy a regional speciality called “Baumkuchen” (Tree cake) which, don't worry, the ingredients have nothing to do with trees...it's the way they're made. (above) They take thin slices of spongy cake and roll them thin layer by layer around each other so it looks like the rings of a tree when you saw the trunk in half. Another form of Baumkuchen is when they stack these donut like rings over each other to create a glazed tower that looks like a bunch of glazed donuts stacked on top of each other. (see below) Yum!
Then, onto the infamous (well for me) Apotheke (Pharmacy) where the digestive herbal schnapps drink Schierkefeuerstein was born. (see below) Marcel introduced me to this years ago and I always request it when he takes his order of stuff to bring back to the U.S. With him...so I had to go see the place where this stuff was made.
It's in the town of Schierke, but the drink is actually named after the “Fire stone” itself. (below)
That's what “feuerstein” means, fire stone. So we take the hike up to see what the hype's all about. It's worth the trek but the Schierke Apotheke was disappointing. They had an old setup of what the pharmacy used to look like, but nothing to tour. I guess the ingredients and method are highly secretive. So it goes...
On our way back down from the fire stone, we happen upon the steam train...much hated by Marcel ever since spending 4 years of waking up to the ever nagging “tooot tooooooot”s and hisses. But I was quite enthralled – having no recollection of ever seeing a steam train before.
We stop by in Rubeland. And go to Hermanns Höhle (Cave) the cave was really beautiful and full of stalagmites and stalactites. It also had a skeleton of a bear...that was scary...it was HUGE! Then it was onto Bad Frankenhausen where we are to meet family Sittner for a trip to Frederik Barbarossa's cave and the infamous Kyffhäuser. (Kaiser Weißbart Wilhelm and Kaiser Rotbart Barbarossa.) More on this later...stay tuned!
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