Kaiserweg (Harz)
| Kaiserweg | |
|---|---|
| Data | |
| length | 110 km |
| location | Lower Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia |
| Supervised by | Harz Club e. V. |
| Markers |
 Path markers with a golden crown on a red background
|
| Starting point |
Goslar 51 ° 54 ′ 10 ″ N , 10 ° 25 ′ 33 ″ E |
| Target point |
Tilleda 51 ° 25 ′ 4 ″ N , 11 ° 8 ′ 8 ″ E |
| Type | Long-distance hiking trail |
| particularities | embedded in the paths of German emperors and kings of the Middle Ages in the Harz Mountains |
Map with all coordinates: 
The Kaiserweg is a thematic long-distance hiking trail that first crosses the Harz Mountains and finally the Kyffhäuser Mountains over a total length of around 110 km . From Goslar or Bad Harzburg on the northern edge of the Harz, it leads across the Harz to Walkenried in the south; and then via Nordhausen to Tilleda am Kyffhäuser.
course
Kaiserpfalz Goslar - Oker - Bad Harzburg - Molkenhaus - Königskrug - Kapellenfleck - Helenenruh - Walkenried - Ellrich - Kammerforst - Woffleben - Komödienplatz - Salza - Nordhausen - Heringen - Hamma - Badra - Kyffhäuser Mountains - Königspfalz Tilleda .
Depending on the layout, the Kaiserweg begins as the “Paths of German Emperors and Kings of the Middle Ages in the Harz” at the Kaiserpfalz Goslar and leads on the northern edge of the Harz initially in an easterly direction via Oker to Bad Harzburg. The actual Kaiserweg begins here. From Bad Harzburg it goes south up into the Harz National Park (Harzquerung) via Molkenhaus to Königskrug, then down to Walkenried on the southern edge of the Harz; it crosses the Harz on the north-south axis, stays on the ridge, avoids the valleys and then leads on the southern edge of the Harz from Lower Saxony to Thuringia. Via Ellrich, the Kammerforst and Woffleben, it then continues eastwards to Nordhausen. From there the section follows through the Goldene Aue (Heringen - Hamma - Badra) to the Kyffhäuser Mountains. Now he crosses this too - the hiker changes from Thuringia (KYF) to Saxony-Anhalt (SGH or MSH) - and on the other side of this small mountain range reaches the thousand-soul place Tilleda, including the royal palace.
The Kaiserweg leads through three federal states: Lower Saxony - Thuringia - Saxony-Anhalt , as well as through several districts: Goslar - Göttingen - Nordhausen - Kyffhäuserkreis - Mansfeld-Südharz . This is the actual course of the Kaiserweg , an "early trade route across the Harz, named after Emperor Heinrich IV's flight from his Harzburg to the protection of the southern Harz monasteries and to Tilleda in 1074" . In spite of this, there is also a larger network of paths in the Eastern Harz, which also bears the imperial crown under the name “Ways of German Emperors and Kings of the Middle Ages in the Harz” , but should not be called the Kaiserweg .
nature
This thematic hiking trail follows old, historical traces - the Kaiserweg. Up until the turn of the millennium, the few paths across the Harz were only accessible stairs, such as the Weidenstieg, Salzstieg and others. The historic staircase, bridle path and later road is the Kaiserweg.
As a high-altitude trail, avoiding the deep valley sections, it leads with the least possible effort for the user over the Harz directly past the fourth highest mountain in the Harz, the Achtermann ( 926 m above sea level ), after the Brocken , Wurmberg and Bruchberg .
The nature of the path is extremely varied and changeable. For example, there are broad, well-marked gravel paths in the national park. In the southern Harz and in Thuringia, where the number of visitors is lower, one often comes across poorly preserved paths. Overall, the Kaiserweg includes asphalt, gravel and cobblestone, as well as forest and field paths, some of which are coarse-gravel, muddy or sandy, as well as sections within towns and cities.
history
Paths already existed here in prehistoric times, as can be seen from the conspicuous accumulation of Stone Age finds along the route.
In the year 744 the army of the Frankish house merchant Pipin moved over this stairway.
Many large armies, but also all kinds of commercial goods, especially ores from the Rammelsberg , from Altenau and the Spitzberg , were brought across the Harz Mountains here. Most of the Kaiserweg is identical to the earlier Heidenstieg , which was named via (road) from 1258.
Takes its name Kaiserweg only through the successful escape of the future Emperor Henry IV , in the night of 8 to 9 August 1073 in front of the axes of his castle on the Castle Hill in Bad Harzburg about Walkenried, Ellrich to Eschwege on the Werra to Preserved at the beginning of the 19th century. Later Henry the Lion in 1180, King Philip 1200, King Otto IV. 1206/1208 and King Friedrich II. In 1219 are said to have used the same route for their armies across the Harz Mountains, but there is no evidence of this.
The trail was never in good shape. Granite slabs, boulders and tree trunks were used to remove the largest potholes, but since, according to current law, all lost property belonged to the respective sovereign, one was more interested in a poor condition of the roads. All goods had to be reloaded in the flat country from the four-wheeled covered wagons onto two-wheeled Harz carts , in which the ore was also transported.
At six to eight, often with more horses , every cart was pulled across the Harz. Deep lanes in the granite slabs still bear witness to the eventful past of the Kaiserweg between Königskrug and Oderbrück .
From 1899 to 1962 the Kaiserweg stop of the narrow-gauge railway Walkenried-Braunlage / Tanne was at the intersection of the road with the Wieda – Braunlage road . Timber was still being loaded here until 1963.
literature
- Hiking in the West Harz , Lower Saxony State Surveying Office, map 1 of the hiking map set Hiking in the Harz, 1: 50,000, ISBN 978-3-89435-669-9 .
- Southern Harz foreland with Kyffhäuser Mountains and Hainleite, map WK50_56 of the Thuringian Land Surveying Office, 1: 50,000, ISBN 3-86140-244-0 .
- Across the Harz, experience nature on the Kaiserweg , Dr. K. George, brochure of the Regionalverband Harz eV, Quedlinburg 2006.
- Hiking on the Kaiserweg Harz , F. Genrich, 2007, BoD Norderstedt, ISBN 978-3-8370-4695-3 .
Web links
- Description of the route with additional information (elevation profile, sights, etc.)
- Exact description of the route with numerous photos
- Bad Harzburg's side to the Kaiserweg
