Old Harzstrasse
| Old Harzstrasse | |
|---|---|
| length | 35 km |
| places | * Goslar |
The Alte Harzstraße is the old road from Goslar via Clausthal-Zellerfeld to Osterode am Harz .
history
Nothing is known anymore about the origin and builder of the street. Archaeologists suspect the origin long before the Middle Ages , but at the latest in the 13th century with the expansion of the Hanseatic League and the Hanseatic cities of Braunschweig , Goslar, Osterode, Duderstadt and Northeim . The Upper Harz mining is also said to have contributed to this. The towns of Buntenbock and Lerbach are a bit off the route, but were probably created because of the road, just like Osterode- Freiheit or Erbprinzentanne . The Cella monastery on the Alte Harzstrasse, which was also used as a pilgrimage route to Rome , is said to have been built around 1200 .
The first documented mention of it as "right Heerstraße" comes from the year 1457. The width is estimated at two and a half meters. At the end of the Middle Ages, trade and with it the importance of the street decreased. Also due to the many wars during this time, the road deteriorated into a pretty bad condition. However, since the road was laid out so practically, it began to be converted into a road in the 19th century . A document from this time comes from Heinrich Heine - he migrated from Osterode to Clausthal in September 1824. The cobblestones are still there in quite a few places. But the Chaussee also soon lost its importance when people began to bypass the Harz and its steep paths.
In the 1930s, the then long-distance road 241 between Goslar and Erbprinzentanne was built parallel with less incline, and since then the actual Old Harz Road has become more and more of a normal forest road . Furthermore, the later Reichsstraße was laid between Prinzenteich and Freiheit through Lerbach (today's K 426 or Friedrich-Ebert-Straße); even in freedom it was given a new course (main street). This resulted in a total of ten dangerous serpentines north of Lerbach. The old Harzstrasse cut the new route once, namely in the third serpentine seen from Clausthal. Today the main road branches off from the former course of the Reichsstrasse and, as a bypass of Lerbach, still largely replaces the old Harzstrasse.
course
Coming from Goslar, just like the B 241 today, the route led in the Gose valley southwest out of the old town. In contrast to the main road, the Alte Harzstraße did not follow the Gosetal, but led further south-west to the Glockenberg . At the Alte Pferdetränke, the street divides into the steep, old course, which is now just a path, and the newer course, which led to a place on the east side of the Glockenberg.
After the two variants meet again, you continue to the upper of the two hairpin bends of the B 241. This is only affected, however; the old Harzstrasse leads straight to the Bocksberg . About 500 meters before its summit, it turns south. Then she reaches the Auerhahn settlement. The current B 241 was later laid so that it runs right through the middle of the settlement. This interrupts the Alte Harzstrasse in this section.
Behind the settlement it continues in a slight curve, not far from the Upper Kellerhalsteich. Shortly after the “Alte Harzstrasse” car park, it meets the B 241 again and has been replaced over a length of 250 meters. The federal road then continues to the south side of the Großer Kellerhalsteich and then to the east of the Untere Kellerhalsteich, while the Alte Harzstraße runs directly to the west of the Untere Kellerhalsteich. In this area you can sometimes still see traces of the iron-studded wheels on the exposed rock. Both streets then run parallel to the Erbprinzentanne settlement, after which the Alte Harzstrasse was expanded to become the B 241. To the east touching the Stadtweger pond, the road leads straight through Zellerfeld to the Eulenspiegler pond.
Behind the old Clausthal-Zellerfeld station on the Upper Harz Railway , the road led into Clausthal. In contrast to Zellerfeld, Clausthal is bypassed today, although the old course of the street through the city is still considered an extreme shortcut. The old route is today's streets “Zellbach”, “Kronenplatz”, “Adolph-Roemer-Straße”, “An der Marktkirche” and “Osteröder Straße”. This is also where the intersection with the Harzhochstraße is located , also an old street, which at that time was better known as Heidenweg and Königsweg and corresponds to today's B 242 . The Alte Harzstraße or the former B 241 continues its straight course south-south-west and merges again with today's B 241 shortly before the Clausthals exit. Passing Buntenbock, the Alte Harzstraße leaves the course of the B 241 near the Prinzenteich. it meets again at the intersection with the K 426 on the B 241. In the following the Alte Harzstraße was built over again. Then it leads a bit through Lerbach as the residential street “Obere Harzstraße”, crosses the B 241 and reaches Freiheit. Passing the restaurant “An der alten Harzstrasse”, it runs on the northwestern outskirts of Freedom. At the level of Schützenplatz it becomes the residential street “Alte Harzstraße” and then reaches the Osteroder old town as “Johannisvorstadt” and “Johannistorstraße”.