Thüringen

18/8/2020 – Bad Salzuflen – Arminius or Herman der Cherusker, does that ring a bell? Varus, the Roman general, surely knew him. In 9 A.D. in Kalkriese, an open space in the Teutoburger Wald, he was crushed by him and lost three legions. Arminius, a Cheruscan who was taken to Rome as a child, received military training and became a Roman citizen, returned to Germania and successfully opposed the Romans. Varus commits suicide. Hero of the region and also still a bit in the whole of Germany. We check in at Hotel Arminius (!) and prepare the bicycles to ride to the Hermanndenkmal. It’s flat from Bad Salzuflen to Lage and Hiddesen, where there is a 400 m high hump in the landscape. On it is a giant statue of Arminius. A tough climb with beautiful serpentines. I sweat, Karin sweats, Frank sweats. The reward is great, above us stands Hermann, the sword in the air, around us the vast landscape. Then downhill for the return trip. We shower and look for food, in times of corona, Germany lock...

17/8/2021 – Goslar - Weltkulturerbe Rammelsberg, an ore mine in use for more than 1000 years and finally closed in 1988. UNESCO World Heritage. Silver, copper and lead were brought to the daylight in this part of the Harz Mountains. Stories of miners, courage and technical progress. We visit the Roederstollen on foot. Thrilling walk, water trickling down from the ceiling. In the old days, water from a nearby lake was cascaded down on huge waterwheels, powering rotating chests that brought up men and ore. Above ground, the shower room, where the miners pulled their clothes and shoes up to the ceiling in a basket. We sleep in Liono, a hotel in the middle of a posh neighbourhood. Reception with coffee on the terrace. Our room bears the name 'Incognito'. Modern bathroom, the size of a living room, and shower knobs that require technical knowledge to turn on. Subdued light. We share the large ‘suite’ and sleep on a pull-out bed in a separate room. Karl Reinecke-Altenau (1938), the a...

17/8/2020 – When we leave from our hotel Gotisches Haus, we get a bag ‘for the road’, with water and a box of ‘Brockensplitter’, triangular chocolates filled with hazelnut. Delicious. My stomach is still protesting as the night before we had Fleisch vom Scheiterhaufen, a schnitzel with onions, gherkins and potatoes. Tasty but too much. The old waitress did not seem to know what corona was, she served with or without mask, pushing her way between us to the table with her big bosom. It was great fun and we washed down the food with two Hasseröder beers and even had a night cap in the hotel before going to bed. Before we hit the road, we walk around town and find the smallest house of Wernigerode. 

 6/8/2020 – Wernigerode –We sleep in Hotel Gotisches Haus in the centre of the bustling town. A castle dating back to the 12th century towers above the town. Similar to Quedlinburg with old, narrow streets with half-timbered houses.  The area has three narrow-gauge railways from GDR-times. The Brockenbahn brings you to the Brocken, with 1142 m the highest peak in northern Germany. Wherever you walk, Goethe walked before you. In Faust, Goethe calls the Brocken the Blocksberg. It plays an important role in pre-Christian heathen tradition. A lot of places in the area make reference to witches and to the Walpurgisnight, the one night during which exiled witches were allowed to come back to earth. I decide to cycle up the Brocken, from Schierke it is 24 kilometres and 600 altimeters. There is sun but the air is humid and clouds sail in from the West. The area, which was a military area controlled by the GDR until 1990 is misty most of the year, has 176 days of snow and is expo...

15/8/2020 – Quedlinburg – We take a winding road through the Harz Mountains. Trees, trees and trees and a hint of communist passé. We pass through Schmalkalden, where local protestant princes made a fist against Emperor Charles the V. The village is old and worn and still has some smoking Trabants. If it were not in the history books, one would never look for it. We move on to Quedlinburg, a UNESCO dream town with 1400 half-timbered six century old houses. We check in at the Schlosshotel zum Markgrafen. The owner leaves us speechless and tells us about his childhood dream of becoming a castle lord. The castle is in great shape, the rooms are modern and the atmosphere knightly. A harness with sword and spear watches over our room. I compliment the owner on his work and he replies: ‘Yes, but it did not make me a rich man!’. Our room is under the roof and has a small window through which we see all the towers of Q. Having dinner is not easy. Because of COVID-19 all outside terraces are fu...

14/8/2020 - Jena - We go to the Zeiss Planetarium, the oldest in the world and from 1926. When projectors were developed, moving celestial objects as well as fixed stars could be depicted on the inside of a dome. They sprung up everywhere in the world and knocked over the ignorant. Today planetariums are used to project anything, from stars and planets to rock concerts. The weather is unpleasantly damp, and we have half an hour before ‘Planeten, Expedition ins Sonnensystem’ starts. We walk past the botanical garden of Jena, where Goethe planted a ginkgo biloba. The ginkgo is a living fossil, over 100 million years old. Goethe was particularly interested in it. He also messed around with the flow of the Saale river, or is messing around disrespectful? He was, after all a multitalented man. The area around the Planetarium is posh and full of renovated art nouveau buildings. Lawyers, doctors and tax consultants replaced the proletarians of the GDR. I peep into a white building and see an ...