Into the Harz of Germany

Glad to be standing at the top of Brocken after a crowded steam train-ride. 

Ever hear of Goslar? It's fine. You likely haven't. But you should drop by this town if you're in the neighbourhood, which also isn't likely because the only thing in Goslar's neighbourhood are rocks, trees, and the Harz Mountains.

The places that usually draw people to Germany are on the country's fringes. From Hamburg to the north, down to the southwest to the Dorf, Cologne – then further down the Rhine, you can reach Frankfurt, Heidelberg, the Black Forest, never straying to far from the border. Then turning east into Bavaria, you'd reach Munich with the Alps on your right. which are shared between Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. To the northeast, you reach Nuremburg, Dresden, and Berlin – every city close to Germany's borders.

The Harz Mountains are in the middle of that fringe. It's rugged country, where Germanic myths of witches and dwarves and bridge trolls come from. Kings ruled from castles here to guard the silver mines, the Nazis built V-1 and V-2 missiles in bunkers beneath the mountains, and the Iron Curtain ran through it. Most people flock to the fringes without really seeing the heart, or Harz, of Germany.

Express trains run around the Harz, so it took two train changes to reach Goslar. Then we got lost in the town. This is no cookie-cutter rebuilt town with a shiny old centre. Goslar wasn't carpet-bombed during the war, so most of the old town is as it was, with all its twisty, not-so-modern-German streets and its old timber houses. 

Sure, Goslar is a touristic draw. There's a Kaiserpfalz – an Imperial palace/castle from the medieval days – and old mills and German-style breweries. But the untouched old-timey centre is big enough to absorb them, so you get wonderfully quiet moments to yourself on these old, twisted cobblestone streets and alleys, hemmed in by ancient wood houses.

Having Goslar to yourself is a common feeling.

Down the rail line is Wernigerode, the starting point for tourists who take a crowded steam-powered train to Brocken, the Harz's highest peak, and back down again into town, where they crowd souvenir shops and Eis cafes. The buildings are also old, but the town is completely given over to tourist kitsch, which was disheartening and uninviting. We were ready to write off Wernigerode completely until we walked down a residential street, past a plague for Paul Renner, the typographer behind Futura. So not all bad, after all.

On our last night in Goslar, we we sat in our apartment deciding on our next destination as Empire Strikes Back dubbed in German played in the background. We had planned to go to Dessau to see the Bauhaus sights. But a Bauhaus Design and Architecture Museum was still a few years from completion and there were no architecture tours in English. It's astounding that Dessau hasn't embraced its Bauhaus heritage. We had to change trains in Berlin, so instead of changing trains, we stayed in Berlin.

One day in Berlin

What do you do when you have one night in Berlin? We had no time for anything, so we planned as much as possible for the rest of the afternoon. Kata suggested we visit the Boros Bunker to see some contemporary art. We got turned away because it's appointment-only. Berlin amateur move. Kata used to live in Neukoeln, so we went there for dinner, but choked and couldn't agree on a restaurant. We rushed hungrily into a joint that, to put it lightly, sucked. Another amateur Berlin move. We should have known better.

The next day, we walked along the Spree in the sun, had a cool drink by the river, and ate amazing burgers in the Mitte. We had no plans. We didn't make it to another museum and that didn't matter, strolling through the Tiergarten was enough. We threw away our plans and the expectations that come with them. And we were reminded that Berlin has nothing but rewards for the relaxed visitor.

Berlin views.